Recruiting a cybersecurity consultant is something we all must pay attention to. This is because cyber-attacks have become more qualified and common than ever before. As a result, recognizing the significance of cybersecurity is compulsory.
Introduction
Ask questions that reveal whether a consultant can truly reduce risk, not just draft rules, before signing a contract. Today, cyber incidents are highly rapid and costly. According to IBM, the average global breach costs $4.4 million, with companies that heavily use AI in security saving $1.9 million per breach. Yet, 63% of companies still avoid implementing AI governance.
Keeping this scenario under consideration, we are presenting to you some questions that must be asked before selecting a cybersecurity consultant.
Which threats are of more significance to companies like ours, and what are the reasons?
Suitable candidates provide advice on the present incident information, not just basic checklists. According to Version, ransomware was the most common cyber-attack of 2024, and small companies are the biggest target. You can request them to map such trends as per your ecosystem.
How can you assess our primary access exposures (3rd parties vs. vulnerabilities vs. credentials)?
The latest breach proves that credential abuse remains the best penetration vector. Whereas, third-party involvement increased up to 30% and vulnerability exploitation increased to 20%.
What is your particular plan regarding ransom resilience?
You want solid controls like tabletop exercises, immutable backups, segmentation, and MFA. This is directly related to metrics like median time to patch edge gadgets and reinstate objectives. Candidates must show the techniques they will incorporate to summarize these windows.
How can you reduce risks associated with the human element?
According to the version, 63% of breaches incorporate the human element, like misuse, misdelivery, and phishing. Find measurable programs, like solidifying identity mechanisms, phishing simulations, and role-based training.
How would you manage code risks and secrets in engineering?
Nowadays, more and more attackers are relying on developer leaks. It includes the median time to remediate exploited secrets, shown in GitHub was 94 days. They must know regrading proposals for rapid-revocation playbooks, CI/CD guardrails, SBOMs, and secret scanning.
What is your approach for incident response, and how will you prove that it decreases the effect?
You must ask for exercise cadence, role, and IR runbooks. Tie it to the results, quicker identification and repression materially decrease breach cost; companies that utilized automation and security AI saved $1.9 million on average.
How are you going to secure AI systems and AI utilization that we already incorporate?
Sixty-three percent of companies avoid AI governance, and 97% of those with AI incidents fail to implement appropriate access controls. Your consultants must have an understanding of policies, data protection, and supervision customized to AI workflows.
What is your plan for supply chain and third-party risks?
Provided that 3rd party involvement increased up to 30% of breaches. This forces contractual security needs with proven, attack-path analysis, SBOM intake, continuous assurance, and vendor tiering.
Who will do the tasks in reality, and what expertise will be required?
According to ISC2, there is a worldwide workforce gap of 4.8 million professionals against a pool of 5.5 million people. Therefore, the majority of firms experience staff thinning. Named time commitments, relevant certs, and demand CVs from experts.
How will you assess performance and report ROI to the executives?
You should project your security results that are connected to your risks, entailing time-to-patch, phishing failure rates, backup restore assessments, and MTTR. Consultants must match customizations to cost deltas you can defend in the boardroom and risk deductions. This is because ransomware continues to rank as the top organizational problem for 45% of the owners.
Conclusion
The suitable candidate will translate present threat realities into a prioritized program that has measurable wins. It includes a practiced response, fortified AI governance, resilient backups, quicker patching, and tightened ID controls. Therefore, your potential breach costs and risk actually go down.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why ask about their approach post-engagement?
A well-rounded consultant should leave you empowered with knowledge and tools, not dependent on them indefinitely.
Are certifications mandatory?
Not strictly—but they’re a useful baseline. Real-world experience and problem-solving often outweigh certificates. Still, certifications like CISSP or CEH show a professional standard.
How much does hiring a consultant cost?
Rates vary, typically around $100–300/hour or $5,000–$50,000 per project, depending on scope and expertise needed.
What if they don’t offer remote work or flexible arrangements?
Given that only 8% of Fortune 100 cybersecurity roles offer remote work, flexibility can be a competitive differentiator and may limit your talent pool
