Strategic Security Guidance in The United States

Strategic guidance to build and mature your security program, aligned with your business objectives. We help you design security architecture, assess risks, and develop security strategies tailored to your industry and business needs.

Our Security Consulting Methodology

Effective security isn't just about implementing controls. It's about building a security program that aligns with your business objectives, manages risk appropriately, and evolves with your organization. At Charlie Defense, our security consulting services help you build and mature a security program that protects your business while enabling growth and innovation. We take a strategic, business-aligned approach to security that goes beyond technical controls to address people, processes, and technology.

Phase 1: Current State Assessment

We begin by conducting a comprehensive assessment of your current security posture. This includes evaluating existing security controls, policies, procedures, and organizational structure. We assess your security architecture, identify gaps, and understand how security is currently integrated into your business processes.

We conduct interviews with key stakeholders including executives, security team members, IT staff, and business unit leaders to understand security priorities, pain points, and business objectives. We review existing documentation including security policies, procedures, risk assessments, and incident response plans. We also assess your security tools and technologies to understand what's working well and what might need improvement.

This comprehensive assessment provides a clear picture of where you are today, helping us identify strengths to build upon and weaknesses to address. We document findings in a current state assessment report that serves as the foundation for our recommendations.

Phase 2: Risk Assessment and Threat Modeling

We conduct a comprehensive risk assessment to identify and prioritize security risks to your business. This includes identifying critical assets, potential threats, vulnerabilities, and the business impact of security incidents. We use industry-standard frameworks and methodologies while tailoring our approach to your specific business context.

We develop threat models that identify potential attackers, attack vectors, and security concerns relevant to your industry and organization. We consider various threat actors including external attackers, insider threats, nation-state actors, and business competitors. We assess the likelihood and impact of various threat scenarios to help prioritize security investments.

Our risk assessment considers not just technical risks, but also business risks, compliance risks, and reputational risks. We help you understand how security risks translate to business impact, enabling informed decision-making about security investments and risk tolerance.

Phase 3: Security Architecture Design

Based on our assessment and risk analysis, we design a security architecture that addresses identified risks while aligning with your business objectives. We develop security architecture that is scalable, maintainable, and cost-effective. Our architecture designs consider defense in depth, least privilege, and other security principles while remaining practical and implementable.

We design security controls across multiple layers including network security, endpoint security, application security, data security, and identity and access management. We consider how security controls integrate with each other and with your existing infrastructure. We design security monitoring and logging capabilities to provide visibility into security events and enable effective incident response.

Our security architecture designs are documented in detail, including diagrams, control descriptions, implementation guidance, and integration requirements. We provide architecture designs that your team can use to guide security implementation and infrastructure decisions.

Phase 4: Security Program Development

We help you develop a comprehensive security program that includes policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines. We develop security policies that are clear, actionable, and aligned with business objectives and regulatory requirements. We create procedures for security operations, incident response, vulnerability management, and other security processes.

We help you establish security governance structures including security committees, roles and responsibilities, and decision-making processes. We develop security metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure security program effectiveness. We create security awareness and training programs to ensure your team understands security policies and procedures.

We develop incident response plans that define how your organization will detect, respond to, and recover from security incidents. We create business continuity and disaster recovery plans that consider security incidents and their business impact. We develop vendor security management programs to ensure third-party vendors don't introduce unacceptable security risks.

Phase 5: Compliance and Regulatory Alignment

We help you understand and meet compliance requirements relevant to your industry and business. This includes assessing compliance with regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOX, and industry-specific requirements. We develop compliance roadmaps that identify gaps, prioritize remediation efforts, and provide guidance for achieving and maintaining compliance.

We map your security controls to compliance requirements, helping you understand how security investments support compliance objectives. We develop compliance documentation including policies, procedures, and evidence collection processes. We provide guidance for compliance audits and assessments, helping you prepare for and respond to regulatory inquiries.

Phase 6: Implementation Roadmap and Prioritization

We develop a prioritized implementation roadmap that guides your security program development over time. This roadmap considers business priorities, resource constraints, risk levels, and dependencies between security initiatives. We help you understand which security improvements will provide the most value and should be prioritized.

Our roadmaps are practical and achievable, breaking large security initiatives into manageable phases. We consider implementation complexity, resource requirements, and business impact when prioritizing recommendations. We provide timelines, resource estimates, and success criteria for each phase of the roadmap.

Consulting Service Areas

Security Architecture and Design

We design security architectures for new systems, cloud migrations, and infrastructure modernization efforts. We develop security architectures that are scalable, maintainable, and aligned with business objectives. Our architecture designs consider current and future business needs, helping you build security that grows with your organization.

Risk Assessment and Management

We conduct comprehensive risk assessments to identify and prioritize security risks. We develop risk management programs that help you make informed decisions about risk tolerance and security investments. We provide ongoing risk assessment services to ensure your risk management program stays current as your business evolves.

