Cyber Strategy and Roadmap

Every organisation is different in how they operate and the digital assets they need to protect.

A cyber strategy and roadmap varies depending on your current maturity, the desired target state your leadership wish to reach and your available resources.

What is a Cyber Strategy and Roadmap?

A cyber security strategy defines the approach and desired end state the organisation wishes to reach. It articulates what security posture is required, over what timeframe. One organisation might need to invest in Zero Trust Architecture to secure its IT network and assets, whilst another may need to adopt a more risk-based approach using a ‘Defence in Depth’ approach to cyber security. The correct approach depends entirely on your specific organisation’s goals, technology and business context.

A cyber security roadmap is a detailed plan that outlines the sequence of initiatives, projects and milestones required to achieve the defined strategic goals and desired target state for cyber security. It translates the high-level strategy into actionable steps, providing timelines, resources and dependencies for each initiative.

Challenges Addressed by a Cyber Strategy and Roadmap

Limited Time

You need to focus on your day job, not trying to work out the best way forward for cyber security. Many CxO’s who attempt to do this in-house, without the right expertise end up wasting company time and money having gone off in the wrong strategic direction for months or even years from the outset.

Lack Of Expertise

Many will attempt to define a cyber strategy and roadmap but without the right expertise, often the end result is ultimately it becoming “shelf-ware” – never implemented and never used. You’ll want somebody who is qualified – experts holding active CISSP, CISM and CCISO accreditations.

Resources & Budget

When organisations get their cyber strategy and roadmap wrong, they can spend years heading in the wrong direction. This wastes budget, frustrates people and most importantly, creates a prolonged window of risk upon which the company is vulnerable to cyber attack.

‘Boiling the Ocean’

The most common pitfall in defining a cyber strategy and roadmap is a lack of prioritisation. Cyber security can be overwhelming if you try to prevent all possible cyber attacks. A threat-based approach is needed to focus in on what matters the most.

What Our Clients Say

Chris Bayley

CTO - Audley Travel

Scott Switzer

CTO - Ozone

Mark Perrett

Accounts Manager - PTS Consulting

Tom Bennet

CTO - Freshwave

Chris Bayley

CTO - Audley Travel

Scott Switzer

CTO - Ozone

Mark Perrett

Accounts Manager - PTS Consulting

Tom Bennet

CTO - Freshwave

Benefits of a Cyber Strategy and Roadmap

Defining a cyber security roadmap and strategy will not only improve your cyber security capabilities, but if done correctly – it will super-charge your business growth too.

Aligned Business Objectives

Your cyber security strategy will depend on how you do business. Are you a AdTech business where data privacy is central to your product? Or a health insurer storing sensitive personal data? A well-defined cyber strategy and roadmap aligns your cyber capabilities with your overarching business goals.

Higher Return On Investment

You will discover what is important and importantly, what is not so crucial. Resources, people and funding now devoted to cyber security will have a higher return on investment as the funds used to build controls are now going to provide the best protection against your specific cyber threats.

Monitor Outcomes

Many see a cyber strategy and roadmap as a ‘blue sky thinking’ exercise with ill-defined outputs. Done correctly, your cyber strategy and roadmap will establish an annual mechanism for quantitatively measuring your strategic progress and give you the ability to measure your return on invested spend for cyber security.

Rapid Risk Reduction

As a cyber strategy and roadmap enables you to rigorously prioritise your risk remediation efforts, you will quickly be able to shift focus to establishing those controls which matter the most. The result? A high degree of risk reduction over a short amount of time.

Better Decision-Making

A cyber strategy and roadmap empowers your senior management and executive bodies with the data and information needed to periodically reassess your cyber security posture and make data-driven decisions on how best to utilise company resources.

Stakeholder Buy-In

Everyone sings from the same hymn sheet. Stakeholders across all functions get clarity on the direction of travel that the executive want cyber security to travel in, providing a ‘golden-thread’ for all subsequent decisions – new projects, new hires, new tools, etc.

Evidence Compliance

Radically improve your compliance against regulatory obligations and industry standards such as the UK Data Protection Act, GDPR, HIPPA, ISO 27001, SOC2, PCI DSS and Cyber Essentials. This reduces the likelihood of regulatory penalties.

Showcase Commitment

A strong cyber strategy and roadmap demonstrates your commitment to security, both to staff and as a market differentiator. Showcase to prospective clients, auditors, suppliers, shareholders and regulators your commitment to protecting digital assets.

Secure your business.

Elevate your security, accelerate your growth. We take care of cyber security for high-growth companies, at every stage of their journey.

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Case Study: Global Travel Company

Client Challenge

A London-based global travel company was facing increased pressure from industry regulators and its board of directors to strengthen its cyber security posture.

