The 10 cybersecurity domains represent a comprehensive framework for protecting your organization:

1. Security & Risk Management - Strategic planning, governance, and compliance (GRC) to align security with business priorities
2. Asset Security - Data classification, handling, and lifecycle management to protect your most valuable information
3. Security Architecture & Engineering - Building security controls directly into systems, applications, and infrastructure
4. Communication & Network Security - Protecting data in transit and securing network communications
5. Identity & Access Management (IAM) - Controlling who accesses what resources, when, and under what conditions
6. Security Assessment & Testing - Validating security controls through vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and audits
7. Security Operations - 24/7 monitoring, detection, and incident response to identify and contain threats
8. Software Development Security - Integrating security throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC)
9. Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery - Ensuring operational resilience and rapid recovery from disruptive events
10. Legal, Regulations & Compliance - Meeting regulatory and framework requirements including NIST CSF, NIST SP 800-171, ISO 27001, NIST AI Risk Management Framework, SOC 2 Type II, CMMC (Levels 1-2), FedRAMP, HITRUST, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS, SOX, FISMA, FDA 21 CFR, DORA, EU AI Act, CJIS, and CSRMC

These domains work together as an interconnected ecosystem. Weakness in one area creates vulnerabilities across your entire security program.

Domain expertise transforms cybersecurity from a cost center into a competitive advantage.

Organizations with comprehensive domain coverage reduce breach likelihood by up to 60% compared to those focusing on isolated security controls. When security leaders understand how domains interconnect, they align protection strategies with business objectives, enabling faster product launches, market expansion, and digital transformation without compromise.

Strategic, risk-based prioritization prevents wasteful spending on tools that don't address your actual threat landscape. Our clients typically save 30-40% on security investments while improving their overall posture. Domain expertise also ensures you're building sustainable programs that meet multiple regulatory requirements (e.g., CMMC, SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA) simultaneously through shared controls.

Customers, partners, and investors evaluate your security posture before doing business with you. Demonstrating maturity across all 10 domains wins contracts, speeds up sales cycles, and increases enterprise value.

Our team has 26 years of proven expertise across these domains. Let’s connect to discuss how we can help you build resilient, business-aligned security programs that protect your assets while accelerating growth.

The 10 cybersecurity domains are deeply interconnected. Each domain has a specific function and they must work together for your security program to thrive.

Security Architecture & Engineering designs the secure infrastructure and determines where data resides. Asset Security classifies the data flowing through the application. Identity & Access Management controls who can access it and what they can do. Communication & Network Security encrypts data in transit. Software Development Security ensures the application code is secure from vulnerabilities

Security Assessment & Testing validates controls through penetration testing before launch. Security Operations monitors the application 24/7 for threats post-deployment. Legal, Regulations & Compliance ensures the application meets regulatory requirements. Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery establishes backup and recovery procedures. Security & Risk Management oversees the entire process, ensuring alignment with business risk tolerance.

Defense in depth:

When domains work together properly, you achieve multiple layers of protection that compensate for each other's weaknesses. A failure in one control (an employee clicking a phishing link) is caught by another (IAM restricting access, or Security Operations detecting anomalous behavior).

Organizations that treat domains as isolated initiatives create security gaps where threats slip through. Our approach ensures your domains reinforce each other, creating a resilient security ecosystem stronger than the sum of its parts.

Your starting point depends on current security maturity, industry regulations, and immediate business priorities.

Foundation: Security & Risk Management (Domain 1)

Before investing in tools or controls, establish a foundation:

• What are our most critical assets?
• What risks do we face?
• What's our risk tolerance?
• Which regulations apply to us?

Without this foundation, you'll waste resources on security controls that don't address your actual threats.

Prioritize based on your situation:

• DoD contractors or suppliers: Focus on Asset Security (Domain 2) and Legal, Regulations & Compliance (Domain 10) to meet CMMC requirements and protect CUI.
• SaaS companies or product-based businesses: Prioritize Software Development Security (Domain 8) and Security Architecture & Engineering (Domain 3) to build security into products from the start.
• Recent breach or near-miss: Strengthen Security Operations (Domain 7) and Identity & Access Management (Domain 5) to improve detection, response, and access controls.
• Preparing for SOC 2, ISO 27001, or HIPAA certification: Begin with Security & Risk Management (Domain 1) and Legal, Regulations & Compliance (Domain 10), then build evidence across all domains systematically.
• Rapid growth phase: Focus on Identity & Access Management (Domain 5) and Security Governance (Domain 1) to scale security as your team and systems expand.

