7 Best Fractional CISO Companies 2026

Last updated: August 26, 2026

KORE1 ranks first among fractional CISO companies in 2026, placing security executives directly on your team as W-2 contractors with a 17-day median time to first qualified candidate. SideChannel is the strongest dedicated vCISO firm for mid-market companies that want former-CISO-only leadership. FRSecure leads on verified Clutch reviews among pure cybersecurity consulting firms, and Integris is the top pick for SMBs that want vCISO bundled with managed IT. Rankings use the Placement Authority Score, a 7-factor model drawing on independently sourced review, operational, and technology data.

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Quick Picks

• Best Overall: KORE1
• Best for Mid-Market vCISO Consulting: SideChannel
• Best for SMB + Managed IT Bundle: Integris
• Best for Enterprise / Global Programs: Kroll
• Best for Compliance-First Startups: Fractional CISO

Finding the right fractional CISO in 2026 is harder than it sounds. The category has two completely different products inside it. One is a consulting firm that sends you an advisor. The other is a staffing firm that places a security executive on your team as a contractor. Both get called “fractional CISO.” They’re not the same thing.

A fractional CISO is an experienced security executive engaged part-time — typically 10 to 40 hours per month — to own your security program, compliance frameworks, and board-level risk reporting without full-time headcount cost. The engagement model (consulting vs. staffing placement) determines how deeply they integrate, who owns liability, and what conversion to full-time looks like.

This matters for how your engagement is structured, who owns liability, how deeply that person integrates with your team, and whether you can convert them to full-time. If you need a named individual who sits in your leadership team, attends your board meetings, and carries your SOC 2 compliance program personally, the engagement model changes everything.

This guide ranks 7 fractional CISO companies using the Placement Authority Score, a 7-factor methodology developed for IT and professional staffing evaluation. Every score is built from publicly verifiable data.

Data collected: August 17, 2026.

How We Ranked These Fractional CISO Companies

Rankings use the Placement Authority Score. Seven criteria, each weighted by how much it actually predicts whether you get the right person in the right role — and whether they stay.

The scoring model rewards verified review signals weighted by platform credibility, documented AI and technology investment described in specific terms, operational evidence beyond marketing claims, and geographic presence you can actually verify — not just national coverage language on a website.

All 7 factors scored 0–10. Final score is out of 10.

Placement Authority Score — Full Data Table

Data sources (all collected August 17, 2026):

Fractional CISO Provider Comparison at a Glance

The 7 Best Fractional CISO Companies in 2026

1. KORE1 — The Staffing Approach to Fractional CISO Placement

Every other company on this list is a consulting firm. KORE1 isn’t. They place fractional CISOs the way a recruiting firm places executives — as W-2 contractors on your team, not as rotating advisors from a consulting bench. That distinction changes who owns your security program, how integrated the CISO is in your leadership, and what happens when things go wrong at 11pm.

Placement Authority Score: 8.66/10

Key Strengths

• 92% 12-month retention rate across all placements — a published figure most staffing firms won’t put in writing because they can’t back it up. It’s held across cybersecurity, data, engineering, and finance.
• 17-day median time from search kickoff to first qualified candidate submitted. Fractional CISO searches typically move faster than full-time executive searches: independent practitioners are already working, already have other clients, and can start inside a week of contract signature.
• Devin Hornick founded OCTP (Orange County Technology Professionals), the largest technology executive community in Southern California — CIOs, CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and security leaders at the CISO level. When a fractional CISO search opens, KORE1 reaches into that network first, not a cold LinkedIn search.
• ClearlyRated Best of Staffing Diamond designation for 5 consecutive years (2021–2025), both client and talent satisfaction categories. Diamond requires 5+ consecutive years above benchmark NPS scores. Fewer than 2% of US staffing agencies achieve it.
• Indeed 4.6/29 reviews (confirmed March 2026). Glassdoor 4.7/219 reviews — 23% above the staffing industry average of 3.8. 94% of employees recommend the company. Internal culture signal runs straight through to recruiter quality and ultimately to candidate quality.

