Fractional CISO Services

A senior CISO a few days a month, not a full-time hire. Program strategy, board-ready reporting, SOC 2, ISO 27001, and CMMC alignment, and a named leader when incidents hit.
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Definition

What is a fractional CISO?

A fractional CISO is a senior security executive who runs your program a few days a month instead of joining payroll. You get the judgment of someone who has owned security before: strategy, board reporting, compliance alignment, and incident leadership, without the full-time cost. Some buyers call this a virtual CISO; see our vCISO services. Others buy it as CISO as a service. The label matters less than the outcome: a program that runs on a cadence and answers enterprise buyers without flinching.

Services

What does a fractional CISO do?

Security program build
Board and customer reporting
Compliance alignment
Incident leadership
Vendor and tooling rationalization
A defined 90-day arc

Security program build

A roadmap, policies, and controls that match how you actually work. No binder-ware: every control gets an owner, a cadence, and a metric that shows whether it is operating.

Board and customer reporting

Metrics executives can act on and answers enterprise buyers accept. Your CISO presents to the board, joins customer security calls, and owns the questionnaire pile.

Compliance alignment

SOC 2, ISO 27001, CMMC, and HIPAA driven from one program and one control set. Evidence gets collected once and reused, so each new framework costs less than the last.

Incident leadership

When it happens, someone senior owns it: containment calls, communications to customers and counsel, and a post-incident review that actually changes something.

Vendor and tooling rationalization

Security stacks accrete. We map what you own against what you need, cut overlapping spend, and make the surviving tools earn their renewal.

A defined 90-day arc

Assess in the first month, prioritize in the second, operate by the third. You see the roadmap by week six and a running cadence by day 90.

Our approach

Our approach

01

Days 1 to 30: assess

Inventory the risks, controls, obligations, and tooling you already have. Meet the team, read the contracts, and bank the quick wins that need no budget.

02

Days 31 to 60: prioritize

A roadmap ordered by risk and revenue impact, not by framework chapter. The board sees a plan with costs, owners, and dates by week six.

03

Days 61 to 90: operate

The cadence starts: control operation, metrics, vendor reviews, and a standing security agenda. By day 90 the program runs on a calendar, not on memory.

04

Own the security narrative

Board decks in business terms, customer security calls handled by someone with authority, and questionnaire answers a named executive stands behind.

contact us

Need security leadership before the next board meeting?

Talk with BD Emerson about your risks, your buyers, and what a senior CISO can change in the first 90 days.

Our Advantage

Why BD Emerson for security leadership

Operators, not observers

Our CISOs have run programs through audits, incidents, and enterprise deals. The advice comes from having owned the outcome, not from a framework poster.

Compliance muscle in-house

SOC 2, ISO 27001, CMMC, and privacy practices sit under the same roof. Your CISO pulls in implementers instead of referring you somewhere else.

Priced to scope

A flat monthly engagement sized to your risk and stage. Days scale up during an audit or incident and back down when the program stabilizes.

Reviews

What our customers say

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

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Our accreditations

At BD Emerson, we believe that our team's extensive certifications not only set us apart but also ensure that we provide the highest level of service to our clients.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Fractional or full-time CISO: which do we need?

What is included month to month?

How fast can you start?

Do you work alongside our auditors?

Fractional CISO versus CISO as a service: what is the difference?

How many days a month do we get?

Who actually does the work?

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