Compliance and Regulatory Consulting

We help you understand and meet compliance requirements including GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and industry-specific regulations. We develop compliance roadmaps, create compliance documentation, and provide guidance for compliance audits. We help you build security programs that support compliance objectives while providing business value.

Security Program Development

We help you build comprehensive security programs from the ground up or mature existing programs. We develop security policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines. We establish security governance structures and develop security metrics to measure program effectiveness.

Incident Response Planning

We develop comprehensive incident response plans that define how your organization will detect, respond to, and recover from security incidents. We create playbooks for common incident types, establish communication procedures, and develop relationships with external incident response resources. We conduct tabletop exercises to test and improve incident response capabilities.

Vendor Security Management

We help you assess and manage security risks from third-party vendors. We develop vendor security assessment processes, create vendor security requirements, and establish ongoing vendor security monitoring. We help you understand and manage the security risks that vendors introduce to your organization.

Tools and Frameworks

Our security consulting services utilize industry-standard frameworks and methodologies while tailoring our approach to your specific needs.

NIST Cybersecurity Framework

We use the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to assess and improve your security posture. The framework provides a common language for understanding, managing, and expressing cybersecurity risk.

ISO 27001

We help you implement and maintain ISO 27001 information security management systems. We develop policies, procedures, and controls aligned with ISO 27001 requirements.

OWASP ASVS

We use the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard to assess and improve application security. The standard provides a framework for secure application development and verification.

MITRE ATT&CK

We use the MITRE ATT&CK framework for threat modeling and security control assessment. The framework helps us understand how attackers operate and assess your defenses against real-world attack techniques.

FAIR Risk Model

We use the Factor Analysis of Information Risk (FAIR) model for quantitative risk assessment. FAIR helps us provide risk assessments in business terms that support informed decision-making.

Custom Assessment Tools

We develop custom assessment tools and methodologies tailored to your specific industry, business model, and security concerns. These tools help us provide assessments that are relevant and actionable for your organization.

Deliverables

Comprehensive Security Consulting Report

  • Executive Summary: High-level overview of findings, recommendations, and strategic security improvements for leadership and stakeholders. Focuses on business impact and strategic security initiatives.
  • Current State Assessment: Detailed analysis of your current security posture, including strengths, weaknesses, and gaps. Provides a clear picture of where you are today and what needs improvement.
  • Risk Assessment: Comprehensive risk assessment identifying and prioritizing security risks to your business. Includes threat analysis, vulnerability assessment, and business impact analysis.
  • Security Architecture Design: Detailed security architecture design addressing identified risks and business objectives. Includes architecture diagrams, control descriptions, and implementation guidance.
  • Security Program Framework: Comprehensive security program framework including policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines. Provides a foundation for building and maturing your security program.
  • Compliance Roadmap: Detailed roadmap for achieving and maintaining compliance with relevant regulations. Includes gap analysis, remediation recommendations, and compliance documentation templates.
  • Implementation Roadmap: Prioritized implementation roadmap guiding your security program development over time. Includes timelines, resource estimates, and success criteria for each phase.
  • Security Metrics Framework: Framework for measuring security program effectiveness including KPIs, metrics definitions, and measurement processes. Helps you track security program maturity and effectiveness.

Additional Deliverables

  • Security Policy Templates: Templates for security policies, procedures, and standards that you can customize for your organization.
  • Risk Register: Comprehensive risk register documenting identified risks, risk ratings, and risk treatment plans.
  • Security Architecture Diagrams: Detailed diagrams showing security architecture, control placement, and data flows.
  • Incident Response Plan: Comprehensive incident response plan including procedures, playbooks, and communication templates.
  • Vendor Security Assessment Framework: Framework for assessing and managing vendor security risks.
  • Executive Presentation: Slide deck summarizing findings and recommendations for executive leadership and board presentations.

Why Choose Charlie Defense for Security Consulting

Our security consulting services are delivered by experienced security professionals who understand both security and business. We don't just recommend security controls. We help you build security programs that align with your business objectives and provide real value. We understand that security must enable business, not hinder it.

We take a practical, business-aligned approach to security consulting. Our recommendations are realistic, achievable, and consider resource constraints and business priorities. We help you make informed decisions about security investments by clearly articulating risks, costs, and benefits.

Our consulting engagements are collaborative. We work closely with your team throughout the engagement, ensuring our recommendations are practical and implementable. We provide ongoing support and guidance as you implement our recommendations, helping you achieve your security objectives.

We have experience across various industries and business models, allowing us to provide consulting services that are relevant to your specific context. We understand industry-specific security concerns, compliance requirements, and business models, enabling us to provide consulting services that are tailored to your needs.

Ready to Build Your Security Program?

Schedule a consultation to discuss your security consulting needs.