Structure Behind Every Engagement

Every service we deliver follows a documented, repeatable process, built on industry standards, refined through real engagements, and adapted to your specific environment. No black-box guesswork. No one-size-fits-all checklists.

All security assessments are point-in-time evaluations based on the scope and access available during the engagement. They do not guarantee the absence of all vulnerabilities. See our Terms for full details.

Both Co-founders on Every Engagement

Every Cyber Secify deliverable has two layers: technical depth and business translation. Both layers matter, and neither works alone. A pentest report that's just a list of CVEs doesn't help a CEO decide what to fix. A compliance assessment that skips technical validation won't survive an auditor. A CTI briefing without technical analysis is just noise. The services we deliver genuinely require both layers, which is why both co-founders are actively involved in every engagement we run.

Rathnakara GN

Technical depth

OSCP-certified co-founder. M.Sc Cyber Security, CompTIA PenTest+. Rathnakara handles the hands-on technical work: penetration testing, security architecture review, technical threat analysis, control validation, and incident response. This is the technical foundation every engagement is built on.

Ashok S Kamat

Business translation & client context

Semi-technical by design. Ashok understands the technology well enough to scope pentest engagements accurately and translate technical findings for business audiences. His focus is client relationship, scoping, business impact framing, compliance alignment, executive and board communication, and long-term program improvement.

Joint delivery in practice

One of us is usually the primary client contact, depending on the engagement type. Pentest buyers typically work with Rathnakara. Security Consulting, Audit & Compliance, CTI, and Brand Protection buyers typically work with Ashok. But the primary contact is not the sole worker. Both co-founders contribute to every deliverable.

  • Pentest reports: Rathnakara writes the technical findings and remediation steps. Ashok refines the executive summary and frames the business impact for CEO, board, and investor audiences.
  • Consulting recommendations: Ashok drafts the strategic plan and roadmap. Rathnakara pressure-tests technical feasibility of every recommendation before it goes to the client.
  • Audit & Compliance deliverables: Ashok handles policy, process, and management artifacts. Rathnakara handles technical attestation and control validation.
  • CTI and Brand Protection: Ashok leads intelligence gathering, analysis, and reporting. Rathnakara provides deep technical threat analysis and validates actionability of findings.
  • Incident response: Rathnakara leads the technical response. Ashok handles client communication and stakeholder coordination.

Most small security firms either stretch one person across technical work and business communication (one side is always weaker) or use a sales-to-engineer handoff where scope and execution disconnect. We have two co-founders whose skills are genuinely complementary, and both show up on every engagement. You never get a weak version of either layer.

No handoffs outside the founders. No BDRs, no junior analysts, no offshore teams. If you are talking to Cyber Secify, you are talking to one of the two co-founders directly, and the other is in the room on the work.

Our 6-Step Pentest Process

Every pentest engagement (web, API, mobile, cloud, IoT, or AI) follows this structured process, adapted to the specific scope.

OWASP

Open Web Application Security Project

Comprehensive OWASP coverage across every application type we test: web (Top 10, WSTG, ASVS), API (Top 10), mobile (Top 10, MASTG, MASVS), IoT (Top 10, FSTM), cloud-native, LLM, and AI Exchange. SAMM for SDLC maturity in consulting engagements.

Top 10WSTGAPI Top 10Mobile Top 10MASTGMASVSIoT Top 10FSTMCloud-Native Top 10LLM Top 10AI ExchangeASVSSAMM
PTES

Penetration Testing Execution Standard

Our engagement lifecycle follows PTES, from pre-engagement and intelligence gathering through exploitation, post-exploitation, and formal reporting.

Pre-EngagementIntel GatheringThreat ModellingExploitationPost-ExploitationReporting
STEP 01

Scoping & Planning

Define scope, testing objectives, rules of engagement, and communication protocols. Identify target systems, testing windows, and escalation contacts.

