Service · Cybersecurity & Compliance
Cybersecurity services for the audit you did not see coming.
Cybersecurity services get real when the cyber-insurance questionnaire shows up with sixty questions, HIPAA evidence is missing, or a CMMC/NIST 800-171 gap list lands on your desk. Half the controls are ones you think you have. A quarter are ones you know you do not. That is the moment operators need a cybersecurity consultant, not a scare campaign. We score the posture, name the fixes, and recommend cyber security solutions only when the evidence says they are needed.
We score your security and compliance posture on the Controls pillar of the CTGA framework, inside the 100-900 Helix Score. The pillar covers identity hardening, endpoint security, access controls, email security, incident-response readiness, security awareness, vendor security, and backup posture, plus the regulated frameworks your business carries: CMMC Level 2 for defense suppliers, NIST 800-171, HIPAA for healthcare, and cyber-insurance readiness for anyone paying commercial premiums. Seventy scored capabilities across four domains produce a gap list you can defend to an auditor, a carrier, or a prime contractor's flow-down review.
We are not a Security Operations Center. We do not watch endpoints at 3 a.m., run continuous threat hunts, or respond to active incidents in real time. When you need an MDR or SOC provider, we help you select one and integrate it cleanly into your overall program. Our job is to score, harden, and prepare, and produce the written evidence your assessor actually needs.
Key service areas
What the work looks like.
- Score security and compliance readiness on the CTGA Controls pillar, 0 to 225 within the 100-900 Helix Score, with a gap list ranked by what an auditor or carrier would flag first
- Endpoint security deployment and vendor selection, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Microsoft Defender for Business scored against your environment and budget
- Threat monitoring architecture, design, vendor selection, and integration of threat-monitoring tooling; we do not run the SOC but we build the infrastructure for one
- CMMC Level 2 readiness, gap analysis against all 110 NIST 800-171 controls, ranked remediation plan, evidence portfolio, and go/no-go memo before you schedule the C3PAO
- NIST 800-171 and NIST CSF alignment, control mapping, policy authoring, and the written evidence package for primes, agencies, and insurance underwriters
- HIPAA compliance program, risk assessment, required policies, BAA portfolio management, and the ongoing compliance maintenance your covered entity or business associate needs
- Cyber-insurance readiness, questionnaire review, control gap remediation scoped to what underwriters actually score, and the written documentation that justifies your premium
- Identity and access hardening, SSO, MFA enforcement, conditional access policies, and privileged access controls reviewed and deployed
- Email security posture, DMARC enforcement, SPF and DKIM configuration, impersonation defense, and anti-phishing policy reviewed against your current exposure
- IT audit, every contract, license, tool, and security control scored against the full CTGA framework in seven days, with a ranked cut list and renegotiation scripts attached
Named engagements inside this capability
How this shows up as a scoped engagement.
Threat Monitoring & Response Architecture
We design and implement the threat-monitoring infrastructure your environment needs, SIEM integration, log aggregation, alert tuning, and the SOC or MDR vendor selection when 24/7 coverage is the right call. We do not run the SOC ourselves; we build it right so the people who do can actually work in it.
- Log aggregation and SIEM configuration: which logs matter, how to aggregate them, and which alert rules produce signal instead of noise
- EDR deployment and tuning: CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, or Microsoft Defender deployed, baselined, and generating actionable alerts, not wall-to-wall noise
- SOC or MDR vendor selection: a scored vendor comparison against your environment, budget, and compliance requirements, you choose with real information, not a sales pitch
- Alert runbook authoring: the documented response procedure for the ten alert types your team will actually see, written before the first alert fires
Endpoint Security
Endpoints are the breach surface in almost every Hampton Roads incident we have seen. Unpatched laptops, missing EDR, shared admin credentials, and zero MFA on remote access, each one a door the next phishing campaign can open. We close the doors systematically, not one ticket at a time.
- EDR deployment across all managed endpoints, Windows, Mac, and server workloads, with a baseline and an exception process
- MFA enforcement at every authentication point: email, VPN, cloud services, and remote access without exception
- Privileged access review: local admin rights audited, service accounts inventoried, PAM deployment scoped where the risk justifies it
- Patch compliance baseline: every endpoint at a known patch level on a documented schedule, with exceptions tracked and remediated
CMMC Readiness
If you sell to the DoD or to a prime who does, your compliance posture is the product. We score your environment against all 110 NIST 800-171 controls, write the gap list ranked by what a C3PAO would fail first, and ride the remediation until the assessor signs. We do not certify, that is the C3PAO's job, but we make sure the day they arrive is not the day you find out you were not ready.
- A control-by-control gap analysis against all 110 NIST 800-171 practices, written in plain English on the page
- A ranked remediation plan with named owners, completion dates, and evidence requirements per control
- A System Security Plan and required CMMC policy bundle a Level 2 review will accept as evidence
- A go/no-go memo before you schedule the formal C3PAO audit, so you do not pay for an assessment you will fail
NIST 800-171
NIST 800-171 is the baseline for federal contractors handling Controlled Unclassified Information. It is 110 controls across 14 domains, and most small defense suppliers are missing 20 to 40 of them, usually in access control, configuration management, and audit logging. We score the gap, build the plan, and produce the evidence portfolio your prime or agency needs.
