1. Discuss your business need
Book the free fit call with Franco. Share the reason for meeting and company domains, along with any customer request, deadline or concern driving the conversation.
Threat-Informed Cybersecurity Services
Cybersecurity consulting services for small and midsized businesses
HostBreach helps leadership decide what to protect, what to fix first, and how to verify progress—combining business context, internal validation, and passive outside-in intelligence without forcing an enterprise-sized security program.
From your first call to a practical security plan
Small Business Cybersecurity Assessment & Action Plan
$3,500 initial engagement, including a Cyber Intel Exposure Review
Start with what brought you here: a customer or insurance request, a security concern, uncertainty about your MSP's responsibilities, or the need to protect your business as it grows. We connect that business need to your internal security evidence and an outside-in intel exposure review.
Book with FrancoFree 15-minute fit call. You approve the written scope, price and delivery schedule before the paid review begins.
What your $3,500 review delivers
- A written summary of critical operations, sensitive information, current security evidence and provider responsibilities reviewed.
- A Cyber Intel Exposure Review briefing showing external observations and what needs internal validation.
- A prioritized written action plan covering protection, detection, response and recovery, with recommended owners and next steps.
- A leadership walkthrough to discuss the plan, investment priorities and options for further support.
This is a scoped advisory assessment. Penetration testing, implementation, managed monitoring and ongoing vCISO support are separately scoped. Passive observations alone do not establish compromise or control effectiveness.
How to get started
2. Approve the review
Receive a written proposal defining the domains, internal evidence, participants, deliverables, price and schedule. You decide whether to proceed before work begins.
3. Review security and exposure
We run the agreed passive external review and discuss your operations, current protections, provider responsibilities and growth plans using the evidence available.
4. Choose the next work
Review your written action plan with us. Take it to your existing team, discuss implementation support or choose ongoing vCISO leadership under a separate agreement.
What to have ready for your first call
- A brief reason for meeting, such as a customer requirement, CMMC question, security concern or need for ongoing leadership.
- Your company name and work email.
- Your primary website domain and email domain if different. Other relevant company domains are optional.
These details give us a starting point for passive external review and a more focused conversation. The full Cyber Intel Exposure Review and briefing are part of the agreed paid engagement.
Email your meeting context to HostBreach
You can book first and share these details before the call. We arrange an appropriate channel for detailed records after agreeing the review scope.
The Operating Model
Advisory that starts with the decision—not the tool
Threat-informed advisory means external intelligence is not a separate report. It is another input into strategy, remediation, governance, vendor decisions, and executive risk communication.
- Understand the business, crown jewels, obligations, and tolerance for disruption.
- Review the current control environment and operating model.
- Use passive external intelligence to challenge assumptions and identify conditions worth validating.
- Prioritize by mission impact, exploitability, exposure, and practical remediation cost.
- Recheck the outside view after change instead of assuming the ticket tells the whole story.
THREAT.INFORMED
Observe → validate → prioritize → advise
BUSINESS CONTEXTmission / data / revenue
CONTROL STATEpeople / process / technology
EXTERNAL VIEWpassive intelligence
DECISIONfix / accept / transfer / monitor
Who We Support
Built for growing and regulated businesses
HostBreach applies the same threat-informed operating model across sectors where leaders need to translate security signals into defensible business decisions.
HEALTHCARE
Healthcare
Prioritize identity, exposed infrastructure, third-party dependencies, and resilience around systems that support patient care and regulated data.
FINANCIAL
Financial services
Connect external exposure, vendor risk, identity controls, incident readiness, and executive risk decisions to the realities of a high-value target environment.
SAAS
SaaS & technology
Strengthen enterprise trust, security roadmaps, customer assurance, and remediation priorities without turning compliance into the entire security strategy.
LEGAL
Legal & professional services
Focus on client confidentiality, identity exposure, email trust, vendor dependencies, and the security decisions that protect reputation.
MANUFACTURING
Manufacturing
Prioritize externally visible technology, ransomware resilience, supplier risk, identity, and protection of intellectual property and operations.
PORTFOLIO
Private equity & portfolios
Use consistent outside-in signals to identify which companies deserve deeper validation and where cyber risk could affect value creation or deal risk.
Small Business Cybersecurity Services
Practical security guidance before another tool purchase
The engagement starts with business risk and accountability, then turns technical evidence into a sequenced roadmap. Scope can be focused for a specific decision or structured as ongoing advisory support.
RISK
Risk and security roadmap
Identify critical operations, sensitive information, contractual obligations, owners, dependencies, and the actions that deserve funding first.
EXPOSURE
External exposure validation
Use passive outside-in intelligence to identify conditions worth internal validation without presenting an observation as proof of compromise.
IDENTITY
Identity, email, and cloud review
Evaluate privileged access, MFA coverage, account lifecycle, recovery methods, email trust, and critical cloud configuration.
RESILIENCE
Incident and recovery readiness
Clarify response authority, escalation, communications, insurance and legal contacts, backup coverage, and evidence from restore testing.
PROVIDERS
Provider and technology decisions
Define what an MSP, MSSP, consultant, insurer, cloud provider, or internal team owns—and verify that important outcomes are not assumed away.
LEADERSHIP
Ongoing vCISO guidance
Maintain roadmap accountability, executive reporting, provider coordination, customer-assurance support, and recurring risk review.
Evaluating outside help? Read how to choose a cybersecurity consultant. Building the fundamentals first? Use the 90-day small business cybersecurity checklist. A customer requesting security evidence? Read our small-business security questionnaire guide. Preparing for ransomware or another disruptive event? Compare incident response services for small business before an emergency.
Buyer Questions
What to know before engaging a cybersecurity consultant
What does a small business need first?
Start with a named security owner, an inventory of critical assets and data, strong identity controls, maintained systems, tested recovery, monitored alerts, and an incident-response process. The exact sequence should follow business impact and credible exposure.
How is a consultant different from an MSP?
An MSP typically operates day-to-day technology. A cybersecurity consultant provides independent analysis and decision support; a vCISO adds ongoing governance and accountability. Many businesses use these roles together with a clear responsibility matrix.
How much does consulting cost?
The Small Business Cybersecurity Assessment & Action Plan is a $3,500 initial engagement that includes a Cyber Intel Exposure Review. Scope, evidence inputs and delivery schedule are agreed before work begins. Implementation, specialist testing and ongoing vCISO support are priced separately.
Compare assessment costs, scope and deliverables before approving a proposal.
Start With Evidence
Cyber Intel Snapshot
A focused passive review can surface credential exposure, externally visible infrastructure, vulnerability context, subdomains, email trust, and related signals before a larger advisory engagement begins.
Those findings are observations—not proof of compromise, not a penetration test, and not a substitute for internal validation.
Explore the Cyber Intel Snapshot →VCISO
Need ongoing leadership?
Threat-informed vCISO keeps the methodology running over time: strategy, board communication, vendor decisions, incident readiness, and recurring revalidation of the outside view.
Explore threat-informed vCISO →Threat-Informed Advisory
Book a 15-Minute CallBring the security decision you are carrying.
Use a free 15-minute call to discuss the $3,500 Small Business Cybersecurity Assessment & Action Plan, including the Cyber Intel Exposure Review, or whether ongoing vCISO support is a better fit.