Cyber Strategy & Roadmap
Every organisation is different in terms of how they operate, data they stores, the who needs to defend themselves against cyber attack, needs to define their strategy and approach based on the people, resources and funding available to them. It defines the target state. A cyber roadmap then plots a course to achieving those strategic goals within a reasonable timeframe. It identifies everything that is needed to reach the desired target state.
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What is Cyber Strategy & 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. This is usually guided by the businesses risk appetite – the low the appetite the shorter the desired timeframe needs to be. One organisation might want to invest heavily in Zero Trust Architecture as the foundation to securing its networks and assets. Another might want to adopt a more risk-based approach that utilises the principles of ‘Defence in Depth’ to provide a more economical approach to cyber security transformation. It all depends on the organisational context and goals of that business.
The cyber security roadmap is a detailed plan that outlines the sequence of initiatives, projects, and milestones required to achieve strategic goals of the cyber security strategy. It translates the high-level strategy into actionable steps, providing timelines, resources, and dependencies for each initiative. The roadmap serves as a guide for how and when the various components of the strategy will be executed and tracked over time, ensuring that the organisation stays on course to meet its strategic security objectives.
Challenges addressed by Cyber Strategy & Roadmap
Limited Time
You need to focus on your day job, not trying to work out the best way forward from a cyber security perspective. Many CxO’s who attempt to do this in-house often end up doing so poorly due to a lack of expertise and know-how and then end up wasting company time and money having gone off in the wrong strategic direction for months or even years. If enough time isn’t dedicated to working out what the desired future state is for cyber security, the execution of protective, defensive and responsive measures is always going to be substandard.
Lack Of Expertise
Cyber security is complex and defining a cyber security strategy and roadmap requires a highly experienced and senior Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Many will attempt them, and inevitably the end result is a document somewhere that says ‘Cyber Strategy’ on the front but ultimately becomes shelf-ware. It is never read or used. If you don’t have a capable in-house cyber security team, you will likely need external support to help set you off in the right direction. Ideally, you’ll want somebody who is qualified – looks for experts who currently hold active CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) and Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO) accreditations.
Wasted Time and Funding
When organisations get their cyber security strategy wrong, they inevitably spend years heading in a certain direction only to find out when somebody leaves or a resource is brought in, that they have been focusing in the wrong areas all that time. This results in wasted funding for the company, frustrated people and most importantly, a prolonger window of risk upon which the company is vulnerable to cyber attack. If you’re an organisation who needs to protect your business from cyber attack, you want to get it right first time round to save wasted resources and funding.
‘Boiling the Ocean’
The most common pitfall we see at CyPro around poorly defined cyber security strategies and roadmaps is trying to do too much – a lack of prioritisation. Cyber security is a large domain and it can be quite overwhelming to try and prevent all possible cyber attacks from impacting your business. The reality is that there is always a subset of attacks which are by far and away the most relevant to that particular business and by taking a threat based approach, one can rigorously prioritise the controls and capabilities to be implemented by the most likely attacks that are going to be experienced.
What Our Clients Say
Benefits of Cyber Strategy & Roadmap
Our Cyber-Security-as-a-Service offering is a multi-faceted solution designed to cover all domains of cyber security. It encompasses a comprehensive range of services and each aspect of our service can be tailored to meet the unique needs of your organisation, ensuring personalised and effective protection. Whether you require ongoing monitoring, expert advisory, or robust risk management, our service adapts to provide the precise support your business demands, allowing you to focus on your core operations with confidence.
Business Objectives Aligned with Cyber Security
The cyber security strategy that is defined depends heavily on the commercial model of your particular organisation. Are you a AdTech business where data privacy is central to your go to market proposition? Are you a health insurer where you are storing and handling highly sensitive personal data? Defining a cyber strategy and roadmap ensures that your organisation’s cyber initiatives are aligned with the overarching goals of the business.
Higher Return on Cyber Investment
Your cyber security strategy and roadmap will enable you to aggressively prioritise what is important and what is not. This means that resources, people and funding allocated to cyber security projects will have a significantly higher return on investment because you can be sure that you are investment money in the controls and capabilities that are going to provide the best protection against your specific cyber threats.
Measure Strategic Progress
Many believe defining a cyber strategy and roadmap is a ‘blue sky thinking’, up in the clouds exercise where the outputs are woolly and ill-defined. This is not the case at all. When done correctly, your cyber strategy and roadmap will establish an annual mechanism for not only quantitatively measuring your strategic progress (e.g. change in cyber maturity), but will also give you the ability to measure your return on invested spend for cyber security initiatives.