- Scored gap analysis against all 14 NIST 800-171 domains with a plain-English finding per control
- Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) built to the format prime contractors and contracting officers expect
- Policy library authoring: the 12 required policies written in your organization's voice and formatted for audit evidence
- Quarterly re-score so the SPRS score you submit to the DoD reflects real progress, not last year's assessment
HIPAA
HIPAA is a continuous program, not a one-time audit prep sprint. Covered entities and business associates in Hampton Roads carry obligations that do not pause between audit cycles. We stand up the required program, author the required documentation, manage the BAA portfolio, and run the annual risk assessment so the next OCR inquiry is a planned event, not an emergency.
- HIPAA Security Rule risk assessment: every asset that touches ePHI, every gap, written and dated as the regulation requires
- Required policy library: all five HIPAA policy categories authored, reviewed, and signed by the right people
- Business Associate Agreement portfolio: every vendor who touches ePHI identified, BAA executed or flagged, and the registry maintained
- Annual workforce training: content, delivery method, and the signed completion records that constitute your compliance evidence
System Hardening
A hardened baseline is the cheapest security control you have. CIS Benchmarks and DISA STIGs exist for every major OS, application server, and cloud service configuration. Most organizations never apply them because the list is long and the work is unglamorous. We apply them systematically, document what we changed and why, and produce a configuration baseline your team can maintain.
- CIS Benchmark application for Windows Server, Linux, and macOS workstations, every deviation documented with a business justification
- STIG application for DoD-adjacent environments where the requirement is explicit
- Cloud configuration hardening: AWS, Azure, and Microsoft 365 security defaults audited and applied against CIS benchmarks
- Hardening change log: every setting changed, the before state, the after state, and the control it satisfies, audit evidence built into the process
Cyber-Insurance Readiness
Cyber-insurance underwriters have gotten specific. They want documented controls, not good intentions. The questionnaire names MFA, EDR, backup testing, email security, and incident response, and they price the premium against your answers. We review the questionnaire with you, close the gaps that matter to underwriters, and produce the documentation that justifies the answers you give.
- Questionnaire walkthrough: every question answered against your actual control posture, with gap flags attached to each deficiency
- Priority gap closure: the three to five controls underwriters price hardest (MFA, EDR, backup testing, email security, IR plan) addressed in order
- Written control evidence package: the documentation that supports your questionnaire answers, not assertions, actual records
- Annual renewal prep: 30-day heads-up before renewal with an updated posture review so the answers do not drift from last year
IT Audit
Every contract, every renewal, every license, scored 100-900 across Controls, Technology, Growth, and Adoption. We rank each tool by cost per active user, not cost per seat sold, the difference between an audit that finds the drift and one that confirms what you already knew. Seven days end to end, plain English throughout.
- A written audit document, 8 to 15 pages, no consultant theater, the finding, the cost, and the recommendation, in that order
- A 100-900 CTGA score with a pillar-by-pillar breakdown and the gap list ranked by exercised cost
- A ranked cut list, dollar savings attached per item, ordered by what to cancel this quarter
- A renegotiation script you can hand to your operations lead for the contracts worth keeping at a better rate
How we engage
The free call is the door.
Most cybersecurity and compliance engagements start with a free call to score posture and name the three Controls gaps that matter most. From there the work runs as a defined Engagement or an ongoing Operate program.
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vCIO Retainer
A quarterly Controls re-score, questionnaire sanity-checks before renewals, and advisory on the EDR and SOC quotes your vendors send. The right tier for businesses with a stable posture who want a knowledgeable second opinion in the room. Not the right tier for an active CMMC program, we will say so and recommend Engagement.
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Helix Engagement
We come in as your security squad. Close the Controls gaps named in the free call, select and deploy the right EDR, author the IR runbooks, train the team, build the compliance evidence portfolio, and re-score at the end. Typically 90 to 180 days.
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Helix Operate
Full program ownership through the audit cycle. Weekly cadence during active remediation, board-ready compliance status monthly, C3PAO or HIPAA auditor coordination owned end to end. Built for defense suppliers with live CMMC obligations or healthcare operators running a HIPAA program alongside the rest of their IT function.
What you walk out with
Concrete deliverables.
- A Controls-pillar score (0 to 225) inside the 100-900 Helix Score, with the gap list ranked by exercised cost and audit risk
- A control-by-control gap analysis against the framework that applies to your business (CMMC, NIST 800-171, HIPAA, PCI)
- A ranked remediation plan with named owners, completion dates, and the evidence each control requires
- An EDR and identity-hardening rollout plan with the vendor selection scored against your environment and budget
- An incident-response runbook plus a rehearsed tabletop exercise for the wire-fraud and ransomware scenarios
- A cyber-insurance readiness package: questionnaire review, control evidence documentation, and a gap closure summary
Honest scope
What we do not do.
We do not run a 24/7 Security Operations Center, hunt threats in real time, or respond to active incidents as a managed service. When you need 24/7 MDR coverage, we help you select the right provider and integrate them into your overall program. We do not conduct penetration tests or red-team exercises, those require a licensed pen-test firm, and we help you scope and procure one. We do not resell EDR software; we select and deploy the right tool for your environment. We do not sign the CMMC audit, that is the C3PAO's role. We make sure the day they arrive is not the day you discover you were not ready.
Industries we apply this to
Where this service shows up most.
- Government Contracting The flow-down email wants your CMMC posture by the next option year. The audit floor is closer than you think.
- Healthcare EHR, billing, scheduling, and patient comms in four systems that almost talk to each other.
- Legal Practice management, a document portal, and the spreadsheet your senior partner will not give up.
- Manufacturing The ERP you picked a decade ago no longer fits how you ship, and the shop floor runs on a clipboard.
You can have the number by Friday.
The free call is free, and the only thing you walk out with is your CTGA score and the three gaps that cost you the most. If we are not the right fit, you keep the score and we both move on.