How to Start Your Own Cybersecurity Consulting Business : First-Hand Lessons From a Burned-Out Ex-CISO

The burnout rate of a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is pegged at about 16 months. In other words, that is what the average tenure of a CISO is at a business. At the end of their stay, many CISOs look for totally different avenues of work, or they try something else – namely starting their own Cybersecurity Consulting business. Although a CISO might have the skill and knowledge set to go it alone, it takes careful planning to launch a successful Cyber Consulting business. This ranges all the way from developing a business plan to choosing the specific area in Cybersecurity that they want to serve. How to Start Your Own Cybersecurity Consulting Business: First-Hand Lessons from a Burned-Out Ex-CISO is written by an author who has real-world experience in launching a Cyber Consulting company. It is all-encompassing, with coverage spanning from selecting which legal formation is most suitable to which segment of the Cybersecurity industry should be targeted. The book is geared specifically towards the CISO that is on the verge of a total burnout or career change. It explains how CISOs can market their experience and services to win and retain key customers. It includes a chapter on how certification can give a Cybersecurity consultant a competitive edge and covers the five top certifications in information security: CISSP, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA CySA+, CSSP, and CISM. The book’s author has been in the IT world for more than 20 years and has worked for numerous companies in corporate America. He has experienced CISO burnout. He has also started two successful Cybersecurity companies. This book offers his own unique perspective based on his hard-earned lessons learned and shows how to apply them in creating a successful venture. It also covers the pitfalls of starting a consultancy, how to avoid them, and how to bounce back from any that prove unavoidable. This is the book for burned-out former CISOs to rejuvenate themselves and their careers by launching their own consultancies. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgments About the Author Chapter 1 Introduction – The CISO About Myself What the C-Suite Is The C-Suite Roles The Role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) The Role of the vCISO The Key Differences between the vCISO and the CISO The Benefits of the vCISO Other Related CISO Roles The Role of the vPO The Role of the vCCO The Role of the CISO Security Operations Cyber Risk and Cyber Resiliency Defining Cyber Risk How to Manage Cybersecurity Risk Introduction – What Exactly Is Cyber Resiliency? An Example of Cyber Resiliency How the Definition of Cyber Resiliency Was Met What Is the Difference between Cyber Resiliency and Cyber Security? The NIST Special Publication 800-160 Volume 2 Data Loss The Data Breach Top Five Tips to Avoid a Data Breach Internal Fraud Prevention How to Avoid Internal Fraud Identity and Access Management Biometrics and Identity Management Introduction What Biometrics Is All About How Biometrics Can Confirm Your Identity Biometrics as a Replacement to the Password An Introduction to the Zero Trust Framework Introduction What Exactly Is Zero Trust? How to Implement the Zero Trust Framework The Advantages of the Zero Trust Framework Third-Party and Vendor Risk Management How to Manage Third-Party Risk Introduction The Types of Third-Party Risks How to Manage Third-Party Risks The Importance of Vendor Compliance Management Introduction What Is Vendor Compliance? The Components Investigations and Forensics The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Digital Forensics How It Is Being Used Governance Understanding IT Governance, Risk, and Compliance Introduction What Exactly Do They Mean? Other Factors That Keep the CISO Up at Night What the CISO Can Do to Improve the Odds of Tenure The Quantitative Backup Further Reading Chapter 2 The Business Plan What Should I Focus My Business On? Choosing the Legal Business Entity The Different Kinds of Entities The LLC The S Corporation The C Corporation Getting the FEIN Number Your Business’s Website Establishing Payment Terms and Hiring Employees Setting Up Payment Terms Hiring New Employees Do I Need a Brick-and-Mortar Presence? The Financial Components of the Business Plan The Profit and Loss Statement The Cash Flow Statement The Break-Even Point Further Reading Chapter 3 Launching the Threat-Hunting Business Introduction A Formal Definition of Proactive Threat Hunting The Process of Proactive Threat Hunting and Its Components Hiring Your Threat Hunting Team Level 1 Questions Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Level 2 Questions Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Level 3 Questions Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 The Characteristics of a Good Threat Hunter The Value of a Good Threat Hunter Launching the Threat Hunting Exercise The Risk Assessment – What Needs to Be Examined Determining What to Hunt For and How Often Launching the Threat Hunting Remediation Exercise Determining the Effectiveness of the Threat Hunting Exercise Further Reading Chapter 4 Staying Ahead of the Competition The Top Five Certs The Different Ways to Prepare for a Cybersecurity Certification Be On Top of the Hiring Curve Introduction What Is the Solution??? Further Reading Index "How to Start Your Own Cybersecurity Consulting Business: First-Hand Lessons from a Burned-Out Ex-CISO is written by an author that has real world experience in launching a cyber consulting company. It is all encompassing, with coverage spanning from selecting which legal formation is most suitable to which segment of the cybersecurity industry should be targeted. The book is geared specifically towards the CISO that is on the verge of a total burnout or career change. It explains how CISOs can market their experience and services to win and retain key customers. It includes a chapter on how certification can give a cybersecurity consultant a competitive edge and covers the five top certifications in information security: CISSP, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA CySA+, CSSP, and CISM. The book's author has been in the IT world for more than 20 years and has worked for numerous companies in corporate America. He has experienced CISO burn-out. He has also started two successful cybersecurity companies. The book offers his own unique perspective based on his hard-earned lessons learned and shows how to apply them in creating a successful venture. It also covers the pitfalls of starting a consultancy, how to avoid them, and how to bounce back from any that prove unavoidable. This is the book for burned-out former CISOs to rejuvenate themselves and their careers by launching their own consultancy"-- Provided by publisher. The book's author has been in the IT world for over 20 years and worked for numerous companies in Corporate America. He has experienced CISO burn-out. He also started two successful Cybersecurity companies and will offer his own unique perspective on the lessons and pitfalls learned, and how to apply them in creating a successful venture.