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How a software company hired in 6 countries with zero security incidents.
The plan was 48 remote hires in a year, across six countries with six sets of data rules. Skillfi's fractional CISO set up the policies, devices and access before the first person was hired, so every new starter was secure and working on day one. It's how our fractional CISO service works: security planned in, not patched on.
A big hiring plan and security built for one office.
The company had grown to 85 people from a single office in the US. After a funding round, it planned to hire 48 people remotely in a year, across the US, Canada, the UK, Poland, India and the Philippines, many of them working with customer data.
Its last eight remote contractors had shown what could go wrong. They waited about six days for access, worked on personal laptops in the meantime and shared logins to get unblocked. Nobody knew which country's data rules applied to whom, and one contractor still had access three weeks after leaving. The enterprise customers in the pipeline would soon ask how remote staff were secured.
We were about to hire faster than ever, in countries we'd never worked in. If we got security wrong, we'd be fixing it for years.
CEO, client
Get it right before the first hire, then repeat it 48 times.
Our fractional CISO started eight weeks before the first offer went out. Onboarding and offboarding steps were built with a fractional CHRO, so security became part of the hiring process instead of a separate checklist.
Clear policies for every country
One short remote work policy, with local notes on data, monitoring and privacy for each of the six countries.
Laptops secure out of the box
Company laptops shipped by local suppliers, set up automatically on first login, encrypted and managed from day one.
The right access, on time
Access by role through single sign-on, granted before day one and removed automatically within an hour of leaving.
From plan to year one
Eight weeks of preparation, then a year of hiring at pace without a single security incident. Here's how the engagement unfolded.
- Week 1–36 countries mapped
Risk & country review
Roles, data and systems mapped, with the data and privacy rules for each of the six countries summarised.
- Week 3–69 role bundles
Policies & access by role
Remote work policy written and 9 role-based access bundles set up in single sign-on.
- Week 5–8Setup in 40 min
Devices & suppliers
Laptop standard agreed, local suppliers in each country and automatic setup tested end to end.
- Month 38 of 8 ready
First cohort
The first 8 hires started in four countries, with every laptop delivered and working before day one.
- Month 4–1148 hires total
Hiring at pace
40 more hires onboarded, monthly access reviews and security training in the first week for every starter.
- Month 120 incidents
Year-one review
A full review of devices, access and country rules, shared with leadership and enterprise customers.
Every hire, the same secure path
Whether someone joins in Manila or Manchester, the steps are the same, and security happens without anyone having to remember it.
Ready before they start
- Laptop shipped locally
- Access bundle by role
- Country rules applied
Working in an hour
- Automatic laptop setup
- Single sign-on & MFA
- Password manager
Security habits early
- 20-minute training
- Phishing practice
- Who to call & when
Clean exit, every time
- Access removed in 1 hour
- Laptop wiped remotely
- Device returned locally
After year one
Starters with a secure laptop on day one
So nobody starts on a personal laptop or a shared login.
We grew by more than half in a year, across six countries, and security never slowed us down once. When enterprise customers asked how our remote team was secured, we just sent them the answer.
CEO, clientHiring remotely in new countries this year?
Our fractional CISO will set up the policies, devices and access before your first hire, so every new starter is secure and working on day one. Want hiring and onboarding to run just as smoothly? Add a fractional CHRO.
- Remote policy & country rules
- Laptops secure out of the box
- Access by role, on time
- Clean offboarding, every time
30 minutes. No obligation.
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