Limitations

• Clutch review volume is still building (4.9 rating). Procurement teams that weight Clutch review history as a primary criterion will find less documented history than firms with 50+ reviews. The score is real; the volume isn’t there yet.
• The staffing model doesn’t include managed security operations. KORE1 places the executive. Monitoring, MSSP, and security tooling sit with whoever you’ve already engaged for that work.
• If your procurement team requires a consulting statement of work rather than a staffing contract, the paperwork structure is different from what a pure consulting firm produces.

Best For: Companies between 50–500 employees that need a named fractional CISO embedded on their team, not a consulting firm’s advisor. Especially strong for companies facing SOC 2, HIPAA, or cyber insurance renewals where named ownership of the compliance program matters.

Not Ideal For: Companies that need managed security operations (SOC monitoring, SIEM, threat detection) bundled with the CISO function under one vendor contract.

Services: Contract staffing, contract-to-hire, direct hire, fractional leadership placement (CISO, CIO, CTO, CFO), retained executive search, project-based teams, payroll services.

Industries: Technology & Digital, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Engineering & Manufacturing, Accounting & Finance, Creative & Marketing, HR & Operations, Industrial. Cybersecurity staffing runs through a dedicated practice with CISSP, OSCP, GIAC, CCSP screening.

Why They Rank #1: The Placement Authority Score rewards what actually predicts whether a placement holds. KORE1’s 92% retention rate and 4.7 Glassdoor across 219 reviews are the kind of documented evidence most firms in this category either can’t produce or won’t publish. The AI-augmented sourcing documentation, 30+ verified metro markets, and 7 documented engagement models collectively produce a profile no other provider on this list can match across all 7 factors simultaneously. The staffing model isn’t the flashiest pitch. It’s the one that tends to work when the CISO actually needs to be your CISO, not their client.

Tell KORE1 what you’re hiring for →

2. Kroll — IR Pedigree Meets vCISO Leadership

Kroll brings decades of risk and investigations experience to every vCISO engagement. The firm traces its roots to Duff & Phelps (founded 1932) and the original Kroll company (founded 1972). Today, 72 offices and 6,500 employees. If your company has been through a breach, is under regulatory scrutiny, or is navigating a forensic situation alongside strategic security work, Kroll’s bench includes people who have walked into those rooms before.

Placement Authority Score: 6.48/10

Key Strengths

• Operating history dating back decades. Few firms in any service category can point to that kind of market continuity. Kroll has survived economic cycles, industry consolidations, and technology shifts that ended competitors.
• 72 offices worldwide. When a vCISO engagement requires on-site board presence across multiple geographies, Kroll has the infrastructure to support it.
• The IR and forensics heritage is genuine. Kroll’s vCISOs aren’t just strategy advisors — they’ve managed post-breach situations, dealt with regulators, and overseen public disclosure processes. That experience shapes how they design a security program proactively.
• Pre-formed engagement models including assessments, cloud security advisory, and incident response integration — structured upfront, not retrofitted at contract signing.

Limitations

• Google Maps for Kroll returns the corporate headquarters in New York (One World Trade Center) at 2.7/30 — a general corporate office listing, not a cybersecurity service listing. No dedicated cyber-services Maps listing found for US locations.
• Glassdoor sits at 3.5/1,763 reviews globally. At that volume the signal is statistically reliable. 58% recommend the company, compensation rated 3.1/5, and layoff-related review language is visible in 2025–2026 submissions.
• Best suited for enterprise and Fortune 500 engagements. Mid-market companies will find Kroll’s pricing and engagement model calibrated for larger organizations.

Best For: Enterprise companies, public companies, and financial services firms navigating regulatory scrutiny, board-level security reporting, or situations where the vCISO will interface with outside counsel, regulators, or forensic teams. Not Ideal For: Growing mid-market companies under 200 employees or companies primarily needing a compliance program built from scratch at startup-friendly pricing.

