Remote SupportSecurity leadership
Someone senior who owns your security, without a full-time hire.
Clients send security questionnaires. Insurers ask harder questions every renewal. Your board wants to know if you are safe. Most businesses our size have nobody whose job it is to answer.
With a virtual CISO, you get a senior security leader on a monthly retainer. They write your plan, report to your leadership, and take the lead when something goes wrong. Your IT stays with Real Bytes.
What changes
When these moments come, you are not on your own.
A big client sends a security questionnaire
We fill it in with you, using written policies and evidence you already have, so the deal does not stall on due diligence.
Your cyber insurance renewal lands
We answer the insurer's questions and show them what is in place, so you are not guessing on a form that affects your cover.
The board asks "are we secure?"
Every quarter you get a short written report: what the risks are, what changed, what is next and what it costs.
Something goes wrong
We lead the response: who to call, what to tell staff, clients and your insurer, and whether you must report it to the OAIC.
Who does what
One team sets the standard. The other does the work.
The role of virtual CISO is held by Aegis Cybersecurity, an independent practice. Keeping it separate means you hear the truth about progress, not a sales pitch.
Sets the standard
Aegis Cybersecurity
- Reviews where you stand today
- Chooses the right framework for you
- Writes the security plan and priorities
- Reports independently to your leadership
Does the work
Real Bytes
- Runs Microsoft 365, sign-ins and devices
- Watches for attacks around the clock
- Handles backups, updates and fixes
- Collects the evidence auditors ask for
What happens
Your first year.
- Month 1
Where you stand
A full review of your security, people and suppliers. You get a written report and a ranked list of risks.
- Months 2 to 3
The plan
A 12 to 24 month plan tied to what your clients, insurer and regulators expect, with costs for each step.
- Every month
Steady progress
A working session with your leadership and a quarterly report for the board.
- Every year
Reset
A formal review against how the business and the threats have changed, and a refreshed plan.
What a quarterly vCISO board paper actually contains.
The output of the vCISO programme is not a slide deck. It is a written board paper a director can read in twenty minutes and an engineer can deliver from. Six sections, every quarter, same shape. Below is the section structure and an excerpt from a recent paper, sanitised for confidentiality.
Quarterly cadence
Length
12 to 18 pages
Audience
Board and audit
Prepared by
Aegis (vCISO)
Evidence by
Real Bytes
Executive summary
Half-page director-readable summary covering posture direction, top three risks, programme progress and any escalation items. Written in business language, not engineering language.
Risk register movement
The top five to seven technology risks named, owned, rated and trended quarter on quarter. Tied back to specific operational scenarios, not abstract categories.
Security posture against the framework
Quarter-on-quarter movement against the published framework selected for the business: Essential Eight, SMB1001, ISO 27001 or NIST CSF. Controls that moved, controls deferred and the reasoning behind each.
Programme delivery and roadmap
What was delivered this quarter, what is in flight, what is planned for the next two quarters. Each item linked back to a risk, a strategic objective or a regulatory obligation.
Incidents and lessons
All incidents this quarter, including minor ones, with severity classification, mean time to detect, mean time to recover, and the specific lessons fed into the roadmap.
Forward signals
Emerging threats and regulatory changes relevant to the business in the next 90 days. Names the decisions the board will need to make at the next sitting.
Excerpt: Q3 quarterly summary
SanitisedFirst paper lands at the end of month three of the engagement.
The questions we get asked the most.
- What is a virtual CISO?
- A senior security leader you share rather than hire. They set your security plan, answer to your leadership and board, and step in when something goes wrong, for a monthly fee instead of a full-time executive salary.
- Why is the advisor a separate company?
- So the people checking the work are not the people doing it. Aegis Cybersecurity sets the standard and reports on progress. Real Bytes runs your systems against it. You get an honest view, not a provider marking its own homework.
- Which frameworks do you work to?
- Whichever fits your business: the ASD Essential Eight, SMB1001:2026 through CyberCert, ISO/IEC 27001, APRA CPS 234 for financial services and the Privacy Act. We pick one to start with rather than chasing all of them.
- Who is this for?
- Businesses of roughly 20 to 150 staff that face security questions from clients, insurers or a board but do not need a full-time security executive. Law firms, accountants, brokers, schools and community housing providers are typical.
- Is there a lock-in contract?
- No. Like all Real Bytes services there is no lock-in contract and you are billed in arrears. We earn the next month by being useful this month.
- Do you work outside Brisbane?
- Yes. The work is done remotely with on-site visits where they help, and we have people in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Albury. A business in any Australian city gets the same advisor, reports and support.
Tired of guessing on security questions?
Tell us who is asking and what they want. We will tell you honestly whether a virtual CISO is the right fit or if something smaller will do.