Fractional CISO Services
Security leadership, without the full-time hire.
Stop making your IT manager, operations leader, or business owner carry the burden of cybersecurity. CyNtell's Fractional CISO service places a seasoned security executive inside your organization to own the security program from strategy through execution. We establish governance, develop policies, assess and manage risk, guide your IT team or MSP, and stand behind the program during audits, customer assessments, insurance reviews, and regulatory inquiries, ensuring your security efforts are both effective and defensible.
Serving commercial businesses, regulated industries, and government contractors nationwide. Typical response: same business day.
Program maturity, built from the bottom up
Definition
What is a Fractional CISO?
A Fractional CISO is your organization's outsourced security executive, responsible for building, managing, and maturing the cybersecurity program. From setting policies and managing risk to directing IT teams and supporting compliance initiatives, they provide the leadership needed to protect the business. When customers, auditors, insurers, or regulators ask how security is managed, the Fractional CISO stands behind the program and delivers clear, confident answers.
Also called a fractional CISO, outsourced CISO, virtual CISO, or vCISO. CyNtell uses "Fractional CISO" throughout this page.
The model exists because security leadership does not scale down cleanly. A 40-person company needs the same decisions a 4,000-person company needs, what to protect, what risk to accept, what to tell a customer, but it needs them a few days a month, not forty hours a week. CyNtell provides that executive, and the firm behind them, for the days it actually takes.
CyNtell Fractional CISO services at a glance
- Service
- Fractional CISO, fractional information security executive leadership
- Also called
- Outsourced CISO, Virtual CISO
- Who it is for
- Commercial, regulated, and government-contracting companies, most commonly 20 to 250 employees
- Engagement tiers
- Advisory (monthly session), Fractional (weekly, most common), Program-Led (multiple days per week)
- How it is billed
- Most common is a monthly retainer; optional hours actually used each month at an agreed rate, against an expected monthly hour range
- Time to start
- Typically within two weeks of a signed agreement, consultation usually the same week you reach out
- First deliverables
- Current-state assessment, scope diagram, and prioritized gap list, within the first 30 days
- Frameworks covered
- SOC 2, NIST CSF 2.0, HIPAA Security Rule, PCI DSS 4.0, ISO/IEC 27001, CMMC 2.0, NIST SP 800-171, DFARS 252.204-7012, FAR 52.204-21
- Service area
- Nationwide in-person and remote
- CMMC limitation
- CyNtell will not serve as both Fractional CISO and CMMC certification assessor for the same client
- Contact
- 1 (833) CYNTELL, info@cyntell.com
Fractional CISO vs. IT provider
What does a Fractional CISO do that an MSP or IT provider doesn't?
An MSP or internal IT team operates technology, patching, backups, endpoints, and tickets. A Fractional CISO decides what the business is required to protect, sets the policies and risk tolerance, and holds the provider accountable to them. CyNtell's Fractional CISO keeps your IT team keeping the lights on, while deciding what "secure enough" means.
Most growing companies do not have a security problem, they have an ownership problem. The MSP patches servers, HR runs onboarding, sales fills in the security questionnaire, finance renews the cyber policy, and no single person is accountable for whether all of it adds up to a defensible program. That accountability is the job CyNtell's Fractional CISO fills.
Dashed line = advises and reports. Solid line = directs security work.
What changes in the first month of a Fractional CISO engagement
Accountability
One named executive answers for security, in your leadership meeting, on your customer's questionnaire, and in front of an auditor.
Scope
We define what the program actually has to cover, which systems, which data, and which obligations you have already signed up to, before you spend another dollar on tooling. Scope is what makes security affordable or ruinous.
Documented decisions
Risks get accepted, mitigated, or transferred on the record, with a name and a date, which is exactly what auditors and insurers ask for.
Priorities in order
A ranked plan of what to fix, in what quarter, at what cost, instead of a control list where everything is marked urgent.
Comparison
Fractional CISO vs. full-time CISO vs. MSP: which one do you need?
A Fractional CISO provides security leadership and accountability a few days a month, a full-time CISO provides the same leadership continuously at executive salary, and an MSP or MSSP provides technical operations but cannot own risk decisions or sign for the business. Most companies under roughly 250 employees need a Fractional CISO plus an MSP, not a CISO.
| Fractional CISO | Full-time CISO | MSP / MSSP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A security executive on contract, a few days a month | A salaried executive on your leadership team | A vendor that operates security technology |
| Owns risk decisions | Yes, recommends and documents, leadership formally accepts | Yes | No, operates to whatever standard you set |
| Signs a customer security questionnaire | Yes | Yes | No |
| Writes policy and governance | Yes | Yes | Rarely, and usually from a generic template |
| Patches servers and closes tickets | No, directs whoever does | No, hires a team to | Yes |
| Relative cost | Hours used per month, a fraction of an executive salary | Full executive salary, benefits, and often equity | Per-seat or per-device subscription |
| Typical fit | Roughly 20 to 250 employees, or a larger firm between CISO hires | Larger organizations, or any company where security is the product | Any size, as the operator underneath a Fractional CISO or CISO |
| Conflict to watch | Choose an advisor who is not also grading your work | None inherent | An MSP assessing its own configuration is not an independent review |
A Fractional CISO and an MSP are not alternatives to each other, they are two halves of one arrangement. CyNtell's Fractional CISO engagements normally sit above whatever provider you already use, and part of the job is holding that provider to the security requirements you are paying for.
