RealCISO vs. Essential 8 Auditor

RealCISO is a compliance intelligence platform for two audiences: MSPs and MSSPs managing security across multiple clients, and enterprise teams running compliance in-house. It gives MSPs, MSSPs, consultants, and in-house security teams a single place to run compliance assessments, manage risk, track remediation, and demonstrate security posture to boards and auditors — without the spreadsheet chaos. Built on NIST CSF and mapped to 30+ frameworks including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and CMMC, RealCISO turns assessment data into action. Over 3,000 security providers use it to deliver vCISO services at scale. Founded by Brian Haugli — former DoD, former VP & CSO at The Hanover Insurance Group, and co-author of the NIST CSF book published by Wiley — RealCISO was built by practitioners who ran these programs manually and knew there had to be a better way.

The Essential 8 Auditor from Huntsman Security is an automated solution designed to evaluate cyber risk, specifically aimed at assisting organizations in fulfilling the compliance mandates of the Essential Eight framework established by the Australian Cyber Security Centre. It offers a quantifiable assessment of cyber maturity by scrutinizing security measures across various endpoints and systems, resulting in an instant maturity score alongside a prioritized remediation action list. Its agentless architecture facilitates straightforward self-installation, making it adaptable for both large corporations and smaller entities. Furthermore, it integrates effortlessly with existing IT infrastructures to automate data collection and reporting processes, thereby removing the need for manual assessments and reducing potential biases. With features such as real-time dashboards, extensive reporting options, and benchmarking tools, organizations are empowered to track their cybersecurity progress over time. This tool is particularly beneficial for organizations in critical sectors like government, healthcare, infrastructure, and finance, ensuring they uphold strong cybersecurity standards. Additionally, its intuitive design significantly boosts the efficiency of compliance initiatives across diverse organizational settings, making it an invaluable asset for maintaining cybersecurity resilience.