Managed Information Security (GRC) and Fractional vCISO Leadership, delivered together as one managed service.
Most organisations already have someone looking after the technology. What is usually missing is the governance that keeps it defensible and the senior leadership that keeps it pointed at the right risks. Our managed security services cover both: an expert-run information security, risk and compliance function, and a fractional Chief Information Security Officer to direct it. Scaled to your size and sector, without the cost of a full-time security team.
Two managed services. One accountable partner.
Our managed services portfolio has two service lines. They are designed to run together, and most clients take both, but each can also stand on its own where that is the right fit for your organisation. Both are delivered on an ongoing, subscription basis by senior practitioners, with a single point of accountability.
Managed Information Security (GRC)
The engine room of your security programme, run for you.
An ongoing, expert-led service that operates the governance, risk and compliance function most organisations struggle to staff. We do the work so that your policies match how you actually operate, your risk register is current, and your evidence is ready before an auditor, a regulator or a customer asks for it.
- Information security management system design, operation and maturity improvement, aligned to ISO 27001, NCSC CAF or NIST CSF
- Risk management: risk register, assessments, treatment plans and tracking to closure
- Compliance assessments, gap analysis, remediation plans and ongoing support for Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO 27001, NHS DSPT, NIS2, IEC 62443, GDPR and DORA
- Policy, standard and regulatory document sets (ISMS, RMADS, SyOps) kept current
- Supply chain and third-party assurance, monitoring and due diligence
- Vulnerability and exposure management oversight and reporting
- Tailored awareness training and phishing simulation programmes
- Legal, regulatory and threat horizon scanning specific to your sector
- Audit preparation, evidence packs and audit-day support
Fractional CISO / vCISO
Senior security leadership, on the terms your organisation needs.
A senior security leader who works as part of your leadership team for an agreed number of days each month. They own the security strategy, translate risk into decisions your board can make, and hold every supplier, including your IT provider or security operations partner, to account.
- Security strategy, roadmap and risk appetite, agreed with the board
- Board and executive reporting in plain business language
- Security architecture direction and investment prioritisation
- Oversight, performance review and challenge of your MSP, MSSP and other security suppliers
- Representing you to auditors, regulators, customers and in tenders
- Incident and crisis leadership, with oversight of your technical responders
- Interim cover for mandated security roles while you recruit
- Capability development and mentoring for your internal team
Hands, brain and compass: how it fits with your MSP or MSSP
A managed security service from Clear Path Security does not replace your IT provider or your security operations centre. It completes them. A simple way to think about the three layers:
Hands on the keyboard
Tooling, patching, monitoring, alerts and first response. Essential, and usually already in place. We work alongside them, not instead of them.
The operating system
Policies, risk, compliance, supplier assurance and evidence. The layer that turns technical activity into something you can demonstrate, defend and improve.
The brain and the compass
Direction, priorities, trade-offs and accountability. The layer that makes sure everything else is pointed at the risks that actually matter to your business.
Together, the two managed services make sure that:
- your tools and suppliers are aligned to business risk, not just to what the tooling happens to do well
- reports lead to decisions, rather than sitting unread in an inbox
- security supports your compliance and commercial goals instead of competing with them
- your leadership team genuinely understands its exposure and the trade-offs it is accepting
What a vCISO adds that tooling and monitoring cannot
Even a very good MSP or MSSP is scoped to run the technology. The four things below sit outside that scope, and they are what decide whether a security programme is defensible when it is tested.
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Strategy and direction
A vCISO sets priorities, defines your risk tolerance and builds a roadmap. Security stops being a series of reactions to the latest alert or audit finding and becomes a deliberate programme with a destination and a budget that can be justified.
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Risk interpretation for your leadership team
Technical output is translated into business risk, financial exposure and regulatory consequence. Executives do not need another dashboard. They need to know what matters, what it would cost, and what they are choosing to accept.
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Compliance and audit alignment
Your provider’s service is mapped to the actual requirements of ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, NCSC CAF, NIST CSF or your regulator, so you do not end up passing monitoring and failing the audit.
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Supplier oversight and accountability
Performance is reviewed, tool effectiveness is validated, assumptions are challenged, and services are made to evolve as your risks and your business change. An independent leader with no product to sell is the right person to hold that line.
What the managed GRC service takes off your plate
Governance, risk and compliance is the work that decides audit outcomes and customer due diligence, and it is the work internal teams rarely have time to do consistently. We run it as a service, on a cadence agreed with you, and report on it in a form your board can use.