Scope of the engagement
What is included in a Fractional CISO engagement?
CyNtell's Fractional CISO engagements cover eight standing responsibilities across three areas: governance (policy, risk management, audit readiness), technology (security architecture, IT and MSP oversight, monitoring strategy), and operations (third-party risk and reporting).
Every engagement is built from the same areas. Which ones CyNtell leads versus advises on depends on the tier you choose and what your business is actually being held to.
Security governance
The written program your auditors, customers, and insurers ask to see.
- Policies and procedures mapped to your framework
- Roles, authority, and approval paths
- Annual review and change control
Risk management
A living register, not a spreadsheet from two years ago.
- Risk assessment and scoring
- Treatment decisions with named owners
- Leadership risk-acceptance memos
Audit and compliance readiness
Getting you actually ready, before anyone scores you.
- Gap assessment against your control set
- Security plan authoring and remediation tracking
- Auditor, assessor, and questionnaire support
Security architecture
Design review before the invoice, not after the breach.
- Segmentation and sensitive-data boundaries
- Identity, MFA, and privileged access
- Cloud configuration review, Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS, Google
IT and MSP oversight
We hold your provider to the security requirements you are paying for.
- Control-by-control responsibility matrix
- Ticket and change review cadence
- Vulnerability and patch SLAs
Monitoring strategy
Deciding what you must log, keep, and actually watch.
- Logging and retention requirements
- SOC integration and escalation
- Alert tuning priorities
Third-party risk
Your vendors' weaknesses become your incident. Handle it as a process.
- Vendor security review workflow
- Subcontractor and downstream obligations
- Contract security language review
Reporting
Translating security into the language your board and your customers buy.
- Monthly program dashboard
- Board and customer briefings
- Security questionnaire and RFP responses
The first 90 days
What happens in the first 90 days of a Fractional CISO engagement?
Days 1 to 30 are discovery: interviews, contract and regulatory review, data flow mapping, and a gap assessment. Days 31 to 60 establish the program on paper: policies, a risk register, a responsibility matrix with your IT provider, and a costed remediation roadmap. Days 61 to 90 make it operate: security plan, remediation tracking, a monthly review cadence, and the first dashboard to ownership.
Scope before controls, controls before tooling. Skipping that order is the single most expensive mistake CyNtell sees companies make.
Find out what's true
- Stakeholder interviews across IT, HR, legal, and operations
- Review of the obligations you have already signed, customer contracts, regulations, insurance conditions
- Data flow mapping and a draft scope boundary
- Gap assessment against your target control set
Current-state assessment, scope diagram, and a prioritized gap list.
Put the program on paper
- Policy set drafted, reviewed, and approved
- Risk register stood up with owners and dates
- Responsibility matrix agreed with your IT team or MSP
- Remediation roadmap costed by quarter
Approved policy library, risk register, and a budgeted remediation roadmap.
Make it run without us in the room
- Security plan authored and remediation tracking under management
- Monthly security review cadence in place
- Responsibility matrix operational with your provider
- First program dashboard to ownership
Security plan, live remediation tracker, and a repeating governance calendar.
Engagement tiers
How much Fractional CISO coverage does a company need?
CyNtell offers three levels. Advisory is a monthly working session for companies with capable internal IT. Fractional is a weekly cadence where CyNtell owns the program, the most common choice. Program-Led is multiple days a week for companies facing an audit, a major deal, or remediation on a deadline.
Same executive, different depth. Most clients start at Fractional and step up ahead of an audit, an assessment, or a major deal, then step back down once the program is steady.
Advisory
You have someone capable running security day to day and need senior judgment on call.
Fractional
You need the program owned and moving, with a named executive your customers can talk to.
Program-Led
You are heading into an audit, a major deal, or remediation with a hard deadline.
Tier 1: You are billed for the hours actually used each month, no flat retainer and no paying for time you did not need. We agree an expected monthly hour range for your tier up front, report hours against it, and flag it before we go over. Tier 2 and 3: You pay a monthly retainer, and we manage the level of effort based on specific outcomes as mutually agreed upon. No need to worry about tracking hours as our executive-level advisor will spend as much time as required to meet set requirements.
Frameworks we lead against
Which security frameworks does CyNtell's Fractional CISO practice cover?
