Virtual CISO

Pierre Dickson is a Virtual CISO at Canalini Consulting.  Pierre is an accomplished cybersecurity leader with over 20 years of experience driving information security strategies across federal agencies, global law firms, K-12 districts, and complex enterprise environments.

He specializes in building and maturing security and compliance programs grounded in frameworks such as NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, and ISO 27001; ensuring that cybersecurity becomes a seamless enabler of business operations rather than a constraint.

Technical Skills and Areas of Expertise

• Cybersecurity Leadership & Governance: vCISO advisory, policy development, and executive risk communication.
• Compliance Frameworks: NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, NIST CSF, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and FISMA alignment and certification support.
• Cloud Security & Microsoft Ecosystem: Microsoft 365 Security, Azure AD, Conditional Access, Intune, and Microsoft Defender integration.
• Incident Response & Threat Management: Development and execution of incident response plans, tabletop exercises, and vulnerability management programs.
• Risk Management & Assessment: Third-party/vendor risk analysis, data protection impact assessments, and risk remediation strategy design.
• Law Firm Security Programs: Led ISO 27001 certification efforts and Information Security Management System (ISMS) development for multiple Am Law 100 firms.
• Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Program Development: Security roadmap creation, audit readiness, and continuous monitoring.
• Legal and Regulatory Coordination: Partnered with General Counsel to review Outside Counsel Guidelines (OCGs), client security addenda, and data privacy obligations.
• Security Awareness & Culture Building: Design and delivery of enterprise training programs tailored to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Data Protection & Access Control: DLP, encryption, identity lifecycle management, and secure configuration of information systems.
• Cross-Functional Program Leadership: Collaboration with legal, IT, and compliance teams to align business objectives with secure technology operations.