CYBERSECURITY GOVERNANCE
Know who is accountable for your organization's cybersecurity and technology risk.
Get an independent view of where vendor responsibilities stop, what your organization still needs to own, and what leadership should verify next—without being sold security tools, managed services, or a provider change.
We'll confirm fit and provide secure scheduling and payment options before requesting supporting materials.
Helpful to have ready: a high-level vendor list, your IT-support model, known concerns, and any existing policies or risk documentation. Please do not send passwords, credentials, account numbers, client personal information, security logs, or other sensitive information through the website form.
Led by Sterling Unan, CISSP — 25+ years in financial-services technology and operations · Independent, product-neutral advisory
Technology & Cyber Risk Consultation
$495 fixed fee · 60–90 minutes
A leadership-level diagnostic—not a technical audit or penetration test.
A confidential consultation for leaders who need a clearer view of cybersecurity accountability, vendor responsibility, access, data protection, continuity, and cyber risk.
YOUR CONSULTATION INCLUDES:
- A focused 60–90 minute leadership-level discussion
- An immediate Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot
- A concise written Consultation Report within three business days
- Practical direction that can stand on its own
No obligation to change providers, purchase a broader review, or enter an ongoing advisory arrangement.
Beech Tree does not sell security products, managed IT services, or cybersecurity tools.
COMMON BUSINESS CONCERNS
Concerned about payment fraud, email compromise, or ransomware?
Many organizations first contact Beech Tree after seeing suspicious emails, payment-change requests, account-access issues, vendor impersonation attempts, or news about ransomware and business email compromise. The consultation helps leadership clarify which controls, vendor responsibilities, approval practices, and recovery questions need attention next.
It is not an incident-response service or a technical security test. It is an independent starting point for deciding what should be verified, improved, or escalated.
- ACH, wire, invoice, and payment-change fraud controls
- Email compromise, phishing, and account-takeover questions
- MFA, administrative access, backup, and recovery accountability
- Vendor responsibilities and continuity when a critical system is unavailable
CYBERSECURITY ACCOUNTABILITY CHECKLIST
7 Questions Every Organization Should Be Able to Answer About Its Cybersecurity
If any of these questions are unclear, your organization has a gap worth addressing.
Not sure how your organization would answer these questions? That is exactly what a Technology & Cyber Risk Consultation is designed to address.
Request Consultation AvailabilityYour current IT and cybersecurity providers remain part of the solution. The consultation gives leadership clearer questions, ownership, and next steps.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
What you receive
During the consultation
- A focused 60–90 minute leadership-level discussion
- An immediate Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot
- Key concerns, accountability questions, and areas requiring verification
- Practical questions to take back to IT, cloud, cybersecurity, backup, identity, and other technology vendors
Within three business days
- A concise written Consultation Report
- A prioritized summary of observations and recommended next steps
- A clearer distinction between what is known, what needs verification, and what leadership should decide
- Practical direction that can stand on its own
- A leadership-ready summary of priorities, ownership questions, vendor follow-ups, and recommended next steps
This is independent technology and risk-management guidance—not a penetration test, technical audit, vulnerability scan, incident-response engagement, legal or regulatory opinion, formal compliance certification, product proposal, or managed-services sales conversation.
THE WHOLE PICTURE
Your cybersecurity vendors are not your cybersecurity strategy.
Your MSP, cloud providers, security tools, backup platform, identity provider, and business applications may each manage an important part of the environment. But no individual vendor owns the whole picture. Leadership remains responsible for understanding technology, cybersecurity, access, data protection, continuity, and vendor accountability together.
Managed IT provider
Devices, support, selected security operations, and day-to-day technology support.
Microsoft 365 and cloud platforms
Identity, email, collaboration, file storage, application infrastructure, and service availability.
Cybersecurity, backup, and business-application vendors
Endpoint protection, email security, backup, identity, cloud applications, line-of-business tools, and supporting services.
