Case Examples
These are composite scenarios based on the types of engagements we take on. Client names and specific details are not disclosed. As we complete engagements and receive client approval, we publish real results here.
Financial Services — Regional Bank
A $12B regional bank's CISO discovered that employees in the lending and operations divisions had been using public AI assistants to draft loan summaries and internal reports. No inventory existed, no policy governed usage, and an OCC exam was 90 days out.
We conducted a 3-week AI surface discovery, interviewing department heads and reviewing browser proxy logs to map every tool in use. We then built an AI governance policy, an approved-tool registry, and an acceptable-use training module — all documented in a form the examiner could review.
The bank entered its OCC exam with a documented AI governance program. The examiner's findings were limited to a recommendation to expand the program to include third-party AI in vendor contracts — a finding the bank was already planning to address.
Healthcare — Regional Health System
A 14-hospital health system was generating over 40,000 SIEM alerts per week. The two-person SOC team was triaging less than 5% of them and spending most of their time on low-fidelity noise. A tabletop exercise revealed that a simulated ransomware attack would have gone undetected for 72 hours under current conditions.
We ran a 6-week detection engineering engagement: auditing existing rules, identifying sources generating the most low-value alerts, rebuilding detection logic around the MITRE ATT&CK framework for healthcare, and evaluating managed detection services to extend the SOC's coverage without additional headcount.
Alert volume was reduced by more than 60%. High-fidelity alerts requiring analyst review were clearly separated from informational logging. The team implemented a managed detection partner for after-hours coverage, and a follow-up tabletop showed meaningful improvement in detection and response timing.
Insurance — Specialty Lines Carrier
A mid-market insurance carrier was completing its annual cyber insurance renewal. The carrier's underwriter requested evidence of cloud security controls. The CISO had no current inventory of sensitive data in cloud storage and was unable to answer basic questions about data classification and access controls.
We ran a cloud data discovery engagement across the carrier's AWS and Azure environments, identifying public-facing storage buckets, unencrypted data at rest, and sensitive data in non-production environments. We produced a prioritized finding report and worked with the team to remediate the top-tier exposures before the underwriter's deadline.
The carrier completed its renewal with documentation of both the discovery findings and the remediation steps taken. The underwriter noted the proactive disclosure and remediation as a positive factor. The carrier continues to run quarterly cloud security reviews.
SaaS Company — Series C
A Series C SaaS company received notice from its largest enterprise customer that contract renewal was contingent on providing a SOC 2 Type II report within 6 months. The company had no formal security program, no documented controls, and had never undergone a security audit.
We served as fractional CISO for a 6-month engagement. We scoped the audit, built the control framework, stood up monitoring and logging infrastructure, drafted all required policies, and managed the relationship with the audit firm through the Type II observation period.
The company received a clean SOC 2 Type II report within the customer's deadline. The contract renewed at a higher value. The security infrastructure built during the engagement subsequently supported three additional enterprise deals that required security questionnaire responses.
Professional Services — Law Firm
An Am Law 200 firm's accounts payable team received an email from what appeared to be a managing partner requesting a same-day wire transfer for a real estate closing. The email passed through the firm's secure email gateway without being flagged. The wire was initiated before a secondary verification revealed the partner's account had been spoofed.
We conducted a post-incident review and an email security assessment. We found the firm's gateway was blocking known-bad signatures but had no behavioral analysis layer. We implemented an AI-native email security platform alongside the existing gateway, added wire transfer verification protocols, and delivered targeted BEC awareness training to finance and admin staff.
The wire was recalled before it cleared. In the 90 days following deployment of the new email controls, the firm's security team identified and blocked 14 additional BEC attempts targeting the same finance team, all of which would have cleared the previous gateway.
Private Equity — Mid-Market Fund
A mid-market PE fund was 30 days from closing a healthcare services acquisition. Their deal team had no cybersecurity diligence process and the target company had never undergone an external security assessment. The fund's legal counsel flagged cyber risk as a potential liability with no way to size it.
We ran a compressed 10-day cyber due diligence assessment covering the target's security architecture, patch posture, identity controls, HIPAA compliance status, incident history, and key-person dependencies. We produced a risk-tiered findings report and a cost-to-remediate estimate the deal team could use in valuation discussions.
The assessment surfaced two critical findings: an unpatched clinical system with known exploitable vulnerabilities and a historical HIPAA breach that had not been fully remediated. The fund negotiated a price adjustment and an escrow holdback to fund the post-close remediation. The deal closed on time with the liability sized and managed.
The scenarios above are illustrative composites based on engagement types we handle. No client information is disclosed. As we complete engagements and receive approval, we will replace these with real, attributed results.
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