Virtual CISO Services — Vancouver, BC

Enterprise security.
Without the
enterprise cost.

Your organisation faces real cyber risk. A full-time CISO costs $180,000+ a year. Blackswan CISO gives you the security leadership you need — at a fraction of that price.

Book a free 30-min call View service packages
Why SMBs choose virtual CISO
83%
of SMBs lack a dedicated security leader
Yet regulators, insurers, and enterprise customers increasingly require evidence of a formal security program.
$3K
starting monthly retainer
vs. $180,000–$220,000 annually for a full-time hire. Same expertise. No benefits, no equity, no hiring risk.
1wk
to get started
Sign, pay the onboarding fee, and your first advisory session is booked within days — not months.
The problem

You know you need security leadership. Hiring isn't the answer.

Most 50–500 person companies are caught between "we need this" and "we can't justify the headcount."

Cyber insurance is demanding more

Insurers now require documented security programs, incident response plans, and risk registers before renewal. "We have an IT guy" doesn't cut it.

Enterprise customers are asking harder questions

Security questionnaires, vendor assessments, and SOC 2 requirements are now standard in any B2B sales process. Every unanswered question costs you the deal.

One breach changes everything

The average cost of a data breach for a Canadian SMB exceeds $4M. Ransomware recovery alone can take months. A proactive program is cheaper than the alternative.

Service packages

Security leadership that scales with your needs — helping you prepare for Blackswan events

Foundation
Blackswan Essentials
$3,000/mo
+ GST · 3-month minimum
  • Monthly 60-min vCISO advisory session
  • Security policy library (drafted & reviewed)
  • Risk register — initial build + quarterly updates
  • Gap analysis vs. NIST CSF
  • Incident response plan
  • Vendor questionnaire support (up to 2/mo)
  • Email access for urgent questions
  • Monthly security threat briefing
Ideal for 50–150 employee companies
Most Popular
Blackswan Growth
$5,500/mo
+ GST · 3-month minimum
  • Bi-weekly advisory sessions (2×60 min)
  • Everything in Essentials, plus:
  • 12-month security program roadmap
  • SOC 2 Type II or PCI-DSS or NIST CSF compliance mapping
  • Quarterly board / executive reporting deck
  • Vendor risk management program
  • Pen test scoping + findings review
  • Vendor questionnaire support (up to 5/mo)
  • Slack / Teams channel access
Ideal for 150–350 employees, active compliance needs
Enterprise
Blackswan CISO as a Service
$11,599/mo
+ GST · 3-month minimum
  • Weekly sessions + priority access
  • Everything in Growth, plus:
  • Multi-framework compliance (SOC 2 + PCI-DSS)
  • Board presentation attendance virtual (up to 4/yr)
  • Tabletop exercise facilitation (2/yr)
  • BCDR plan oversight
  • Security hiring / tool evaluation support
  • Vendor questionnaire support 8/month
  • Annual security program review report
Ideal for 350-500 employees, regulated industries

All packages include a one-time security assessment fee ($1,199). Annual retainer: 10% discount. Prices in CAD.

Why virtual CISO

The smarter way to run a security program

01

You own everything from day one

Your deliverables are yours from day one. No vendor lock-in, no black box. If you ever part ways, you walk away with a complete security program.

02

Frameworks built in, not bolted on

SOC 2, NIST CSF, and PCI-DSS — your compliance work maps to these automatically using purpose-built GRC tooling. No Excel spreadsheets. No version conflicts.

03

A real practitioner, not a generalist

Enterprise cybersecurity management experience, not a compliance checkbox vendor. You get a security professional who has built programs from the ground up and can talk credibly to your board, auditors, and insurers.

04

Your program grows as your business does

Start with Security Essentials and upgrade to a full Security Program when you hit an audit, a compliance deadline, or an enterprise customer's vendor requirements. The foundation we build together makes every step up faster and cheaper.

Full-Time CISO Blackswan vCISO
Annual cost $180K–$220K + benefits From $36K/yr
Time to start 3–6 months to hire Within 1 week
Framework expertise Varies by candidate SOC 2, NIST CSF, PCI-DSS
Flexibility Fixed headcount Tier up/down quarterly
Termination risk Severance, notice period 30-day notice, no severance
Data ownership Employment dependent You own everything, always
How it works

Up and running in weeks, not months

Step 01

Free discovery call

30 minutes. We talk about your current security posture, compliance needs, and what keeps you up at night. No pitch, just conversation.

Step 02

Proposal & agreement

I send a tailored proposal within 48 hours. Sign and pay the onboarding fee — the whole process takes about 10 minutes.

Step 03

Onboarding & gap analysis

Kickoff call within a week. I send an intake questionnaire beforehand so we hit the ground running. Initial gap analysis delivered by week two.

Step 04

Ongoing program delivery

Monthly advisory cadence, continuous risk register updates, policy library, compliance tracking — all in a client portal you control.

Frameworks & standards covered

SOC 2 Type II
NIST CSF
PCI-DSS
CIS Controls
About
Warren Mok headshot
Based in
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Serving clients worldwide
Your Virtual CISO

Warren Mok
vCISO

I've spent the last 10 years as overseeing Cyber Security and IT at Public and Private organisations, building security programs, managing risk, and helping teams navigate compliance frameworks from the inside.

I started Blackswan CISO because I kept meeting founders and operations leaders who knew they needed security leadership but couldn't justify a full-time hire. That gap is exactly what this practice is designed to fill.

Certification — CISSP / CISM / CISA
10 years in cybersecurity
Experience in public and private industries
Extensive hands-on experience leading SOC 2 Type II and PCI-DSS compliance programs, and NIST CSF-centered cybersecurity programs
Based in Vancouver — serving clients worldwide
Book a free call

Ready to build a
real security program?

Book a free 30-minute discovery call. No commitment, no pitch deck — just an honest conversation about where you are and what you need.

Book your free call

Get in touch

Email
warrenm@blackswanciso.com
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/warrenwkmok
Location

Vancouver, BC — serving clients worldwide