Est. 2026 · London
Senior security advisory hello@lodestarcyber.co.uk
What we do

Security advisory that fits your shape.

We do not sell a product, a methodology or a framework. We sell judgement. Every engagement is shaped around the actual risk, the actual business, and the actual people in the room.

01 — Fractional CISO

Security leadership, retained.

For most scaling businesses, a full-time CISO is premature. The role commands a significant salary, demands deep institutional knowledge, and often sits idle between the peaks of incident response and board cycles. A fractional CISO gives you the same seniority and accountability for a fraction of the cost.

We embed as your security leader, attending board and ExCo where needed, owning the security strategy, and being genuinely contactable when it matters. Not a consultant parachuting in with a slide deck. A person who knows your business, your team, and your risk appetite.

Engagements typically run on a retained monthly basis at one to four days per month. We can step up during incident response, regulatory review or fundraising without notice.

What this includes
  • Security strategy ownership and a written roadmap
  • Board and ExCo reporting, written and presented
  • Security oversight of engineering, product and vendor decisions
  • Incident response leadership and communication management
  • Staff awareness and security culture development
  • Regulatory and compliance positioning (GDPR, NIS2, DORA)
02 — Security Programme Review

Know where you actually stand.

Most organisations do not have a clear picture of their own security posture. Controls exist, but nobody is certain they work as intended. Policies were written two years ago by someone who has since left. The last penetration test uncovered findings that were never remediated.

A programme review gives you an honest, independent view across your entire security landscape. We assess people, process and technology against a structured framework, weighted for your sector and growth stage. We do not produce a report that collects dust. We produce findings your leadership team can act on within a week.

Reviews are typically delivered over three to six weeks, with an executive summary and a working findings register your team can use immediately.

What this includes
  • Structured assessment across 8 security domains
  • Maturity scoring with peer benchmark context
  • Executive summary written for board consumption
  • Prioritised findings register with effort and impact ratings
  • Roadmap for the next 12 months
  • Readout session with leadership team
03 — Investor & M&A Due Diligence

Cyber risk in commercial context.

A target company may have excellent growth metrics and a weak security posture. The two are not mutually exclusive — but the risk needs to be quantified, priced, and managed. Too many due diligence processes treat cyber as a checkbox rather than a material risk factor.

We support buy-side and sell-side processes for private equity firms, venture-backed acquirers and strategic buyers. Our diligence is commercially framed: we translate technical findings into deal implications, remediation costs and post-close priority actions. We also support founders preparing for diligence, ensuring their posture does not become a chip in the negotiation.

We operate quickly and discreetly, producing findings that are useful for both the investment committee and the integration team.

What this includes
  • Pre-close cyber diligence report with deal-risk framing
  • Vendor and supply chain risk overview
  • Data privacy and regulatory exposure assessment
  • Remediation cost modelling for material findings
  • Post-close 90-day security integration plan
  • Sell-side preparation and posture improvement advisory
04 — Certification Readiness

Compliant without being consumed by it.

Customers, investors and regulators increasingly expect demonstrable evidence of a functioning security programme. Whether the driver is an enterprise procurement process, a regulatory obligation or investor due diligence, the bar is rising — and the expectation is often a recognised framework or a completed questionnaire. The problem is that most readiness programmes are over-engineered for early-stage companies, producing documentation nobody reads and controls that burden the engineering team.

We take a different approach. We map your existing controls to the standard, identify the genuine gaps, and build a programme proportionate to your current size and maturity. The goal is to get you certified efficiently, without rebuilding your organisation around a compliance programme it will immediately outgrow.

We also support customer security questionnaire and RFP responses, so that compliance stays a background function rather than a recurring sprint that pulls engineers away from the product.

What this includes
  • Security framework gap analysis and maturity evaluation
  • Scoping advice to keep the assessment footprint proportionate
  • Control design and implementation support
  • Policy and documentation written in plain language
  • Certification body selection and liaison
  • Customer security questionnaire (RFP) support

Not sure which service fits? Let us help.

A short conversation is usually enough to work out where to begin.

Get in touch