Hire a
Fractional CISO
Complete guide to finding, vetting, and hiring the perfect fractional Chief Information Security Officer.
Where to Find Fractional CISOs
Security Networks
ISACA chapters, ISC2 communities, CISO networks like Evanta or Venture in Security.
vCISO Firms
Consultancies offering vCISO services (Coalfire, Secureworks, boutique security firms).
LinkedIn Search
Search #FractionalCISO, #vCISO, or "Security Advisor" + certifications.
Fractional Platforms
Fractional.Quest, CISO Global, or security-specific fractional networks.
VC Security Advisors
Ask your investors for security advisors from their portfolio.
Security Conferences
RSA, Black Hat, BSides, or InfoSec Europe attendees and speakers.
What to Look For
1. Relevant Certifications
Do they have the right certifications? CISSP, CISM, CISA are baseline. Industry-specific certs (HITRUST for healthcare, PCI DSS for payments) may be required.
CISSP/CISM certified, relevant industry certifications, maintained credentials
No certifications, expired credentials, only vendor-specific certs
2. Compliance Experience
Have they achieved the compliance frameworks you need? SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, PCI DSS require specific experience.
Led successful certifications, audit experience, compliance program design
Only maintained compliance, never achieved certification from scratch
3. Industry Match
Do they understand your industry's specific security requirements? FinTech, healthcare, and B2B SaaS have different needs.
Direct industry experience, understands regulatory landscape, relevant case studies
No experience in your industry, dismissive of industry-specific requirements
4. Incident Response
Have they handled real security incidents? Breach response experience is invaluable and rare.
Real incident experience, IR plan development, crisis management skills
Only theoretical knowledge, no actual incident experience
5. Cloud Security
Do they understand modern cloud architectures? AWS, Azure, GCP security is essential for most companies now.
Cloud certification (AWS Security Specialty), container security, DevSecOps
Only traditional on-premise experience, can't discuss cloud security
6. Fractional Effectiveness
Can they be impactful part-time? Security requires consistent presence and quick response times.
2-4 clients, clear escalation procedures, responsive communication
First fractional role, slow response times, overcommitted
The Hiring Process
Brief
Tell us about your needs, company stage, and what you're looking for in a fractional executive.
Match
We curate a shortlist of pre-vetted fractional executives who match your specific requirements.
Meet
Interview your top candidates. We handle scheduling and provide interview frameworks.
Start
Your fractional executive begins within days. We support onboarding and ongoing success.
Brief
Tell us about your needs, company stage, and what you're looking for in a fractional executive.
Match
We curate a shortlist of pre-vetted fractional executives who match your specific requirements.
Meet
Interview your top candidates. We handle scheduling and provide interview frameworks.
Start
Your fractional executive begins within days. We support onboarding and ongoing success.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Hire?
Browse pre-vetted fractional CISO candidates on Fractional.Quest.
Browse CISO Candidates