CyNtell leads Fractional CISO engagements against SOC 2, NIST CSF 2.0, the HIPAA Security Rule, PCI DSS 4.0.1, and ISO/IEC 27001 on the commercial side, and CMMC 2.0, NIST SP 800-171, DFARS 252.204-7012, and FAR 52.204-21 on the government side. One program is built and mapped to all frameworks that apply.
Most companies answer to more than one authority at once, a customer's security review, an insurer's questionnaire, a regulator, a contract clause. CyNtell builds one program and maps it to all of them, so you are not maintaining three sets of documentation that say slightly different things.
Commercial and regulated
Where customers, insurers, and regulators set the bar
Government and defense
Where the requirements arrive as contract clauses
Why these frameworks assume someone holds the security role
The Fractional CISO model is not a workaround. Several of the standards companies are measured against name a security leader directly:
PCI DSS 4.0.1 names the role outright. Requirement 12.1.4 states that responsibility for information security must be formally assigned to a chief information security officer or another security-knowledgeable member of executive management.
PCI Security Standards CouncilThe HIPAA Security Rule requires a designated security official. 45 CFR 164.308(a)(2) obliges covered entities and business associates to identify the person responsible for developing and implementing their security policies and procedures.
U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesNIST CSF 2.0 made governance a top-level function. The February 2024 update added "Govern" alongside Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover, an explicit signal that who decides matters as much as what is deployed.
NISTNIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 carries 110 security requirements across 14 families, the control set CMMC Level 2 assessments are scored against. Nobody manages 110 requirements without an owner.
NIST Computer Security Resource CenterDFARS 252.204-7012 gives you 72 hours. Contractors must rapidly report a cyber incident affecting covered defense information to the Department of War within 72 hours of discovery, a deadline that is met by prior preparation, not by improvisation.
Acquisition.govWhy CyNtell
Why choose CyNtell as your Fractional CISO?
CyNtell works both sides of the table, as an advisor building security programs and as an Authorized C3PAO assessing them, so the firm knows which documentation survives scrutiny. Programs are sized for small and mid-sized companies, and the wider bench covers assessments, testing, monitoring, and training. Compliance is a byproduct of a working program, not the goal.
We know what evidence holds up
We sit on the audit side of the table as well as the advisory side, so we know which documentation survives scrutiny and which falls apart under questioning.
Small-business economics
We build programs sized for a 30-person company, not an enterprise with its own security department.
One firm, full bench
Fractional CISO, gap assessments, penetration testing, SOC monitoring, and workforce training under one roof.
Straight answers
If a control does not apply to your business, we say so and document why, instead of selling you a tool for it.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions about Fractional CISO services
What does a Fractional CISO do that an IT provider doesn't?
An IT provider or MSP operates technology, patching, backups, endpoints, and tickets. A Fractional CISO decides what the business is required to protect, sets the policies and risk tolerance, and then holds the provider accountable to them. The clearest test: when a customer sends a security questionnaire, an MSP cannot sign it. A Fractional CISO can, and does.
Does CyNtell only provide Fractional CISO services to government contractors?
No. CyNtell's Fractional CISO clients include professional services, healthcare and life sciences, software and SaaS, financial services, manufacturing, and non-profit organizations alongside government contractors.
How is a Fractional CISO different from a full-time CISO?
A Fractional CISO brings the same seniority as a full-time chief information security officer but works fractional hours on contract, with no equity or executive benefits package, and with a firm behind the individual so the program does not stall when one person is unavailable.
What does a Fractional CISO engagement cost?
CyNtell bills Fractional CISO engagements for the hours actually used each month at an agreed rate rather than a flat retainer, against an expected monthly hour range set from headcount, number of environments, and compliance obligations.
How quickly can a Fractional CISO engagement start?
A CyNtell Fractional CISO engagement typically starts within two weeks of a signed agreement, with the initial consultation usually scheduled the same week a company reaches out.
Do I need a Fractional CISO to get CMMC certified?
CMMC does not require a company to have a Fractional CISO, but NIST SP 800-171 assigns responsibilities to a security role and CMMC assessors ask who holds it. A Fractional CISO closes the governance gap that causes most readiness failures.
Can CyNtell be my Fractional CISO and also perform my CMMC assessment?
No. CMMC ethics rules bar a C3PAO from performing a certification assessment on a client it has advised, so CMMC clients choose one relationship or the other at the outset. This does not affect commercial engagements.
Does CyNtell provide Fractional CISO services outside the Washington, DC area?
Yes. CyNtell is headquartered in the Washington, DC area and provides Fractional CISO services to clients nationwide, with on-site visits at kickoff, before audits, and as the engagement requires.
Who is accountable for security risk once a Fractional CISO is engaged?
Leadership still owns the risk. A Fractional CISO identifies risks, recommends treatment, and documents the decision, while the CEO, COO, or board formally accepts, mitigates, or transfers each one with a name and a date on the record.