We typically start with a comprehensive maturity assessment across all 10 domains. This 30-60 day engagement identifies your current state, reveals critical gaps, and produces a prioritized roadmap sequencing domain improvements based on business impact, regulatory deadlines, quick wins versus long-term investments, resource constraints, and threat landscape.

Schedule a consultation for a complimentary domain maturity discussion.

Security & Risk Management is the strategic foundation of your entire cybersecurity program.

Core components:

• Enterprise risk assessment & quantification: Identifies and prioritizes cyber risks based on likelihood and business impact, calculates financial exposure from potential breaches, and maps threats to critical assets and business processes.
• Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC): Establishes cybersecurity policies, standards, and procedures; defines roles, responsibilities, and accountability; and creates risk management frameworks.
• Strategic security planning: Develops multi-year security roadmaps tied to business objectives, allocates security budgets based on risk-based prioritization, and aligns security investments with revenue protection, cost reduction, and business enablement.
• Business continuity & resilience planning: Designs Business Continuity Plans (BCP) and Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP), conducts Business Impact Analysis (BIA) to identify critical functions, and tests recovery capabilities through tabletop exercises.
• AI governance & emerging technology risk: Manages risks from AI adoption (data privacy, model security, bias), establishes guardrails for new technologies (e.g., cloud, IoT, mobile), and balances innovation with secure implementation.
• Regulatory compliance strategy: Navigates complex requirements across multiple frameworks and regulations. We guide organizations through NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF), NIST SP 800-171, ISO 27001, and NIST AI RMF for security foundations. We support certifications and programs including SOC 2 Type II, CMMC (Levels 1 and 2), FedRAMP, and HITRUST. We ensure compliance with regulations spanning HIPAA (Healthcare), GDPR (EU Data Privacy), PCI-DSS (Payment Security), SOX (Financial Reporting), FISMA (Federal Systems), FDA 21 CFR (Life Sciences), DORA (EU Financial Resilience), EU AI Act (AI Governance), CJIS (Criminal Justice), and CSRMC (Defense Supply Chain).

Impact on your organization:

Without strong Security & Risk Management: Reactive security fighting fires instead of preventing them, wasted budgets on tools that don't reduce risk, and organization-wide disconnects when communicating cyber risk.

With mature Security & Risk Management: Security becomes a business enabler rather than blocker, investments are risk-prioritized delivering maximum ROI, executives make informed decisions about cyber risk acceptance, and your organization achieves operational resilience and sustained growth.

ResilientTech Advisors provides vCISO services, fractional CISO support, and interim leadership to build mature Security & Risk Management programs. Our team has guided organizations from startups to Fortune 500 companies through complex risk landscapes, regulatory requirements, and digital transformations. Let’s connect to discuss how a strong risk management foundation can benefit your business or organization.

Identity & Access Management is one of your organization's most critical lines of defense.

IAM determines who can access what resources, when, and under what conditions. When IAM fails, everything fails. According to Verizon's 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, 80% of breaches involve compromised credentials or abuse of privileged access.

Protection against major threats:

• Unauthorized access & insider threats: Prevents employees, contractors, or partners from accessing data beyond role requirements. Detects and blocks malicious insiders attempting data exfiltration. Ensures terminated employees lose access immediately, preventing "ghost accounts."
• Credential theft & account takeover: Multi-factor authentication stops attackers even when passwords are stolen. Privileged Access Management secures high-value admin accounts. Identity governance tracks and audits every access decision.
• Lateral movement after initial compromise: Role-based access control limits attacker capabilities even after breaching the perimeter. Least privilege principles minimize the blast radius of compromised accounts. Just-in-time access ensures elevated permissions are temporary and monitored.
• Compliance violations: IAM provides audit trails proving who accessed regulated data (required for CMMC, HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR). Automated provisioning/deprovisioning ensures access reviews meet regulatory deadlines. Separation of duties prevents fraud and satisfies auditor requirements.

Business acceleration:

Mature IAM programs reduce risk while accelerating business. Faster onboarding gets new employees appropriate access on day one. Seamless remote work provides secure access from anywhere without VPN bottlenecks. Partner collaboration gives third-party vendors limited, monitored access to necessary systems. Cloud migration centralizes identity management across on-prem and cloud environments. M&A integration quickly integrates or separates identities during acquisitions or divestitures.

IAM is a strategic security control touching every user, system, and data asset in your organization. Getting it right makes breaches less likely, enables compliance, and empowers your teams to work securely from anywhere.

ResilientTech Advisors has implemented IAM solutions for organizations ranging from 50 to 50,000 employees. Whether you’re implementing MFA, migrating to modern identity providers, or establishing privileged access management, you can count on Our team. Our team brings 26 years of proven expertise to strengthen access controls while enabling business agility. Let’s talk about your IAM program.