Step-by-step help to scope your needs, prepare documents, choose a provider and plan the rollout.
Hiring a cybersecurity provider goes better when you know what you need before the first sales call. This section walks through the process in the order most businesses experience it: figuring out your risks and obligations, gathering the documents providers will ask for, evaluating candidates, and understanding how long onboarding realistically takes.
You do not need to be a technical expert. Most small and mid-sized businesses can run a sensible selection process with a list of their systems, a rough sense of the data they hold, any contracts or regulations that require security controls, and a clear budget range. The guides explain each of those inputs and show what a reasonable engagement looks like at each stage.
Use the pre-engagement checklist in the tools section alongside these guides. It is a simple way to confirm that you have covered the basics before you commit to a contract.
Getting Started and Choosing a Provider
Evaluation criteria, questions, reference checks and contract terms to compare cybersecurity providers fairly, plus a scoring method you can use with three or more proposals.
Getting Started and Choosing a Provider
A plain-English overview of the main US cybersecurity rules and frameworks that affect businesses, who each applies to, what they require and when to bring in a professional.
Getting Started and Choosing a Provider
A practical list of the documents, access, diagrams and policies a cybersecurity provider will ask for, and how preparing them in advance speeds up quotes and onboarding.
Getting Started and Choosing a Provider
A practical eight-step process for small and mid-sized US businesses to assess risk, define scope, request proposals, choose a provider and begin onboarding without overspending.
Getting Started and Choosing a Provider
See realistic timelines for onboarding managed security, penetration tests, vCISO engagements and compliance programs, what each stage involves and what slows projects down.