Why They Rank #2: Longevity and market depth are both near the top of the list. What costs Kroll relative to the top spot is a Glassdoor signal that’s below the industry average at a statistically significant sample size, a Google Maps presence that doesn’t reflect their cybersecurity practice specifically, and technology investment documentation that trails the leaders on Factor 7.

3. Optiv — Enterprise Cybersecurity Breadth

Optiv serves nearly 6,000 companies. That number tells you something about the infrastructure behind the engagement. When a vCISO advisory opens, Optiv can pull from practices across cloud, OT/ICS, identity, and incident response that most pure-play vCISO firms don’t have in-house. For enterprises running complex multi-domain programs, that coordination value is real.

Placement Authority Score: 6.47/10

Key Strengths

• Service depth across every major cybersecurity domain: cloud security, OT/ICS environments, identity and access management, governance, managed security, and vCISO advisory — all under one firm.
• The vCISO advisors can pull in specialists from adjacent Optiv practices when a client engagement requires deeper technical work in a specific area — something a solo consultant or small vCISO firm can’t offer.
• Strong industry and discipline documentation with genuine specificity across named verticals.
• Founded 2015; 11 years of consistent enterprise brand presence, serving companies across every major industry.

Limitations

• Glassdoor at 3.4/733 reviews triggers the sub-score penalty under this methodology. Only 54% of employees recommend the company. Layoff reviews and consultant-specific burnout themes are visible at a volume that makes the signal statistically meaningful.
• 0 confirmed Clutch reviews despite a claimed profile. The Clutch absence penalty applies. Procurement teams weighting verified B2B reviews will find no confirmed client feedback on the platform.
• Consultant-specific Glassdoor reviews rate the role at 2.3/5, notably below the firm’s overall average. For a vCISO engagement where the individual consultant is the entire product, that signal matters.

Best For: Large enterprises that need a comprehensive cybersecurity program across multiple domains and want one firm managing strategy, advisory, and execution across cloud, identity, and governance. Not Ideal For: Mid-market companies or startups that need a more embedded, relationship-driven fractional CISO model. The engagement style is calibrated for enterprise scale.

Why They Rank #3: Industry depth and market footprint are both near the top. What costs Optiv is the Glassdoor penalty and the Clutch absence, both of which materially affect the Factor 1 score. Technology investment documentation is present but vague in places where the scoring model requires documented specifics.

4. Integris — The MSP + vCISO Bundle for SMBs

Integris is the answer if you need managed IT and a vCISO from the same team. The security leadership and the managed services infrastructure are integrated by design, which means your vCISO isn’t working in isolation from the tools, monitoring, and day-to-day IT operations your business depends on. That’s a different operational dynamic than hiring a vCISO and an MSP separately and coordinating between them.

Placement Authority Score: 6.45/10

Key Strengths

• 93 verified Clutch reviews at 4.9 stars — the strongest Clutch signal on this list. Clutch’s review verification process requires authenticated B2B clients, and 93 reviews represents a real client delivery track record. Integris also won the 2026 Clutch Global Award for both Managed IT Services and Cybersecurity.
• ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 certified (the AI management standard). Clutch ranks them #1 managed IT service provider on their Leaders Matrix for August 2026. These aren’t self-declared credentials.
• All vCISOs are CISSP certified. The program is led by Darrin Maggy, Information Security Operations Manager, with 25+ years of IT and security experience — publicly documented leadership, not anonymous roster.
• Inc. 5000 honoree; Glassdoor Best Places to Work SMB (2025); MSP 501 and CRN Solution Provider 500 recognition — third-party signals across multiple independent award bodies.
• Google Maps confirmed: Integris HQ at 1 Corporate Drive, Cranbury, NJ — 5.0/315 reviews (confirmed August 17, 2026).

Limitations

• Founded 2021 from a merger of four companies. As Integris, the entity is 5 years old. Constituent firms had longer histories, but organizational integration risk is real and visible in some Glassdoor reviews citing management inconsistency during the consolidation period.
• Glassdoor currently sits at 3.7/154 reviews — below the 4.3 that earned the 2025 Best Places to Work recognition. The decline from that peak is worth monitoring.
• Best suited for SMB and lower mid-market budgets. Enterprise-scale programs or companies with complex multi-vertical security needs are better served by Kroll or Optiv.