While the company had a broad technology strategy, it lacked a dedicated cyber strategy and roadmap to address growing cyber threats and regulatory compliance. The travel company’s global footprint and reliance on digital services exposed them to growing cyber security risks, and they did not have the internal expertise to develop and implement a cohesive cyber strategy that aligned with their business goals.

Our Approach

Rapid Current State Assessment: a quick two week review of the organisation’s existing cyber security posture identified what approaches best aligned with business objectives.
Cyber Threat Assessment: six cyber threat scenarios were found to be most relevant, identifying cyber controls would provide the highest level of protection against their specific cyber threats.
Cyber Strategy & Roadmap Workshops: facilitated workshops with key stakeholders, including the CIO, CTO, and business unit leaders, to align the security strategy with business priorities and gain executive buy-in.
Cyber Security Roadmap: developed a five year cyber security roadmap detailing the projects required to achieve the desired future state.
Compliance Alignment Mapping: mapped the security initiatives in the defined cyber security roadmap to the travel company’s regulatory requirements and industry best practices to ensure the roadmap addressed both internal and external compliance obligations.

Value Delivered

Strategy Pivoted

It was discovered that the company was focusing on too cyber security controls and were wasting time and resources. We developed a cyber strategy and roadmap providing prioritisation and focus.

Advanced Security

The cyber strategy and roadmap established a foundation for a more resilient security posture, including the implementation of advanced threat detection and improved incident response.

Cost Efficiencies

Through careful planning of security investments with business priorities, CyPro helped them optimise their cyber security spend, focusing on high-impact initiatives that provided the greatest risk reduction.

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Who Needs a Cyber Strategy and Roadmap?

Cyber security strategy is an essential service for businesses facing cyber threats. Below, we outline who benefits most from having a cyber strategy and roadmap defined and who may not find it as necessary.

Organisations Starting Their Cyber Security Journey: Start-ups or scale-ups who are finding an increasing need for more robust cyber security would benefit greatly from a cyber strategy and roadmap being defined. It would help reassure stakeholders like prospective clients and investors, whilst also enabling them to robustly meet their increasing compliance requirements.
Company’s With Stagnating Cyber Security Progress: As a result of poor leadership or just limited expertise, many organisations set off in the wrong direction for many years. This can result in a stagnated cyber security program and only incremental improvements in security posture. A new cyber strategy and roadmap would help ‘mid-course’ correct and get them back on the right path.
Highly Regulated Environments: Companies operating in industries with strict regulatory and compliance mandates, such as insurance, financial services, healthcare and critical national infrastructure. These all require a strategic cyber framework to ensure ongoing compliance. Developing a roadmap helps align cyber security practices with industry standards and legal obligations, minimising the likelihood of embarrassing or costly fines from regulators.
Technology-Driven Businesses with Rapid Growth: Start-ups and fast-growing technology companies often scale quickly, expanding their product line (technology), people and operations which all leads to gaps in security if not managed proactively. A clear roadmap provides a structured plan to embed security into the development lifecycle, maintain a strong security posture, and support sustainable growth.
Businesses Undergoing Digital Transformation: Organisations adopting new technologies, migrating to the cloud, or investing in digital solutions need to reassess their security frameworks to ensure they are fit for purpose. A Cyber Strategy and Roadmap helps to align security initiatives with the broader digital strategy, ensuring that security is not a barrier but an enabler of transformation.
Organisations With Legacy Systems or Technical Debt: Businesses that have long relied upon legacy systems or have accumulated a lot of technical debt often struggle with vulnerabilities that cannot be easily resolved through traditional security measures. A strategy and roadmap provides a pathway to modernise technology and security controls together, gradually reducing reliance on outdated and insecure infrastructure and becoming more resilient as a result.

Who Doesn’t Need a Cyber Strategy and Roadmap?

While a Cyber Strategy and Roadmap can be valuable to many organisations, there are some scenarios where it may not be necessary.

Sole Proprietorship Businesses With Limited Digital Footprint: Businesses that operate on a very small scale such as sole traders or freelancers may not need a detailed cyber security strategy if they have minimal digital assets, no customer data, and low exposure to cyber threats. Their focus can remain on basic cybersecurity hygiene, like using strong passwords and secure devices.
Short-Term Projects or Temporary Organisations: Entities such as temporary pop-up shops, seasonal businesses, or project-based firms may not require a detailed cyber strategy and roadmap since their operational duration is limited and they are unlikely to have long-term digital assets or complex IT environments for any prolonged period of time.

