Fractional CISO for defense construction contractors
A part-time CISO for a construction company.
Construction firms rarely have anyone whose job is security, and the project manager is busy building. A fractional CISO owns the CMMC program part-time, from inside the business, across every active project. Capital Cyber, based in Leesburg, Virginia, provides fractional CISO services for defense construction contractors and works on-site across Northern Virginia.
For construction contractors whose security questions land on a project manager or the office manager by default.
Who owns security when everyone is building?
In most construction firms, nobody in particular. The office manager handles laptops, the project manager handles the platform, the superintendent handles the trailer, and the SSP sits in a folder. Each person does their piece; nobody owns whether the pieces still add up.
A fractional CISO is that owner, part-time. The role keeps the plan and the POA&M current, chairs recorded reviews, and speaks to the program when a prime, a contracting officer or an assessor asks.
What gets reviewed in a construction firm?
The project cycle. New awards and the drawings they bring, mobilizations and the equipment set up for them, trades added or finished, platforms adopted by a project team, and closeouts with their device returns and destruction records. Each one can change the boundary.
Every review is recorded: what was decided, by whom, and what changed. That record supports the person who signs the annual affirmation, and it is evidence on its own.
How does the role work with project teams?
By fitting into what they already do. Project kickoffs and closeout meetings happen anyway; the fractional CISO adds the security questions to them rather than creating a separate process the field will ignore.
Picture a project manager who wants to add a new photo-sharing app for the site team. Under this role, that request goes through a short review: will marked drawings or photos of secure areas end up in it, does the provider meet the cloud requirement, and is the SSP updated if the answer is yes.
What does this not replace?
Your IT provider still runs the systems, your project managers still run the projects, and your own senior official still signs the affirmation. The fractional CISO owns the program that ties them together.
Which requirements does this touch?
NIST SP 800-171CA.L2-3.12.3
Security Control Monitoring
Ongoing checks that controls still work as projects mobilize and close out. Evidence is the recorded reviews and the actions that came out of them.
RA.L2-3.11.1
Risk Assessments
A periodic risk assessment covering active jobsites, field devices, platforms and trades receiving drawings. Evidence is the dated assessment and what changed because of it.
CM.L2-3.4.4
Security Impact Analysis
New tools and changes, such as a project team adopting a new app, are checked for security impact before use. Evidence is the review record for each change.
AT.L2-3.2.1
Role-Based Risk Awareness
Field staff know how to recognize marked drawings and what to do with them on site. Evidence is training records per person, including superintendents and foremen.
What do you receive?
SCOPED PER CLIENTA security and compliance lead inside the business
Part-time, owning the CMMC program across your active projects.
Recorded reviews
What was decided, by whom, and what changed, tied to awards, mobilizations and closeouts.
The plan and POA&M kept current
Between assessments, as projects come and go.
Someone to speak to the program
When a prime, a contracting officer or an assessor asks about it.
What does this service not include?
We are not an Authorized C3PAO and we do not certify anyone. A fractional CISO is a part-time role we provide, not a full-time hire, and what we can commit to is our own accountability rather than what a third party will do.
The full service, for any industry: Fractional CISO. Where most engagements start: the CMMC Level 2 gap assessment.
Questions we hear
Is a fractional CISO a full-time hire?
No. It is a part-time role we provide. Which reviews and how often is agreed on a scoping call and scoped per client.
Will the fractional CISO sign our affirmation?
No. Your own senior official signs it. The role keeps the program current and the reviews recorded so the person signing has something real to rely on.
We have never had a gap assessment. Can we start with this?
Yes. If there is no recent gap assessment, the role starts with one, so the program is built on what is actually in place.
Does the fractional CISO come to jobsites?
We are based in Leesburg and work on-site across Northern Virginia. Whether site visits are part of the role is agreed when it is scoped.
More for defense construction contractors
Fractional CISO in other industries
Book a 30-minute call.
BOOK A CALLScoped per client, so the first step is a conversation. Pick a time.
What happens in 30 minutes
- We learn about your business and the defense contracts you hold or are bidding on.
- We walk you through a gap assessment, the first step toward CMMC, and what it covers.
- If you qualify, we help you apply to Cyber Grants Alliance for an in-kind grant, which provides the gap assessment itself. No slides.
Talk to us about it.
This is scoped per client, not priced on a page. Tell us what you have and we will tell you what it takes.
Defense supplier under 75 people? Start with the grant.
Cyber Grants Alliance, a nonprofit, awards in-kind cybersecurity grants. It provides the work itself, including CMMC Level 1 and Level 2 gap assessments. There is no cost to you, and you are under no obligation to buy anything afterward, from us or from anyone.