You already hired your first security leader.
Surprise: they think they’re your DevOps engineer. 🛡️
Seed through Series B, security isn’t a team—it’s a hat. Before you can justify a dedicated CISO, your most senior infra/DevOps/platform lead is already making security decisions: who gets production access, how secrets are stored, which SaaS vendors touch customer data, what gets logged, and how you’d respond if something goes wrong. The risk isn’t that you have no security; it’s that the role is invisible, unbudgeted, and competing with shipping features.
Make it explicit. Name an Acting Security Owner for the next two quarters. Give them time, authority, and a simple mandate: keep the product shippable and defensible. If you’re asking, “When do we hire a full-time security lead?”—use business triggers, not headcount: first enterprise deal with security addenda, first external audit, regulated data in scope, or a partner asking for continuous monitoring. (Rule of thumb varies by model; don’t overfit to a headcount number.)
Do the basics (now)
Access: least privilege to cloud, code, and data; kill shared admin accounts; enforce MFA.
Secrets: centralize secrets; remove credentials from repos and tickets; rotate on change.
Visibility: log auth, data access, and admin actions to a single place; keep ≥90 days.
Prod hygiene: immutable infra (IaC), automated patching, backups with periodic restore tests.
Third parties: inventory tools touching customer data; approve scopes before connecting.
Incident sketch: one-page plan—who declares, who talks to customers, how to revoke access.
Supplement the role without breaking the budget
Fractional CISO (part-time): 4–8 hours/month to set policy baselines, review architecture, prep for customer security reviews, and brief the board. Use them to prioritize, not to micromanage.
Managed detection/response (MDR): outsource 24×7 alerting tied to your cloud and endpoints; Acting Owner remains the decision-maker.
Audit prep partner: time-boxed help to stand up SOC 2/ISO controls and evidence management; keep ownership of runbooks in-house.
Pen test on a cadence: external test before major launches; fix windows pre-agreed with product.
(If you’re evaluating vendors, insist on clear SOWs, data-handling terms, and exit rights.)
Upskill your Acting Security Owner (fast, practical)
Foundational frames: NIST CSF or similar to organize priorities; OWASP Top 10 and ASVS for app risks.
Cloud depth: one cloud-provider security course/cert (e.g., AWS/GCP/Azure) focused on IAM, network boundaries, logging, and key management.
Secure SDLC touchpoints: threat modeling lite, code scanning in CI, and dependency management.
IR & comms: tabletop a realistic breach; practice customer/legal/PR handoffs.
Business alignment: basic vendor-risk review, data-flow mapping, and cost/risk trade-off storytelling for execs.
How to run it week to week
Reserve roughly 10–20% of one senior engineer for a rolling security backlog.
Track three health metrics: open security debt, mean time to revoke access, and % of high-risk vendors with signed data-processing terms.
Review risk and progress with founders monthly; re-scope when enterprise/regulated data enters the chat.
CTA: Founders—by Friday, (1) name your Acting Security Owner, (2) carve out their time, and (3) book a fractional CISO intro to prioritize a 60-day security backlog.
Your future CISO will thank you.