Your organization
Leadership, governance, risk decisions, business continuity, client trust, and accountability.
This becomes more important as organizations adopt new cloud services, support remote or hybrid work, rely on connected third-party vendors, use mobile and personal devices, and evaluate AI tools. The goal is not to manage every technical detail internally. It is to know the right questions, assign ownership clearly, and make informed decisions.
Risk Extends Beyond the Office
Remote work, home-office environments, personal devices, mobile access, cloud applications, contractors, vendors, and AI tools can all affect the organization's cybersecurity posture. Beech Tree's advisory covers the full operating environment—not just the office network.
INDEPENDENCE
Independent advice. Practical direction.
Independent perspective
Beech Tree does not sell security products, managed IT services, or cybersecurity tools. Recommendations are not shaped by product quotas, implementation revenue, managed-services revenue, or vendor referral fees.
Built for leadership
The consultation is designed for owners, executives, managing partners, administrators, and other decision-makers who need a clearer view of cybersecurity accountability and risk.
Actionable without pressure
The consultation stands on its own. There is no requirement to change providers, purchase a broader review, or enter an ongoing advisory arrangement.
EXPERIENCE
Experience that connects cybersecurity to leadership decisions.
Sterling Unan, CISSP, brings more than 40 years of technology and cybersecurity experience, including more than 25 years supporting financial-services technology and operations. Beech Tree helps leadership teams translate technical complexity into practical questions, clearer accountability, and decisions that fit the organization's operating reality.
Led by Sterling Unan, CISSP, with 25+ years in financial-services technology and operations and more than 40 years of technology and cybersecurity experience.
Financial Services Technology & Operations
Experience supporting technology leadership, security, vendor relationships, business continuity, and the operational systems that support investment and client-service functions.
Cybersecurity Risk Context
Practical understanding of identity, access, data protection, vendor dependencies, sensitive information, and the operational consequences of technology disruption.
Cybersecurity, Governance & Resilience
CISSP-led cybersecurity experience, including identity security, Microsoft 365 governance, vendor oversight, backup and recovery, incident readiness, and business-continuity planning.
Independent Advisory Discipline
Experience improving vendor accountability, evaluating technology services, reducing unnecessary spend, and giving leadership practical information for better decisions.
BROADER REVIEW OPTION
If a deeper review is needed
$495 Consultation
A focused, fixed-fee conversation that gives you immediate clarity on your most important cybersecurity and technology-risk questions. It includes your immediate Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot and a written Consultation Report within three business days.
Technology & Cyber Risk Review
A comprehensive, independently scoped review of the organization's technology and cybersecurity environment. Separately scoped and priced based on organizational size, technology complexity, vendor relationships, and the questions leadership needs answered.
Some organizations may decide they need a broader independent review after the consultation. If so, Beech Tree can discuss a separately scoped engagement focused on technology environment, vendor relationships, cybersecurity governance, data protection, access, continuity, and operational resilience.
The initial consultation stands on its own. A deeper review is discussed only when leadership wants additional evidence, broader environmental visibility, or more detailed vendor-accountability analysis.
A full review typically includes:
- Complete technology-environment assessment
- Vendor accountability and contract review
- Data-protection and sensitive-information alignment
- Microsoft 365 security, identity, and access-control review
- Backup, recovery, and business-continuity readiness
- Technology governance and strategic alignment
- AI adoption, policy, and data-protection review
Full reviews are separately scoped and priced after the initial consultation, only when additional detail would be useful to the organization.
What a Full Review Includes
- Written findings report with prioritized recommendations
- Vendor-accountability matrix for leadership
- Technology-risk summary for leadership
- Practical plan with vendor questions and next steps
EXAMPLE FINDING
Example finding
EXAMPLE: A SMALL ORGANIZATION
- The managed IT provider held administrator access to the organization's Microsoft 365 environment, including email, SharePoint, and business-critical applications. Leadership had not confirmed whether it held emergency administrative access.