- Keeping the risk register honest, current and linked to real decisions
- Keeping policies aligned to how the business actually operates
- Chasing supplier questionnaires and assurance evidence to a conclusion
- Tracking remediation actions through to closure and reporting the trend
- Running awareness and phishing programmes and measuring the outcome
- Watching for regulatory and contractual change that affects you before it becomes urgent
An illustrative example: when the tools were fine and the audit still went badly
This example is illustrative rather than a specific client, but the pattern is one we see regularly.
A mid-sized UK manufacturer had a capable MSSP running monitoring and response. Alerts were being handled and the tooling was sound. When an ISO 27001 surveillance audit and a major customer’s supplier security assessment landed in the same quarter, the picture looked different. The risk assessment had not been reviewed in eighteen months, several policies described controls that no longer matched operations, and the senior team could not explain why certain risks had been accepted or by whom.
They engaged us on a managed basis. The vCISO re-prioritised the risk register against the business, redefined what the MSSP should report and to whom, and set a twelve-month roadmap the board could stand behind. The managed GRC service brought the policy set into line with reality, closed the compliance gaps and prepared the evidence for both assessments.
The MSSP stayed exactly where it was. What changed was direction and governance.
Who does what: it is not either-or
This is not a competition between your existing provider and a managed security service. It is a clear division of responsibilities, with each layer doing what it is best placed to do.
| Function | Your MSP / MSSP | Clear Path Managed Information Security (GRC) | Clear Path Fractional CISO / vCISO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tool and infrastructure management | Delivers | Assures | Directs |
| Monitoring and alerting | Delivers | Not in scope | Sets reporting requirements |
| Incident response | Delivers (technical) | Runs the process and lessons learned | Leads and oversees |
| Risk assessment and treatment | Not in scope | Delivers | Owns risk appetite |
| Policies, standards and the ISMS | Not in scope | Delivers | Sponsors and approves |
| Compliance and audit readiness | Provides evidence | Delivers | Represents you to auditors |
| Supply chain assurance | Not in scope | Delivers | Sets requirements |
| Security strategy and roadmap | Not in scope | Supports | Delivers |
| Board and executive reporting | Not in scope | Supports | Delivers |
Why this model works for UK SMBs and regulated organisations
Most small and mid-sized organisations do not need a full-time CISO, and very few can justify a permanent governance, risk and compliance team. What they do need is strategic oversight, regular senior input, and governance that is ready for an audit, a tender or a regulator at short notice. Our managed services provide exactly that without adding headcount, on a footprint that scales from a few days a month to a full programme.
It tends to suit:
- Regulated SMBs working towards or maintaining ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, NIS2, DORA or sector-specific schemes
- Charities, education providers and local authorities with mandated security roles to fill and limited budget to fill them
- Organisations in defence, nuclear, energy and industrial supply chains facing customer-driven assurance demands
- IT and security service providers who need independent governance and leadership to reinforce their own offering to clients
Why Clear Path Security
Leadership tested in demanding environments. Our senior practitioners have run security programmes in some of the most tightly regulated parts of the UK economy, including defence and civil nuclear, energy, manufacturing and logistics, automotive and industrial control systems, education, local government and the emergency services. That is the experience your organisation gets on a fractional basis.
Qualified and vetted. Our consultants are appropriately vetted and hold recognised qualifications such as CISSP, CISM and ISO 27001 Lead Implementer or Lead Auditor. Our lead practitioner holds Full Membership of the Chartered Institute of Information Security.
Independent and vendor-neutral. We sell no products and take no commission. Our advice is standards-aligned and judged solely on what is right for your organisation, which is exactly what you need from the people overseeing your suppliers.
Commercially flexible. Pay monthly, quarterly or annually. Scale the engagement up or down as your needs change. No long-term lock-ins and no convoluted exit terms.
Regulation-ready. Keep mandated security positions filled on a fixed-term basis while you recruit, and stay ahead of emerging regulation through proactive horizon scanning built into the service.
Scalable delivery. A trusted network of specialist partners lets us bring in additional capability when a project demands it, without compromising on quality or assurance.
How an engagement typically runs
Discovery call
We learn about your business, current suppliers, obligations and pressures. No obligation on either side.
Baseline
A rapid maturity and gap review establishes where you are today and what matters most.
Agree the service
The mix of managed GRC and vCISO days, the reporting cadence, and a first-year roadmap.
Run and report
The service operates on the agreed cadence, with board-level reporting and a quarterly review of scope.