Best For: Small and mid-sized businesses between 25–500 employees that want vCISO leadership bundled with managed IT, Microsoft 365, and compliance infrastructure. Especially strong for financial services, healthcare, and nonprofits. Not Ideal For: Enterprise companies with dedicated internal IT teams who only need the CISO function. Integris’s model is most efficient when managed IT and security leadership run together.

Why They Rank #4: The strongest Clutch presence on the list — 93 reviews at 4.9 stars is genuinely rare in this category. ISO 42001 certification is uncommon; most MSPs haven’t yet pursued the AI management framework. Scoring drops below the top three because the entity is relatively young, Glassdoor has softened from its 2025 peak, and market depth is geographically fragmented from the acquisition-led growth model.

5. FRSecure — Mission-Driven vCISO for Regulated Industries

FRSecure started with a mission: fix a broken information security industry. That origin shows up in how they engage. Engagements begin with a comprehensive risk assessment, not a scope-of-services pitch. They want to understand where your program actually is before telling you what you need. Founded in 2008, 18 years in business, with a team carrying 300+ years of combined security experience.

Placement Authority Score: 5.84/10

Key Strengths

• 31 verified Clutch reviews at 4.9 stars. For a firm of this size in cybersecurity consulting, that’s a strong independent evidence base for delivery quality.
• 4.6 Google / 20 reviews at their Edina, MN headquarters (confirmed via Apify August 17, 2026). Both review signals are consistent — the firm delivers on what it promises at the engagement level.
• Deep compliance expertise across financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, education, and public sector. The risk assessment methodology is documented and the vCISO approach builds from assessment data rather than a generic security template.
• Glassdoor 4.0/17 reviews — above the 3.8 staffing industry benchmark. 82% of employees recommend the company. The UNSECURITY Podcast demonstrates consistent thought leadership and practitioner-level communication.

Limitations

• Two confirmed offices (Edina, MN and Atlanta, GA). National claims are present on the site, but local documentation across other markets is thin. Companies in coastal markets or major metros outside the Midwest will find limited local presence.
• No documented AI or technology investment. The scoring model requires specific tool descriptions. FRSecure’s approach is people-driven and process-driven — a real differentiator in client engagements — but it scores low under Factor 7.
• Glassdoor’s 17-review sample is small enough to move materially in either direction.

Best For: Mid-market companies in regulated industries — healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, education — that want a vCISO engagement built on assessment data and a long-term security improvement roadmap rather than template-based advisory. Not Ideal For: Companies needing on-site leadership in markets outside the Midwest, or organizations that want AI-augmented security delivery as part of the engagement.

Why They Rank #5: The Clutch and Google signals are the strongest combination on this list for a pure-play cybersecurity consulting firm of this size. FRSecure falls below the top four on market depth and the technology investment factor. The mission-driven culture that makes the client engagement experience strong also means the tooling investment trail is minimal.

6. SideChannel — Every vCISO Is a Former CISO

SideChannel makes one claim most vCISO firms can’t: every virtual CISO on their team held a CISO title before joining. Not a senior security consultant. Not a VP of Security. An actual CISO — from organizations like Broadcom, Best Buy, Booz Allen Hamilton, and the Pentagon. That credentialing standard is genuinely uncommon in this market. Founded 2017, publicly traded on OTCQB (SDCH), headquartered in Worcester, MA.

Placement Authority Score: 5.62/10

Key Strengths

• Former-CISO-only practitioner pool. When a SideChannel vCISO runs your board presentation, they’ve run board presentations before — at much larger organizations. The experience density is real and independently documented.
• RealCISO is a documented technology platform: multi-framework compliance mapping across NIST CSF, ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, and CMMC, remediation project tracking, and client-facing board-ready dashboards. This is specific enough to score credibly under Factor 7.
• SideChannel’s founder co-authored Cybersecurity Risk Management: Mastering the Fundamentals Using the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (Wiley, 2020). That’s a real signal, not a marketing claim.
• G2: 5.0/3 validated reviews. Board of Directors includes General (Retired) Robert Brown and James Hansen (co-founder of Mandiant). Named, credentialed leadership — publicly documented via SEC filings.