- The organization did not maintain a current inventory of privileged accounts, a documented process for reviewing vendor access, or a clear offboarding checklist for departing employees, contractors, and former service providers.
- Multi-factor authentication was not consistently enforced for all administrative and remote access. The IT provider confirmed MFA was enabled broadly, but leadership had not independently verified the scope or configuration.
- The organization did not have a documented process for independently confirming vendor bank-detail changes, payment instructions, or urgent payment requests received by email. Finance and operations staff relied on the apparent email sender rather than a defined out-of-band verification process.
- There was no documented plan for how staff would communicate with customers, clients, vendors, or employees and continue priority operations if email, a cloud platform, or a core business application became unavailable.
Why it mattered:
Sensitive information, system access, and operational continuity were exposed to avoidable cybersecurity and business risk. The concern was not that a vendor was acting improperly—it was that leadership could not independently verify or document accountability, access, and control performance in several critical areas. Compromised email, vendor impersonation, or altered payment instructions can create financial loss even when core systems remain available.
Practical next steps:
Document privileged access and establish recurring access reviews. Confirm MFA enforcement scope with the IT provider. Create an access-transition checklist for departing employees, contractors, and vendors. Establish a basic communication and work-continuity plan for technology disruptions. Establish and document an out-of-band verification process for vendor bank-detail changes, payment instructions, and unusual payment requests.
Illustrative example based on common patterns. The Snapshot distinguishes what is known, what is reported by leadership, what requires vendor confirmation, and what may warrant a separately scoped review. Details are generalized and do not describe a specific client engagement.
READY TO CLARIFY YOUR ORGANIZATION'S CYBERSECURITY ACCOUNTABILITY?
Start with a focused, independent conversation.
Tell us the cybersecurity or technology question your organization needs to answer—whether it involves email compromise, payment-fraud concerns, vendor accountability, access, backups, continuity, or another risk. We will confirm fit and provide secure scheduling and payment options before requesting any supporting materials.
$495 fixed fee · 60–90 minutes · Payment is collected when scheduling · No recurring contract
What happens next
- 1Request consultation availability
- 2Receive a secure scheduling and payment link
- 3Meet confidentially for 60–90 minutes
- 4Receive your Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot immediately after the consultation
- 5Receive a written Consultation Report within three business days
A useful starting point
You do not need a complete technology inventory before booking. Come prepared to describe your IT-support model, key vendors, current concerns, and any upcoming insurance renewals, vendor renewals, technology changes, or business priorities. The consultation will help identify what should be verified next.
The initial conversation can proceed without documents. If high-level supporting materials would be useful after scheduling, Beech Tree will provide secure instructions. Do not transmit passwords, credentials, account numbers, client personal information, security logs, or other sensitive information through the website form or unsecured email.
You do not need to change IT or cybersecurity providers to work with Beech Tree. The consultation helps leadership understand the current environment, ask stronger questions, and make more informed decisions with existing vendors.
Immediate Deliverable: Your Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot
At the end of your consultation, you receive an immediate Snapshot summarizing priorities, risks, options, and vendor questions. The Snapshot distinguishes what is known, what is reported, what requires vendor confirmation, and what may warrant a separately scoped review. Your written Consultation Report is delivered within three business days after the consultation.
Request Consultation Availability
Tell us a little about your organization and the cybersecurity or technology question you are trying to answer. We will confirm fit, scheduling options, and secure next steps.
INDEPENDENT TECHNOLOGY & CYBER RISK ADVISOR
Sterling Unan, CISSP, brings more than 25 years of direct experience in hedge fund technology and operations, including technology leadership, security, vendor relationships, business continuity, and the operational systems that support investment and client-service functions.
Sterling Unan, CISSP · Founder, Beech Tree Technology Advisors · 25+ years in hedge fund technology & operations