Certified Information Security Auditor – Support Services for MSMEs

A Certified Information Security Auditor (such as a CISA) in a consulting role can offer MSMEs a full lifecycle of services: from initial risk and gap assessments, through implementation of controls and policies, to internal audits and ongoing compliance support. These services can be packaged as one-time projects or as recurring “virtual CISO/auditor” engagements tailored to small-business constraints.

• Information security risk assessment and gap analysis against frameworks such as ISO 27001/27701, SOC 2, or basic cyber hygiene baselines, prioritising MSME-specific risks and budget realities.
• Technical vulnerability assessment coordination (with or without partnered VAPT providers), review of results, and mapping findings to business impact and remediation priorities.
• IT general controls (ITGC) and internal controls review covering access controls, change management, backup and recovery, logging/monitoring, and third-party access.

• Design and implementation of an Information Security Management System (ISMS) aligned to ISO 27001 / 27701, including scoping, risk treatment plans, Statement of Applicability, and control implementation roadmap.
• Drafting and customizing policies and procedures (access control, acceptable use, incident response, backup, vendor security, BYOD, etc.) that are right-sized for MSMEs and practical to follow.
• Support to embed security into operational processes (HR onboarding/offboarding, procurement, development/DevOps, physical security, and asset management) so that controls become part of daily work.

• Readiness assessments and implementation support for certifications or attestations relevant to MSMEs: ISO 27001/27701, SOC 2, PCI DSS (for payment environments), and sectoral norms where applicable.
• Ongoing compliance monitoring, internal audits, and pre-certification “mock audits” to help the client close nonconformities (NCs) before external audits.
• Advisory on alignment with data protection and cybersecurity obligations that impact MSMEs (e.g., contractual security clauses from enterprise customers, cross-border data handling, or sectoral guidelines).

• Design and testing of incident response plans, including playbooks for common MSME scenarios like ransomware, email compromise, or data leakage and basic business continuity measures.
• Security awareness and phishing-simulation programs for employees, tailored to low-cost tools and short training formats suitable for small organisations.
• Periodic security health-checks or continuous advisory (virtual CISO/virtual security auditor) to review logs, track risk register items, and guide management decisions in plain business language.

• Information security governance setup: defining roles (owner, custodian, user), committees, KPIs/KRIs, and reporting formats that management can actually use.
• Vendor and third-party risk management: assessing SaaS providers and IT vendors, building a simple due-diligence checklist, and integrating security clauses into MSME contracts.
• Strategic roadmap and budgeting support: multiyear security maturity roadmap, prioritised investments (what to do now vs later), and justification decks that help MSMEs win trust with large customers and investors.

A consulting Information Security Officer / Auditor (CISO/CISA) thus acts as a trusted partner for MSMEs to build robust Information Security infrastructures, identify the gaps, create frameworks and policies, achieve regulatory compliance, and strengthen their security maturity systematically.