Limitations

• No Clutch profile and no Google Maps listing. Both trigger scoring penalties under the methodology. The Clutch absence permanently costs 17.5% of the reputation factor weight.
• 23 employees and $6.9M trailing 12-month revenue (as of March 2026). Small firm. Bench depth is a real consideration if your engagement requires a backup or transition between vCISOs.
• Publicly traded on OTCQB at $8.37M market cap (as of July 2026). Subject to financing pressures and quarterly reporting cycles at a small scale — worth factoring into long-term engagement planning.

Best For: Mid-market companies (50–1,000 employees) that specifically want a vCISO with in-house CISO experience at a named enterprise — not a security consultant stepping into a leadership advisory role. Not Ideal For: Companies that need a vCISO who can also convert to a full-time hire, or organizations requiring significant bench depth and geographic on-site presence.

Why They Rank #6: The practitioner pedigree and the RealCISO platform are the strongest differentiated signals on the list. What scores low is what the methodology weights most: verified public review presence. No Clutch, no Maps, minimal Glassdoor — those gaps represent real data, not a marketing shortcoming. For companies where the vCISO credential matters more than review platform presence, SideChannel deserves a closer look than the rank number suggests.

7. Fractional CISO — Compliance-First Team Model

Fractional CISO pairs every client with two people: a senior vCISO and a cybersecurity analyst. The analyst handles execution. The vCISO handles strategy and client-facing leadership. For compliance-heavy companies where the CISO’s time is consumed by framework work — SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA — that division of labor makes operational sense.

Placement Authority Score: 4.07/10

Key Strengths

• “No client has ever failed a compliance audit.” That’s a specific, trackable claim, stated on their homepage and in their sales process. For companies where a SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification is the gating requirement for enterprise deals, this track record matters.
• The team model (vCISO + analyst) means the analyst absorbs day-to-day operational work so the vCISO can focus on strategy and board-level leadership — a structure that scales better than a solo practitioner handling everything.
• Inc. Best Workplaces 2023. Small review sample overall, but the employee satisfaction signal is present.
• Strong compliance client references across SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and CIS Controls. Client testimonials on their site are specific and attributed — not generic.

Limitations

• No Clutch profile. No verified B2B review history outside their own website testimonials and Inc. recognition. The Clutch absence significantly affects the score.
• Glassdoor has 2 employee reviews — essentially no signal for scoring purposes. Expected for a firm this size, but the model has nothing to work with there.
• Single office in Auburndale, MA (Boston area). Primarily remote delivery, which works for most compliance-focused programs but limits on-site leadership options.
• No documented AI tooling investment. Delivery is practitioner-led and process-driven.

Best For: Compliance-heavy SaaS companies, startups, and regulated businesses building their first formal security program, where the primary goal is passing a SOC 2, ISO 27001, or HIPAA audit with a named security leader attached to the program. Not Ideal For: Companies that need a vCISO integrated at a senior level with internal engineering or product teams, or organizations that need a large bench with significant geographic presence.

Why They Rank #7: The compliance track record is genuine and the team model is well-designed. The score reflects the review platform gap — no Clutch, minimal Glassdoor, small firm — not a quality problem with the actual service. For a compliance-first engagement where the audit outcome is the primary deliverable, Fractional CISO performs well within its defined lane.

How to Choose a Fractional CISO Company

The first question isn’t “which firm has the best reviews.” It’s “what model do I actually need?”

If you need someone who integrates deeply into your leadership team, holds the named-owner position on your compliance frameworks, attends board meetings as your CISO, and could potentially convert to full-time — you need a staffing placement, not a consulting engagement. KORE1 is the only firm on this list that operates that way.