STEP 02

Reconnaissance

Map the attack surface, identify technologies and endpoints, discover hidden assets, and understand application business logic and data flows.

STEP 03

Vulnerability Discovery

Automated scanning combined with manual testing to find vulnerabilities, with emphasis on business logic flaws, chained attacks, and issues scanners miss.

STEP 04

Exploitation & Validation

Safely exploit findings to validate real-world impact. This demonstrates actual business risk rather than theoretical severity, so you can prioritise accurately.

STEP 05

Reporting

Executive summary, detailed findings with CVSS ratings, proof-of-concept evidence, and developer-friendly remediation guidance for every vulnerability.

STEP 06

Retest & Verification

Free retest within 30 days. We verify fixes are effective and issue an updated report confirming remediated issues and any remaining risk.

Advisory, vCISO & SDLC Security

We embed into your product and engineering lifecycle, not just review it from the outside. Security that ships with your product, not after it.

Security in the SDLC, Not After It

Most startups bolt security on after the architecture is set. We integrate it from the first sprint: threat models in design, security requirements alongside feature requirements, and security gates in your CI/CD pipeline. Fixing a flaw at design costs a fraction of fixing it post-launch.

Design Threat modelling, security requirements, architecture review
Development Secure coding standards, security champion enablement
Testing SAST/DAST integration, manual security test cases
Deploy CI/CD security gates, secrets management, IaC review
Operate Monitoring baseline, incident response playbooks, access review
STEP 01

Discovery & Context

Understand your product, team, tech stack, regulatory obligations, and investor or customer security expectations. Security has to fit your business, not the other way around.

STEP 02

Threat Modelling

Map your attack surface, data flows, and trust boundaries. Identify what attackers would target in your architecture and where the highest-impact risks sit.

STEP 03

SDLC Integration

Embed security into your development lifecycle: design reviews, secure coding standards, PR-level security checks, and developer security enablement.

STEP 04

Gap Analysis & Risk Prioritisation

Identify gaps against target standards (ISO 27001, SOC 2). Prioritise by business impact and likelihood, not just severity scores.

STEP 05

Roadmap & Implementation

A security roadmap that aligns with your product milestones and funding stage. We implement (policies, controls, processes), not just recommend.

STEP 06

Ongoing Advisory

Regular check-ins, fractional support hours, and available advisory. Security programmes don't run themselves. We're an extension of your team.

Frameworks: ISO 27001NIST CSFSOC 2CIS ControlsOWASP SAMMSTRIDE Threat Modelling

The Intelligence Lifecycle

Raw data isn't intelligence. We follow the full intelligence lifecycle, from defining what you need to know, to collecting, analysing, and delivering actionable findings.

STEP 01

Direction & Scoping

Define your intelligence requirements: what threats matter to your business, sector, and infrastructure. Map your digital footprint: domains, IP ranges, brand assets, executive profiles.

STEP 02

Collection

Deploy automated and manual collection using Shodan, Maltego, and DeepDarkCTI across dark web forums, paste sites, Telegram channels, breach databases, domain registrars, and app stores. Surface, deep, and dark web coverage.

STEP 03

Processing & Normalisation

Parse, deduplicate, and structure raw collected data. Filter noise from signal. Tag entities and correlate findings against your known infrastructure and assets.

STEP 04

Analysis & Correlation

Apply MITRE ATT&CK TTP mapping, Diamond Model actor analysis, and Kill Chain staging to determine threat actor intent, capability, and likely next actions.

STEP 05

Dissemination

Real-time critical alerts for active threats. Monthly industry threat reports. Quarterly strategic briefings for leadership. Right information, right format, right audience.

STEP 06

Feedback & Refinement

Intelligence priorities evolve. We continuously refine collection scope based on feedback, new business context, and emerging threat trends relevant to your sector.

