When asked about my job at - say - at a birthday party, or other social event and I tell them, people pause for a few seconds, then, usually with a puzzled expression ask, but what exactly does a Virtual Security Officer do? . Often, people confuse my role with that of a physical' security officer who might be responsible for securing access to buildings and other sites. My job is quite different; and although more people are now aware of it, I thought I'd explain what I do in a little more detail and make the importance of it clearer.
Information Security Information security (or cybersecurity) is the security of information, basically all virtual information or data, stored on premises, on devices such as laptops, phones, iPads, connected devices, and in the cloud. This can be all sorts of information, from personal details of your employees, log in details to your bank account, customer details recorded by a customer service employee, sensitive information about a new development, all the way to, government secrets.
When this information is being created and stored in an environment where its security is not considered, this can have serious consequences. Personal information can be leaked and fall into the hands of people with bad intentions; leading to data breaches and abuse of personal information and payment information. Not forgetting the implications for organisations, for instance, when their systems are taken hostage in return for a high ransom. Occasionally, the hacker leaks (distributes) information to the public, pressuring organisations into paying the ransom. In this scenario, I refer to the hacker as the person that has arranged access to data, usually by breaking into the system without consent, and is requesting ransom to return access to the system owners.
A hacker (sometimes known as a pen tester, short for penetration tester), is not always a bad guy . To give you a better understanding, I will explain the difference between the white hat' hackers and black hat' hackers.
White hat hackers work together with organisations to test their security provisions, to fix any issues and improve their overall defences. These are otherwise known as ethical hackers - as they clearly work on the right side of the law. Black hat hackers, conversely, exploit weaknesses in systems to gain access to data and systems for various reasons, such as financial gain, political influence, revenge and so on definitely not ethical in any way!
Being the victim of an information security incident can lead to long term reputational damage for organisations. In addition, it can be costly restoring the business operations - if you haven't been taking proper care of your information security and get caught, you're probably going to pay a large fine for infringing privacy laws such as GDPR.
Increasing number of organisations aim to protect their crown jewels Luckily, organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of their organisation's information security posture. Organisations can protect their information security assets in various ways:
Having a strong firewall and anti-virus protection
Operating with zero trust and providing access only to people that should have access (on a need-to-know basis) by regulating the identity and access management
Complete and timely patch-management
Security information and event management (SIEM)
Regularly (pen) testing the security of the web application and infrastructure security
Creating a human firewall through awareness programs for employees
The starting point, in my opinion, is good Governance, Risk and Compliance, and developing a plan for the organisation's information security throughout.
I can imagine that the terminology can be confusing, but in summary and essence, it is about defining your starting point drafting a plan for the information security of your organisation, executing it, testing it, adjusting where necessary based on the tests, and monitoring whether the implemented information security activities are executed in alignment with your plan (governance). However, it is utmost important that the laws and regulations are considered and are borne by the organisation. This is where compliance comes in play, and where internal and external auditors come to the rescue - to check if your organisation is cohering with applicable standards and regulations and whether you are in control of your organisation.
What the Virtual Security Officer can mean to your organisation?
Now that you have an idea about information security and what organisations can do to improve their security posture, you're probably curious what role a Virtual Security Officer has in the process.
The Virtual Security Officer views the information security organisation from a people, process and technology perspective and aims to ensure the availability, integrity and confidentiality of information and systems. The Virtual Security Officer aims to improve the organisation's security maturity, and thereby advises and provides guidance to the management and/or board regarding information security. As a result, processes will be clearer and better structured, documentation will be complete and up to date, sufficient thoughts are put into the handling of incidents and privacy breaches; and everything will be recorded in a governance that is reviewed regularly.
The Virtual Security Officer will be aware of internal and external risks and handles these according to the best risk management strategy for your organisation. The rapidly changing information security landscape and increasing threats and threat actors, makes organisations more anxious and aware of information security every day not always voluntarily, sometimes as the result of a (targeted) attack.
Organisations shou
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
22/10/2025
Prime Video Inks Deal To Present NFL Black Friday Game Worldwide By SVG Staff
Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 10:06 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story ...
22/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: ESPN Goes 1080p HDR End-to-End, Flipping HDR Switch on REMI and REM...
22/10/2025
FloSports Empowers Division II, III Athletic Departments With Turnkey Production...
22/10/2025
Wall Street Video Summit Debuts, Bringing Together 200 Financial Enterprise Vide...
22/10/2025
Dueling Pianos: International Chopin Piano Competition Is as Competitive as a Ba...
22/10/2025
In 1995, a young Colombian artist released an album that would change Latin pop ...
22/10/2025
Over the past few months, a photovoltaic system has been installed on a three-he...
22/10/2025
The Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis II mission is stacked on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kenn...