Rapid Risk Reduction
Claiming a cyber security strategy and roadmap enables rapid risk reduction sounds somewhat of a stretch but it is true. A cyber strategy and roadmap enable you to rigorously prioritise your risk remediation efforts and as a consequence, you are able to focus efforts in a short amount of time establishing the 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 provides a structured approach for making informed decisions about security investments, new technology implementations and resource allocation based on risk and business impact. It empowers your senior management and executive bodies with the data and information needed to continuously reassess your security posture and make data-driven decisions on how best to use company resources.
Clearer Communication and Stakeholder Buy-In
A cyber security strategy gets everyone singing from the same hymn sheet. Stakeholders across all functions gain clarity on the purpose and direction of travel that the executive want cyber security to travel in. This can act as a ‘golden-thread’ for everything that then comes afterwards – new projects, new hires, new tools, etc. will all align to the new cyber security strategy and roadmap, allowing stakeholders to almost be bought in ahead of time smoothing everything that comes in subsequent years of delivery.
Evidence Your Compliance
Improve your compliance against regulatory obligations such as the UK Data Protection Act and GDPR, and industry standards such as ISO 27001, SOC2, PCI DSS and Cyber Essentials. Having a robust cyber security strategy and roadmap enables thorough planning of how your organisation will meet your compliance requirements and what is required to fulfil them. This reduces the risk of non-compliance and likelihood of being subjected to any associated penalties.
Demonstrate Your Commitment to Safeguarding Data
A strong cyber security strategy and roadmap will not only demonstrate internally to all your staff that you take cyber security seriously, but it will showcase this to external stakeholders such as auditors, prospective clients, suppliers, shareholders and regulators. Many organisations are now using cyber security and data privacy capabilities as a point of differentiation in their market, and a robust cyber security strategy and roadmap will enable you to do this.
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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 security strategy and roadmap to address growing cyber threats and regulatory compliance requirements. The travel company’s global footprint and reliance on digital services exposed them to significant security risks, and they did not have the internal expertise to develop and implement a cohesive security strategy that aligned with their business goals.
Our Approach
To address these challenges, CyPro deployed a team of senior cyber security experts with expertise in the travel and hospitality sector. The team consisted of:
- Virtual CISO: a director level Chief Information Security Officer to provide both strategic oversight and leadership, ensuring that the cyber security strategy aligned with the company’s business objectives and regulatory obligations.
- Cyber Security Architect: a dedicated security architect was responsible for evaluating the current technical landscape and ensuring that the subsequent cyber security strategy and roadmap developed dove-tailed into their technology roadmap and network improvement plans.
- Project Manager: a Prince2-certified project manager oversaw the engagement, ensuring that timelines, resources, and stakeholder expectations were managed effectively.
Our approach included:
- Rapid Current State Assessment: we conducted a rapid 2 week review of the organisation’s existing cyber security posture, including policies and technical controls. This assessment provided a baseline to identify what cyber security approach would be best for the organisation.
- Cyber Threat Assessment: to ensure that the new cyber security strategy focused primarily on addressing the threats most pertinent to the company itself, a cyber threat assessment was conducted. This not only determined what the six cyber threat scenarios were most relevant to them, but also identified which cyber capabilities would provide the highest level of protection against these specific cyber threats.
- Cyber Strategy Workshops: facilitated multiple 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 5-year cyber security roadmap detailing the projects required to achieve the desired future state. The roadmap was phased into 3 delivery stages and included both strategic network security changes and more tactical control improvements that could rapid reduce risk over quite a short timeframe.
- 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
Strategic Direction Corrected
It was uncovered that the company was focusing on too cyber security controls. Their strategy lacked focus and as a result they were wasting time and resources. We developed a set of cyber security objectives and an associated roadmap that was designed to achieve these. This enabled them to proactively manage risk and demonstrate due diligence to their board and regulators.
Enhanced Security Posture
The development of the cyber security roadmap established a foundation for a more resilient security posture, including the implementation of advanced threat detection, improved incident response capabilities, and enhanced access controls.
Regulatory Compliance
Aligned the company’s security initiatives with GDPR, PCI-DSS, and other relevant regulations, ensuring that they met current compliance requirements and were prepared for future changes.
Cost Efficiency
Through careful planning and alignment of security investments with business priorities, CyPro helped the company optimise their security spend, focusing on high-impact initiatives that provided the greatest risk reduction.
Who Needs Cyber Strategy & Roadmap
Cyber security strategy is an essential service for businesses facing cyber threats. Below, we outline who benefits most from having a cyber security 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 security 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 Security 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 Cyber Strategy & Roadmap
While a Cyber Security Strategy and Roadmap can be valuable to many organisations, there are some business types or scenarios where it may not be necessary:
- Micro or 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 security 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
At CyPro, we follow a systematic and client-focused approach to ensure that our Cyber Security as a Service (CSaaS) offering delivers optimal value to our clients.
