Service 1 of 6
A security program your board understands and your auditors can verify.
Many security programs grow one policy, one tool and one audit at a time. After a few years, nobody can say with confidence which risks are covered and which ones are still open.
We help leadership teams get a clear read on where they stand, decide what to fix first and build a program that holds up to questions from the board, regulators, customers and cyber insurers.
Cyber Strategy, Risk & Compliance
Passing an audit and being secure are two different things.
An audit checks whether controls exist and were followed during the audit period. An attacker checks whether they work on a random Tuesday night. A long vulnerability report has the opposite problem: hundreds of findings and no indication of which ones could actually hurt the business.
Good security decisions start from a few plain questions:
- What are we protecting, and what would it cost to lose it?
- Which threats are realistic for a company like ours?
- Where are the gaps, and how exposed are they?
- Which controls reduce real risk, and which ones only produce paperwork?
- Where should the next dollar go?
- How do we show progress to the board and to customers?
Our strategy and risk work is built to answer those questions with evidence.
What this practice covers
4 areas of work. Choose one to see the detail.
Strategy and virtual CISO
Senior security leadership, for as long as you need it.
Not every company needs a full-time CISO, but most need someone who can set priorities, own the roadmap and explain risk to the board in business terms. Our advisors fill that role as a fractional CISO or work alongside the security leader you already have.
- Security strategy and multi-year roadmaps
- Virtual and fractional CISO services
- Security program design and operating models
- Maturity assessments against NIST CSF 2.0
- Budget planning and investment prioritization
- Board and executive briefings
- Governance and policy design
- Support with cyber insurance applications and renewals
Cyber risk assessment
Separate the risks that matter from background noise.
We assess risk across the business, individual systems, cloud platforms and suppliers. Every finding is rated on the same three factors so leadership can compare them side by side.
How we rate risk
- Criticality: how much the business depends on the asset or process
- Exposure: how reachable it is to an attacker, from inside or outside
- Consequence: what happens to operations, revenue and obligations if it fails
Assessment types
- Enterprise cyber risk assessments
- Technology and application risk assessments
- Cloud risk assessments
- Third-party and supply chain risk reviews
- Ransomware readiness assessments
- Incident response readiness reviews
- Business impact analysis
- Risk treatment plans
Governance, risk and compliance
Meet framework requirements and improve security with the same work.
Customers, regulators and contracts increasingly decide which framework you follow. We help you meet those requirements in a way that also makes you harder to attack, so the effort is not repeated from scratch every audit cycle.
Frameworks
- CMMC 2.0 and NIST SP 800-171
- SOC 2
- HIPAA Security Rule
- PCI DSS 4.0.1
- NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0
- ISO/IEC 27001:2022
- TX-RAMP
- CIS Critical Security Controls
Services
- Gap assessments
- Policies, standards and procedures
- Control framework design and mapping
- Readiness assessments before an external audit
- Evidence collection and audit preparation
- Remediation planning and tracking
- Ongoing compliance program management
Security audits and control testing
Check that each control exists, is designed well and works in practice.
We test controls against three questions: does it exist, is it designed properly, and does it operate the way the policy says it does. Where it helps, our penetration testers confirm the result by trying to get past the control.
- Internal IT and cybersecurity audits
- Technical control assessments
- Configuration and hardening reviews
- Network and cloud security reviews
- Security architecture reviews
- Internal audit support for SOC 2 and ISO 27001 programs
- Pre-assessment checks before CMMC or PCI DSS assessments
Formal certifications and attestation reports are issued by accredited third parties: C3PAOs for CMMC, licensed CPA firms for SOC 2, Qualified Security Assessors for PCI DSS and accredited certification bodies for ISO 27001. We prepare you for those assessments and work alongside your assessor.
Our approach
How we work
- 01
Understand
We learn how the business makes money, which systems it depends on and which obligations apply to it.
- 02
Assess
We review controls, interview system owners and test where needed to see how the program performs today.
- 03
Prioritize
Findings are ranked by business risk, so the first fixes are the ones that reduce the most exposure.
- 04
Plan
You get a roadmap with owners, effort estimates, cost ranges and realistic timelines.
- 05
Verify
We check that changes work as intended and report progress in terms the board can follow.
Deliverables
What you receive
- Executive summary written for leadership and the board
- Risk register rated for criticality, exposure and consequence
- Gap analysis against the frameworks that apply to you
- Prioritized roadmap with owners, effort and cost ranges
- Policies and procedures, where they are in scope
- Readout session with your leadership team
Supports these frameworks
Common in these industries
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does a virtual CISO do?
A virtual or fractional CISO is a senior security leader who works with you part time. They own the security roadmap, run governance meetings, report to leadership and the board, and coordinate audits and vendors. It suits companies that need that level of judgment but not a full-time executive.
How long does a risk assessment take?
It depends on the size of the organization and how many business units, locations and systems are in scope. A focused assessment can take a few weeks, while an enterprise-wide one takes longer. We agree on scope and timeline in writing before any work starts.
Can you help us answer security questionnaires from customers?
Yes. Many clients come to us after a large customer sends a security questionnaire or asks for a SOC 2 report. We help you answer accurately, close the gaps the questionnaire exposes and put a program in place so the next one is easier.
Start with a clear picture of your risk.
A short scoping call is usually enough to tell whether an assessment, a roadmap or a compliance readiness project is the right first step.