Accepting new engagements
Secure operations. Audit-ready evidence.
Syndik8 is a cybersecurity and technology consulting firm for regulated and government-contracting organizations. We build the programs, run the operations, and produce the evidence behind CMMC, NIST 800-171, ISO 27001 and related frameworks.
We have led security and IT functions across defense, life sciences and global logistics. We work as an extension of your leadership team and stay until findings are closed.
ComplianceVulnerability ManagementIT Operations
Results delivered in prior leadership roles. Client names withheld. References available under NDA.
Frameworks and standards
Services
Five service lines, one accountable team. Pick the problem you have today. Each line stands alone, and they share the same evidence and reporting so nothing is rebuilt between them.
Compliance and Authorization
We turn framework requirements into controls your teams operate, and into evidence an assessor can verify.
- Scoping and gap assessment
- Define CUI scope, assess against NIST 800-171 and 171A, and rank gaps by risk and effort.
- SSP and POA&M
- Write and maintain the system security plan, control narratives, and plan of action and milestones.
- Evidence automation
- Stand up compliance automation for control mapping, evidence requests and continuous collection, so audit preparation stops being a project.
- Assessor engagement
- Prepare control owners, run walkthroughs, and act as the liaison to third-party assessors and customers.
- Certifications
- Submit SPRS scores and guide Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO 27001, HITRUST and SOX readiness.
- Authorization documents
- Produce system security plans, assessment plans and reports (SSP, SAP, SAR) and continuous monitoring reports, including machine-readable OSCAL formats.
Vulnerability Management
A program that finds exposure early, ranks it by real risk, and drives every finding to verified closure.
- Program design
- Playbooks for asset discovery, scan cadence, prioritization, remediation SLAs, exceptions and reporting.
- Scanning strategy
- Scanning coverage across endpoints, servers, cloud and containers, including authenticated scans and agent coverage gaps.
- Testing programs
- Scope penetration tests, select vendors, and run bug bounty programs with researchers.
- Risk-based triage
- Prioritize by exploitability, asset criticality, exposure and compensating controls instead of raw severity scores.
- Configuration compliance
- Build and validate baselines against CIS Benchmarks and DISA STIGs.
- Executive reporting
- SLA compliance, aging and recurring root causes, with technical detail for IT and a risk summary for leadership.
IT Operations and Modernization
Reliable day-to-day IT, and the migrations that make it simpler.
- Service delivery
- Service desk, systems administration, onboarding and offboarding, access provisioning and device lifecycle.
- Platform migration
- Google Workspace to Microsoft 365, covering email, files, collaboration and identity. Data center cloud migration to Box.
- Endpoint management
- MDM enrollment with enforced encryption and CIS benchmark baselines.
- Consolidation
- Application rationalization, datacenter modernization and post-acquisition integration.
- Global rollout
- Design, procurement and implementation for offices and operations centers across regions.
Identity, Cloud and Data Protection
Control who gets in, where sensitive data can go, and prove it.
- Tenant architecture
- Dual-tenant Microsoft 365 designs: GCC High for controlled unclassified information (CUI), commercial for everything else, and controls that keep CUI inside its boundary.
- Identity governance
- Entra ID, MFA, RBAC, privileged access and recurring user access reviews.
- Data classification and DLP
- Classification and labeling with Microsoft Purview and AIP, and DLP policy tuned to compliance requirements.
- Cloud and container security
- Azure and container hardening, including patching and image refresh practices.
- Email and web security
- Mail filtering, web gateway and endpoint protection configuration and review.
Incident Readiness and Awareness
Prepare people and processes for the incidents that actually happen.
- Incident response
- Playbooks, triage, containment, investigation and post-incident corrective actions.
- BEC defense
- Wire-transfer verification controls and training for finance teams, built from a real prevented fraud case.
- Phishing simulation
- Simulated campaigns with metrics, using platforms such as KnowBe4.
- Role-based training
- Tailored programs for finance, HR and executives, plus mandatory annual training for all staff.
- Detection tuning
- SIEM rule review that raises accuracy and cuts false positives.
How an engagement runs
Every engagement follows the same five steps, so you know what is delivered at each point and who owns it.
Scope
Agree boundaries, systems, data types and the framework or goal that matters.
Assess
Test current state against requirements and rank gaps by risk and effort.
Build
Design and implement controls, processes and tooling with your engineers.
Prove
Collect evidence, write narratives and walk assessors through them.
Operate
Hand over, or keep running it, with metrics and a standing review cadence.
Who we serve
Defense and government contractors
DFARS, CUI, SPRS and CMMC programs, including operations in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
Life sciences and healthcare
HITRUST, SOX and ISO 27001 readiness with vulnerability and control assurance programs.
Global logistics and operations
Security and IT for distributed offices and operations centers, including post-acquisition integration.
Growing regulated companies
First security programs for teams that need a clear plan and an owner before the next customer review.
Ways to work with us
Fractional security leadership
A named director-level lead on a monthly retainer, with defined hours and deliverables.
Fixed-scope projects
Gap assessments, SSP and POA&M builds, tenant migrations and vulnerability program launches with set outcomes.
Advisory and assurance
Independent review of controls, assessor readiness and vendor performance on a flexible schedule.
Operations support
Hands-on IT and security operations support during a migration, audit window or staffing gap.
About Syndik8
A practitioner-led firm. The people advising you have run these programs themselves.
Practitioner-led
We have owned security and IT functions from systems administration through director level, so our advice comes from running the work.
Regulated by experience
Defense, life sciences and global logistics, with FedRAMP, DFARS, NIST 800-171, ISO 27001, HITRUST and SOX work behind us.
Hands-on delivery
We write the documents, configure the tools and walk assessors through the evidence ourselves, and we stay until findings are closed.