Our methodology is designed to seamlessly integrate with your business operations and scale according to your needs. Here’s how we do it:
Initial Consultation And Planning
We start with a thorough consultation to understand your business objectives, existing security posture, and specific requirements. This helps us tailor our cyber strategy and roadmap and ensure our approach is aligned with your goals and operational context.
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 security strategy focused primarily on addressing the threats most pertinent to the company itself, a cyber threat assessment was conducted. This not only determined what the six cyber threat scenarios were most relevant to them, but also identified which cyber capabilities would provide the highest level of protection against these specific cyber threats.
Define Target State
Facilitate workshops with senior stakeholders such as CEO, CIO, CTO, etc. to align the security strategy with business priorities and define the desired future state of the organisation. Is there zero risk appetite for cyber attacks and the future maturity therefore needs to be industry leading? Or, is there some appetite for some minor incidents and as such the desired future maturity can be more measured?
Cyber Security Roadmap
Based off the desired target state, we typically develop a cyber security 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
An exercise is performed to map any regulatory requirements and industry best practices against the cyber roadmap to ensure that as the roadmap is executed, the company is consistently meeting its regulatory requirements and obligations.
Transition Plan
When delivering a whole new cyber security strategy and roadmap, it can feel somewhat daunting and some organisations can stagnate once they have it approved. We put together a concise transition plan which breaks down the steps into manageable pieces to ensure they can move into implementation of their new cyber strategy and roadmaop seamlessly and quickly after approval.
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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 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 is a distinguished executive-level CISO with a wealth of experience, having held prominent positions at Thomas Cook, Centrica, Bupa, and Allianz.
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.
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 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: vCISO vs Cyber Strategy & Roadmap
If deciding between a virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) and Cyber Security Strategy and Roadmap, it’s important to understand the distinct benefits each option offers.
While both services provide expert security leadership and support, they cater to different client needs and requirements.
Below is a comparison to help you determine which solution is best suited for your organisation’s security requirements.
vCISO
- A dedicated executive-level CISO, on a retained managed service basis.
- Cost-effective since you only purchase the capacity required, which can be used on demand and spread over the month.
- Easier than Full Time Employees (FTEs) to scale up/down in response to changes in demand & capacity.
- Includes defining a Cyber Security Strategy and Roadmap but also covers off a number of other services such as training & awareness, risk management and incident response. A detailed overview of all vCISO services can be found here.
- However, will still leave some gaps in day-to-day operational security, such as security testing, alerting, vulnerability scanning, incident response, etc. which requires a broader technical team (see Cyber-as-a-Service here).
- Who is this best for? Organisations who are in need of early strategic direction and/or have ample internal resources to implement and operate security controls.
Cyber Security Strategy & Roadmap
- Team of senior cyber security professionals, led by a dedicated vCISO on a project basis.
- In-Depth – provides the most detailed review and definition of an organisations cyber security strategy and roadmap on offer.
- Highly Cost Effective: because it is project based and scoped specifically to designing the new cyber security strategy and roadmap, it is a highly cost effective option for organisations with that specific requirement alone.
- Who is this best for? Organisations with limited internal expertise that either want to ensure they set off in the right direction first time round, or have realised they are not where they want to be and need an expert to come in to help correct their course.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a Roadmap in Cybersecurity?
A cybersecurity roadmap is a strategic plan that outlines the steps an organisation will take to enhance its security posture over time. It provides a clear, structured approach to implementing security initiatives, identifying priorities, setting milestones, and allocating resources. The roadmap ensures that cybersecurity efforts are aligned with the organisation’s goals and evolving threat landscape.
- What are Cyber Strategies?
Cyber strategies are comprehensive plans that define how an organisation will protect its digital assets, manage risks, and respond to cyber threats. These strategies encompass policies, procedures, and technologies designed to safeguard information, maintain business continuity, and comply with regulatory requirements. A well-defined cyber strategy helps organisations proactively address security challenges and adapt to changing threats.
- What is a tech strategy and roadmap?
A technology strategy and roadmap is a comprehensive plan that aligns technology initiatives with an organisation’s business objectives. It is broader than simply a cyber security strategy or roadmap. A tech strategy outlines the overall vision for technology adoption, including goals, principles, and priorities. The roadmap provides a timeline for implementing specific technology solutions, ensuring resources are allocated effectively and milestones are met. Together, they guide the organisation in leveraging technology to drive innovation, efficiency, and security.
- How often Should a Cyber Security Roadmap be Updated?
Cyber security roadmaps are generally reviewed annually or when there has been significant business or technological changes. Regular reviews ensures that the roadmap reflects the current threats, compliance requirements, and technological advancements, maintaining its effectiveness.
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