vCISO & Fractional CISO Services — a senior CISO without the full-time price tag.
Purple Shield's vCISO and fractional CISO services give growing companies a seasoned Chief Information Security Officer who owns your security strategy, compliance, and audit readiness — for a fraction of the cost of a $300K+ full-time hire.
Independent
Vendor neutral
No products to sell
CREDENTIALS BEHIND THE ADVICE
CISSP
CISM
CRISC
AAISM
vCISO & Fractional CISO, Explained
What are vCISO and fractional CISO services?
A vCISO (virtual CISO) and a fractional CISO are the same idea by two names: a senior security executive who owns your security program part-time, for a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. Here is how Purple Shield delivers both.
Virtual CISO leadership
Our vCISO services put a seasoned Chief Information Security Officer in charge of your security strategy, compliance, and risk — delivered remotely and on demand. You get executive-level direction, board reporting, and audit leadership without adding a six-figure salary to payroll.
Fractional CISO, Sized to you
Fractional CISO services give you a dedicated CISO for the slice of time your business actually needs — a few days a month, scaled up during an audit or a security incident. It is the same senior leadership as a full-time hire, sized and priced to your stage of growth.
Fractional & vCISO services vs. a full-time CISO hire
Full-time CISO hire
$300K+ a year — fixed cost, fixed headcount
Annual cost
$300K+ in salary, benefits & equity
Time to start
A 3–6 month executive search
Experience
Limited to one person's background
Scales with need
Fixed — you pay the same every month–
Independence
Internal mandate only
Purple Shield vCISO services
A fraction of the cost — pay only for what you need
Annual cost
A fraction of the cost, scoped to your stage
Time to start
Up and running in days, not months
Experience
20+ years across 200+ companies
Scales with need
Flex up for audits, down once it's steady
Independence
Vendor-neutral — nothing to sell you
Why You Need Security Leadership
Growing fast is the easy part. Governing the risk isn't.
Without someone owning security, it stays reactive and ad hoc — until an audit, a customer, an insurer, or an incident forces the issue. vCISO and fractional CISO services put an accountable owner in place before that happens.
No strategy, no owner
Security is handled in spare moments by people with other jobs. Nothing is prioritized, and gaps go unseen until they're exploited.
Full time CISO is out of reach
A seasoned security executive costs $300K+ all-in. Most growing companies need the expertise, not the headcount.
Audits stall your deals
SOC 2, ISO 27001 and HIPAA gaps surface mid-sales-cycle and delay revenue while you scramble to respond.
Board & insurer pressure
Investors, boards and cyber-insurers ask hard questions. Without documented controls, premiums rise — or claims are denied.
Customers demand proof
Enterprise buyers send security questionnaires and due diligence before they sign. “We'll get to it” loses the deal.
One incident from crisis
A single breach or close call exposes how thin the program really is. Recovering without a plan is slow, costly, and public.
What's Included
What our vCISO and Fractional services include.
One owner for your entire security program — strategy through execution, compliance through board reporting.
01
A clear, prioritized plan tied to your business goals — so security effort and spend go to what actually reduces risk, in what order.
02
A grounded picture of where you stand against real threats and recognized frameworks — exposure validated, gaps prioritized.
03
SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI and NIST — mapped, evidenced, and walked through to a clean audit, plus questionnaire and RFP support.
04
Practical policies your team will follow, a program that runs on a cadence, and awareness training that actually changes behavior.
05
Know which vendors can hurt you and hold them to a standard — due diligence, reviews, and ongoing supply-chain oversight.
06
A tested response plan for when it matters, and board-ready reporting that turns technical risk into decisions leadership can make.
How We Work
How our vCISO and fractional CISO services work.
A senior security program, up and running in weeks — not the months a full-time search takes. You get a credentialed leader setting strategy, managing risk, and answering to your board from day one. No drawn-out hiring process, no six-figure salary, no learning curve while threats pile up. Just the experience you need, scaled to what your business actually requires, with the flexibility to ramp up or down as priorities shift.
01.
Access
We learn your business, map your environment, and benchmark against real threats.
02.
Prioritize
A clear, ranked roadmap — what to fix first, what it protects, what it costs.
03.
Execute
We drive the work alongside your team — policies, controls, audit prep, vendor reviews.
04.
Report
Board-ready reporting on a steady cadence, so leadership always knows where things stand.
Credentials That Back The Advice
Decades of hands-on security leadership
Most security advice comes with a sales agenda. Ours doesn't. That single difference changes everything about the guidance you get.
Our Numbers
Two decades of results behind every engagement.
200+
Clients Served
30+
Incidents Responded To
20+
Years of Experience
100+
Assessments Completed
What Our Clients Say
Trusted by firms who can't afford to get this wrong.
Cameron Eghbali - U.S. Games Dist.
"As a mid-size company, we didn’t have the resources for a full-time CISO. Purple Shield’s vCISO gave us top-tier leadership and a clear roadmap to strengthen our security while scaling our business."
Brian Cohen - Q&A Manufacturing
"We don’t have the budget for a full-time CISO, so having Purple Shield as our vCISO has been a lifesaver. They translated all the security jargon into plain English and gave us a clear plan we could actually follow. I finally feel like we know where we stand and what to do next."
Joe Mobassernia - Mobassernia, P.C.
We were scaling faster than we could keep up with, constantly adding people and systems, and security was the thing nobody owned. We needed someone to just take it off our plate and keep us safe while we grew. Purple Shield stepped in and ran the whole program, set up the right controls, and grew the security side right alongside us.
What You Can Count On
How we show up for clients
Strategy
Tailored cybersecurity strategies built for your business.
Clear
Actionable guidance without unnecessary complexity or jargon.
Experienced
Real-world expertise in threat management and compliance.
Supportive
Ongoing partnership that integrates with your team and goals.
Future-Focused
We help you prepare for what's next.
Senior security leadership, on demand.
Let's talk about where your business stands today. We'll talk through where your firm is exposed and the first steps that matter most — in plain English, with no sales agenda.