Barak Engel on Fractional CISO Life, Resilience, and Relationship-Driven Security Consulting Thomas chats with Barak Engel, founder/CEO of EAmmune and an advisor/board member across several security organizations, about his 23-year consulting journey, including creating the virtual/fractional CISO concept in 2003 and the realities of “feast or famine” work.

Barak discusses rapid context switching (and hitting his limit while serving six CISOs at once), resilience through setbacks such as the 2008 crash and Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and how reputation and long-term relationships drive EAmmune’s referral-only growth through “concentric circles” as clients change jobs.

He emphasizes transparency, accountability, avoiding short-term exploitation, delegating to strengths (including hiring a people manager), and focusing on min ...