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By Zac Abdulkadir, President and CEO of Netready
July 2, 2025
Earlier this year, a fast-growing tech company in Burbank reached out to us in frustration. They had spent six months trying to hire a full-time Chief Security Officer. Despite offering a competitive salary, every qualified candidate either accepted other offers, demanded double the budget, or lacked the strategic experience the company needed. Meanwhile, the firm was expanding rapidly, onboarding new clients, and handling sensitive intellectual property. With no security leader in place, the executive team felt exposed. That is when they turned to Netready and discovered a smarter approach: hiring a virtual Chief Security Officer, or vCSO.
This is not an isolated story. Across every industry, companies are struggling to find, afford, and retain top-tier cybersecurity talent. The gap between the threats businesses face and the leadership available to manage those threats is widening. In this article, I will explore the roots of the cybersecurity talent shortage, its impact on small and mid-sized businesses, and why vCSOs are emerging as the go-to solution for effective, strategic security leadership.
A Talent Crisis with Real Consequences
The global cybersecurity workforce gap exceeded four million professionals in 2024. Despite growing budgets, most businesses cannot find qualified candidates to fill critical roles. The problem is not just a lack of technical skills. It is a shortage of leaders who can translate cybersecurity risk into business strategy.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) feel this gap the most. They compete with Fortune 500 companies for a limited pool of Chief Security Officers, cybersecurity architects, and compliance experts. Even when they do attract talent, retention is a challenge. Security professionals face high burnout, constant pressure, and evolving threat landscapes. The result? Many businesses operate with major blind spots, reactive postures, and increased exposure to ransomware, regulatory penalties, and reputational harm.
Why Hiring a Full-Time CSO is No Longer Practical
A full-time Chief Security Officer brings undeniable value. They set strategy, manage risk, ensure compliance, and lead incident response. But for most small and mid-sized businesses, hiring one is not realistic. The total compensation package often exceeds $250,000 annually. Add training, benefits, and the time it takes to fill the role, and the costs climb even higher.
The risk of over-investing in the wrong hire is also high. A single misalignment between your business culture and a security leader can delay progress by months and stall key initiatives.
That is why more companies are rethinking their approach and turning to vCSOs.
What Makes a vCSO the Ideal Solution?
A virtual Chief Security Officer delivers the same strategic leadership as an in-house CSO but on a fractional or subscription basis. This allows businesses to access high-level expertise without the full-time price tag.
At Netready, our vCSO service embeds a seasoned security executive into your organization. We lead security governance, design risk management frameworks, align your systems with compliance standards, and respond to threats. Whether your company is in finance, healthcare, legal, or retail, our vCSO customizes strategy to your business model, not the other way around.
How vCSOs Close the Leadership Gap
- Access to Senior Expertise Immediately
Instead of spending months on recruitment, our clients get instant access to a vetted cybersecurity leader. This means critical decisions, like building an incident response plan or addressing compliance gaps, do not have to wait. - Scalable Security Leadership
Whether you need strategic input once a quarter or regular oversight every week, a vCSO engagement scales with your needs and budget. This is especially useful for fast-growing companies or those preparing for audits, mergers, or digital transformations. - Industry-Specific Insight
Our vCSOs bring experience from multiple sectors, allowing us to apply best practices and threat intelligence across industries. A healthcare practice preparing for a HIPAA audit benefits from the same leadership that has guided financial firms through SOC 2 and PCI DSS requirements. - Resilience Through Retention
You do not lose your vCSO to burnout or turnover. Netready ensures continuity, institutional knowledge, and consistent strategy execution. Our team-based model also means backup support is always available.
Real-World Impact
One of our clients, a distribution company in Riverside, had been managing cybersecurity with a patchwork of tools and policies. They were preparing for a major client contract that required compliance with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Hiring a full-time Chief Security Officer was not feasible. Within 90 days of bringing on our vCSO, they had completed a full risk assessment, closed critical vulnerabilities, trained staff, and passed their client’s third-party security audit.
That level of transformation, delivered at a fraction of the cost and time of hiring internally, shows why vCSOs are not just a trend but a new standard in security leadership.
Future-Proofing Your Business
As the cybersecurity talent shortage continues, businesses cannot afford to wait for the perfect hire. Threats are escalating, and compliance requirements are tightening. Whether you are facing ransomware risks, client data concerns, or board-level accountability, you need a security leader who can act now.
A vCSO provides that leadership with the agility, affordability, and depth your business needs to stay secure and competitive.
The Road Ahead
The talent gap in cybersecurity is not going away anytime soon. But your business does not have to sit idle or take unnecessary risks. With a virtual Chief Security Officer, you can gain the strategic leadership needed to build resilience, maintain compliance, and respond effectively to cyber threats.
At Netready, we believe security should be proactive, not reactive. That starts with having the right leader at the table. If your business is ready to move forward with confidence, let’s explore how a vCSO can help you get there.
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Zac Abdulkadir
President and CEO of Netready
Zac Abdulkadir is a cybersecurity and compliance leader with over two decades of experience helping businesses navigate regulatory change and evolving threats. Featured in Cyber Crime Investigations and author of the bestselling Exposed to Secure, he leads Netready in transforming IT operations into secure, compliant, and business-aligned systems.