22/10/2025
L3Harris' Hybrid SATCOM is resilient by design, offering path diversity that eliminates vulnerabilities by routing data across the best available networks i...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. Organizers of NAB Show New York said they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countries along with 260 exhibitor...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Masque Sound, a leading theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, supplied an extensive gear package of professional-grade equipment for ...
22/10/2025
Lightware, a global leader in signal management and AV connectivity solutions, is seeing strong market momentum for the UCX-3x3-TPX-RX20, a compact transmitter-...
22/10/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron has released PAINT 10.2, the latest update for its telestration platform, adding support for SMPTE ST 2110 IP workflows, expanding brandin...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON Run3TV today said NBCUniversal is joining as an investor in the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority, which develops the Run3TV NextGen TV application platfo...
22/10/2025
ATLANTA swXtch.io will feature two new networking solutions extending the company's reach across more cloud and on-prem workflows at NAB Show New York, set ...
22/10/2025
The Warner Bros. Discoverys HBO Max streaming services has increased prices for all its streaming tiers effectively immediately for new customers. Existing cust...
22/10/2025
LOS ANGELES OpenDrives has signed a new distribution partnership deal with Versatile Distribution Services (VDS) to strengthen its channel and streamline how it...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Samora Pinderhughes Brings Immersive Sound to Berklee's Signature Series The artist and composer, who's worked with Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Co...
22/10/2025
BMI Day at Berklee Celebrates Composer Fil Eisler and Awards Scholarship to Stud...
22/10/2025
October 22nd, 2025 TRIBECA ANNOUNCES STAR-STUDDED LINEUP OF MEMBERSHIP EVENTS F...
22/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF cooperate in drone defense Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF partner to deliver a comprehensive drone defense solution combining Rohde & S...
22/10/2025
European Broadcaster Upgrades To Grass Valley's NativeIP LDX 135 Cameras And...
22/10/2025
Everyone Gets a Better Deal on Verizon with New FOX One Perk The $15 FOX One streaming service perk is yet another way Verizon continues to add savings for cu...
22/10/2025
First Look Hidden Assets Series 3
Premieres on 9th November 9:30pm on RT One & RT Player
WATCH HERE Promo Link: Hidden Assets Series 3 | RT
The Crimin...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Although AES Show Is on Its Own, Audio Will Be a Major Part o...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Business of Broadcast and Media,' Future of Content'...
21/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Ethan Folz, Senior Director, Digital Operations and Quality of Ex...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: Livestream Offers Graphic Overlays, Predictive Gaming, Ancil...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: At the Front Bench With Producer Frank DiGraci and Director ...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: NBC Sports, NEP Build Ultra-Flexible Production Plan That Se...
21/10/2025
Indigenous storytelling has been at the heart of the work of the Sundance Instit...
21/10/2025
Top L-R: Mysterious Skin, American Dream Second Row L-R: Little Miss Sunshine, D...
21/10/2025
Last week, Spotify and Columbia Records transformed Pier 4 at the Brooklyn Army ...
21/10/2025
SBS Learn's Dharug Ngurra resource empowers classrooms to meaningfully celeb...
21/10/2025
As global operators simplify and evolve their digital platforms, NPS improvement...
21/10/2025
Critical Design Review completion is a key milestone on the path toward Wideband Global Satellite Communications certification for the network in 2026, opening ...
21/10/2025
New Australian undersea training range to implement and improve warfighting tactics, proficiency and safety; enable joint/allied training that contributes to pr...
21/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
21/10/2025
September, the beginning of autumn, brought an expected revival to the TV market, largely due to the new fall TV schedules. The time spent in front of the TV sc...
21/10/2025
Broadcast Booms with 20% Uptick vs. August, Achieving Largest Monthly
Increase ...
21/10/2025
During September, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 24.5%, a marginal shift of -0.5 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YU...
21/10/2025
RENNES, France BBright and GlobalM have conducted a technical trial validating Ultra HD interoperability across the entire contribution chain in the cloud, achi...
21/10/2025
Kokusai Denki Electric America will mark the U.S. debut of a new 4K camera at the 2025 NAB New York, Oct. 22-23. Now available, the Z-HD6500-S1 UHD/HD productio...
21/10/2025
Triveni Digital, a trusted leader in ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 service delivery, data broadcasting, and quality assurance solutions, will showcase its entire NEXTGEN TV ...
21/10/2025
Radio Azzurra FM, longest-running radio station in the province of Novara, northwest Italy, has invested in an DHD SX2 audio routing and mixing console for inte...
21/10/2025
Globecast, the leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, has announced the appointment of G Morgan as Executive Vice President of...
When asked about my job at - say - at a birthday party, or other social event and I tell them, people pause for a few seconds, then, usually with a puzzled expression ask, but what exactly does a Virtual Security Officer do? . Often, people confuse my role with that of a physical' security officer who might be responsible for securing access to buildings and other sites. My job is quite different; and although more people are now aware of it, I thought I'd explain what I do in a little more detail and make the importance of it clearer. 