Our Approach

CyPro follows a systematic and client-focused approach to ensure that the Cyber Strategy and Roadmaps we design, offer maximum value for our clients.

Current Strategy Evaluation

Before one defines where you want to get to, first you need to understand where you stand today. We conduct rapid 2 week evaluations of a companies existing cyber security posture to determine what / if any strategy is in place today, how effective it is and any areas for improvement.

Cyber Threat Assessment

To ensure that the new cyber strategy and roadmap addresses the threats most pertinent to your company, a cyber threat assessment is conducted. This identifies which controls will provide the highest degree of protection against your specific threats.

Define Target State

Facilitate workshops with senior stakeholders (e.g. Founders/CEO, CIO, CTO, etc.) to define a desired target state for cyber security. Is there zero risk appetite for cyber attacks? Or, is there some appetite for some minor incidents and as such the desired future maturity can be more measured?

Cyber Security Roadmap

To reach the desired target state, we develop a cyber strategy and roadmap that articulates the projects, capabilities and controls to be implemented over a three to five year period. By definition, achieving all activities defined in the cyber security roadmap will ensure that the desired future state is achieved.

Compliance Mapping

We perform a regulatory requirement mapping against the cyber strategy and roadmap. This ensures that, as the roadmap is executed, you consistently meet your compliance obligations. By integrating these requirements, you minimise regulatory risks and strengthen adherence to security standards over time.

Secure your business.

Elevate your security, accelerate your growth. We take care of cyber security for high-growth companies, at every stage of their journey.

Get in Touch

Your Team

Jonny Pelter

Jonny is a Founding Partner at CyPro and executive group level CISO who has worked closely with the British intelligence agencies NCSC and GCHQ.

Originating from KPMG and Deloitte, Jonny has a wealth of experience across numerous sectors including technology, critical national infrastructure, financial services, oil & gas, insurance, betting, pharmaceuticals and utilities.

Jonny is a leading cyber security expert in the UK, having featured on national media for his professional commentary such as BBC News, iPlayer, Telegraph and Times Radio.

Additional Consultants

Rob McBride

Partner

Rob leads our Cyber-Security-as-a-Service offering at CyPro and is a highly experienced CISO. Starting his career with a successful tenure at Deloitte, Rob has since built a distinguished career in cyber security, notably advising multinational corporations on their cyber resilience and leading security initiatives for financial institutions.

At CyPro, Rob leverages his extensive experience as a CISO across multiple industries including finance, telecommunication, travel, manufacturing, and energy. He is passionate about empowering small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with cutting-edge cyber security solutions to safeguard their operations and drive sustainable growth.

Rob’s expertise and strategic vision are instrumental in delivering tailored, comprehensive security services to our diverse client base.

Jamie Whitcombe-Jones

vCISO

Jamie is a distinguished executive-level CISO with a wealth of experience, having held prominent positions at Thomas Cook, Centrica, Bupa, and Allianz. He has been in cyber security industry for nearly 20 years with experience across most industry sectors and specialises in cyber advisory services to founders and CEOs of cyber start-ups and high-growth companies.

In every role, Jamie demonstrates a balance of empathy and efficiency, ensuring that both customers and fellow colleagues thrive throughout cyber security transformations and change initiatives. He is passionate about revolutionising the cyber security industry through innovative approaches that maximise value from limited budgets.

Jamie excels at empowering businesses and individuals to thrive while safeguarding their assets, reputation, and customers. His strategic vision and dedication make him a pivotal part of our Cyber Security as a Service team.

Ellie Upson

Cyber Security Manager

Originating from Deloitte, Ellie brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her role as a Cyber Security Manager.

She specialises in the field of threat intelligence, enabling clients to proactively identify and respond to threats before they escalate into issues.

Technically adept and highly knowledgeable, Ellie excels at developing robust security strategies tailored to each client’s unique needs.

Known for her warm and collaborative approach, Ellie is a natural motivator and people person, making her a trusted partner in implementing and operating effective security controls.

Jerome Law

Security Architect

Jerome is a seasoned Security Architect with extensive experience across multi-cloud environments (Azure, AWS, GCP, and DigitalOcean), web applications, and networks.

Beginning his career as an engineer, he has a deep technical understanding of system intricacies.

Jerome excels at building secure, customer-facing web applications that meet stringent data privacy requirements.

He advocates for the shift-left approach to security, embedding controls early in the development lifecycle to mitigate risks and reduce costs.

His pragmatic methodologies aligns with the agile needs of SMBs, ensuring robust and adaptable security measures.

Comparison: Virtual CISO vs Cyber Strategy and Roadmap

If deciding between a virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) and Cyber Strategy and Roadmap, it’s important to understand the distinct benefits each option offers.