If you need strategic oversight, periodic program reviews, compliance roadmapping, and board reporting from an experienced practitioner who serves multiple clients — a consulting model works. SideChannel, FRSecure, and Fractional CISO are all built for that.

If your company is large enough to need a vCISO who can pull from adjacent practices — cloud security engineers, IR teams, identity architects — Kroll and Optiv have that infrastructure.

If you already have managed IT and want the security leadership bundled in, Integris is the cleanest option.

Budget signals: Consulting-model fractional CISO engagements typically run $3,000–$20,000 per month depending on scope, hours, and program complexity. Compliance-heavy scopes in healthcare or payments push to $10,000–$20,000. Advisory-only engagements with a 4–8 hour monthly cap start around $3,000. Staffing-model placements through KORE1 are structured as contractor rates. Per IANS Research and Artico Search’s 2026 CISO compensation benchmark (662 CISOs surveyed), full-time CISO total compensation for a small-to-midmarket company runs near $415,000 including bonus and equity. A fractional at $12,000/month runs $144,000 annually.

Size signals: Under 50 employees: Fractional CISO or FRSecure. 50–500 employees: KORE1, SideChannel, or Integris. Over 500 employees: Kroll or Optiv.

Compliance urgency: SOC 2 on a timeline — Fractional CISO’s audit track record or SideChannel’s structured 30-day roadmap. HIPAA — FRSecure or Integris. CMMC — SideChannel (RealCISO platform covers CMMC). Board reporting pressure — Kroll.

See how KORE1 structures fractional CISO searches →

Conclusion

KORE1 ranks first because the Placement Authority Score rewards what actually predicts placement quality at the end of an engagement. KORE1’s data across review platforms, retention metrics, and geographic infrastructure is the strongest combination on this list.

That said, KORE1’s staffing model is the right answer for a specific situation: you want a named individual embedded on your team, not rotating advisors from a consulting bench. If that’s your situation, KORE1 is where to start.

If you need compliance-first consulting from a team that hasn’t lost an audit, Fractional CISO. If you want former-Fortune-500-CISO experience at mid-market pricing, SideChannel. If your vCISO needs to interface with regulators and forensic teams alongside the strategic work, Kroll.

Tell KORE1 what you’re hiring for — they respond within one business day. →

What Buyers Ask About Fractional CISOs

Is a fractional CISO the same as a vCISO?

Technically, they’re used interchangeably by most providers — but the engagement structure varies. A fractional CISO typically works more hours per week and integrates more deeply with your team. A vCISO often works remotely, part-time, and serves several clients simultaneously. KORE1’s model is neither: they place a contractor who works for you exclusively within your defined scope.

How fast can a fractional CISO search close?

2 to 3 weeks from kickoff to first interview is realistic for a staffing-model search. Independent practitioners are already working other clients and can usually start within a week of contract signature. Consulting firm engagements can be even faster — some assign an advisor within days of scope approval.

What does a fractional CISO actually do vs. a senior security consultant?

The CISO owns the program. Named owner on SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS. Signs off on risk exceptions. Runs quarterly board readouts. Sits on the audit committee when there is one. A senior security consultant advises. The distinction matters for audit frameworks that require a named individual with accountability — not just a service provider relationship.

What does a fractional CISO cost in 2026?

$3,000–$20,000 per month is the market range for consulting-model engagements, depending on scope, hours, and program complexity. Standard mid-market retainers cluster around $5,000–$12,000. Staffing-model placements run as contractor rates — principal-level fractional CISOs typically bill $200–$400/hour. Per the IANS/Artico Search 2026 CISO benchmark, total compensation for a full-time small-to-midmarket CISO runs near $415,000 including bonus and equity. A $12,000/month fractional runs $144,000 annually — about 35% of that cost.

When does a fractional CISO convert to full-time?

More often than the original plan. Companies frequently start fractional because the full-time CISO cost is hard to justify at their stage. By month 4, when the fractional has closed 3 audit findings and built a vendor risk framework, the full-time ROI case gets easier to make. Staffing-model engagements make the conversion cleaner — both sides have already worked together and the trial period is built in.