MITRE
MITRE ATT&CK
Map threat actor tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to real-world behaviour. Used for attacker profiling and incident correlation.
Diamond
Diamond Model
Analyse adversary-capability-infrastructure-victim relationships to understand attack patterns and threat actor attribution.
Cyber
Cyber Kill Chain
Stage threat activity across reconnaissance, weaponisation, delivery, exploitation, installation, C2, and actions on objectives.
STIX
STIX / TAXII
Structured Threat Information Expression and transport for machine-readable intelligence sharing and integration with SIEM/SOAR platforms.

From Gap to Audit-Ready

We take you from "we need ISO 27001 or SOC 2" to "we're audit-ready", combining technical controls testing with documentation, evidence collection, and management reporting.

STEP 01

Scope & Framework Selection

Identify applicable standards based on your industry, customer requirements, and geography. ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 1/2, or multiple frameworks.

STEP 02

Current State Assessment

Review existing policies, controls, technical configurations, and documentation to understand your baseline compliance posture.

STEP 03

Gap Analysis & Risk Mapping

Map identified gaps to framework controls with risk-based prioritisation. Highlight critical findings that could impact external audit outcomes.

STEP 04

Remediation & Documentation

Guide your team through control implementation, policy creation, and evidence collection to address all identified gaps before the external audit.

STEP 05

Internal Audit Execution

Structured internal audits with evidence review, control testing, and stakeholder interviews to validate compliance readiness from an auditor's perspective.

STEP 06

Audit Readiness Report

Detailed audit report with findings, evidence gaps, and a compliance roadmap. Includes support for the external audit and ongoing readiness maintenance.

Standards we work with: ISO 27001SOC 2 Type 1SOC 2 Type 2NIST CSF

Security Testing Arsenal

Industry-standard tools guided by expert manual testing, across all service areas.

Web & API
Burp Suite Pro, OWASP ZAP, Nuclei, SQLMap, ffuf, Postman
Mobile
Frida, Objection, MobSF, jadx, Hopper, SSL Kill Switch
Cloud & Infra
ScoutSuite, Prowler, Pacu, CloudMapper, Nmap, Nessus
CTI & OSINT
Maltego, Shodan, Censys, SpiderFoot, DeepDarkCTI, custom monitors

What You Can Expect From Us

Four commitments we make on every engagement. Standard for enterprise and regulated buyers, useful for any startup CTO before signing a contract. Reference these at /methodology/#commitments when you need them in writing.

Manual testing where it matters

Automated tooling for surface mapping and reconnaissance only. Manual testing for authentication, authorization, business logic, and chained-exploit analysis. We do not ship scanner output as a pentest report.

Synthetic data only, no PII in evidence

We use synthetic test accounts and data for all testing. Customer PII never appears in screenshots, evidence, or the final report. If your application requires testing with real-looking data, we coordinate synthetic-data generation before kick-off.

Out of scope by default

DoS, load and stress testing, social engineering, third-party systems, and physical access are explicitly out of scope unless you request and authorize them in writing. We do not test what we are not authorized to test.

Named team with verifiable credentials

OSCP and CompTIA PenTest+ held by Rathnakara (co-founder, technical lead). Senior team adds CISSP, CEH, and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor. Credentials verifiable via Credly. No anonymous "our experts" claims.

Reporting Standard

Every engagement (pentest, consulting, CTI, or audit) concludes with a detailed report designed for both technical teams and business stakeholders. No generic templates. Written for your context.

  • Executive summary with business risk context
  • Technical findings with CVSS v3.1 risk ratings
  • Proof-of-concept screenshots and reproduction steps
  • Developer-friendly remediation guidance
  • Compliance mapping (ISO 27001, SOC 2)
  • Free retest or re-assessment within 30 days

30-Day Free Retest

Every pentest engagement includes a complimentary retest within 30 days of initial report delivery.

01
Fix Vulnerabilities
Your team remediates findings using our guidance
02
Request Retest
Notify us when fixes are deployed
03
Verification Report
We verify fixes and issue an updated report