Cybersecurity Consulting & Advisory

Securing What
Matters Most

Strategic cybersecurity advisory for organisations navigating complex threat landscapes — from risk assessment to resilience architecture.

Trusted By

End-to-End Security Capability

We partner with leadership teams to build security programmes that are proportionate, measurable, and aligned to business outcomes.

Security Strategy

Develop a cohesive, board-ready security strategy aligned to your business objectives, regulatory landscape, and risk appetite.

Advisory

Risk Assessment

Systematic identification, analysis, and prioritisation of cyber risks across your entire attack surface — technical and operational.

Assessment

Technology Architecture

Design and validate secure technology architectures — Zero Trust, cloud security posture, identity, and network segmentation.

Architecture

Security Frameworks

Implementation advisory for NIST CSF, ISO 27001, CIS Controls, DORA, and sector-specific compliance requirements.

Compliance

Awareness Training

Bespoke security awareness programmes that drive behaviour change — from exec briefings to technical deep-dives and phishing simulations.

Training

Resilience

Build organisational and technical resilience: incident response planning, BCP integration, crisis simulation, and recovery readiness.

Resilience

DPDP Act Readiness

Consent, notices, breach response, and grievance redressal built to meet India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023.

Regulatory

Firewall Audit

Rule-base review against your segmentation intent, CIS benchmarks, and vendor hardening guidance — with a prioritised remediation set.

Assessment

API Security Testing

Authenticated testing of REST and GraphQL interfaces against the OWASP API Security Top 10, business logic included.

Testing

PII Data Discovery

Find, classify, and map personal data across databases, file shares, SaaS platforms, and backups — including the copies nobody documented.

Discovery
150+
Engagements Delivered
12
Sectors Served
98%
Client Satisfaction
40+
Frameworks Implemented

Ready to Strengthen Your
Security Posture?

Our advisors are available for an initial no-obligation consultation to understand your challenges.

Schedule a Consultation
Our Services

Advisory Built for
Real Threats

Ten practice areas. One integrated approach to cyber resilience.

Security Strategy

We work alongside your executive team to define a multi-year security strategy that is grounded in business reality, not vendor checklists. Our approach aligns security investments to risk appetite, regulatory obligations, and growth objectives.

Deliverables include a current-state assessment, target security architecture, a prioritised roadmap, and board-ready communication materials. We ensure security becomes a business enabler.

  • Security vision and mission alignment
  • 3–5 year capability roadmap
  • Investment prioritisation framework
  • Metrics and KPI design
01Business ContextDiscover
02Risk AppetiteDefine
03Current StateAssess
04Target ArchitectureDesign
05Roadmap & MetricsDeliver

Risk Assessment

Threat Modelling

Attack Surface Analysis

Systematic mapping of your technical and organisational attack surface, threat actors, and likely attack vectors using STRIDE and PASTA methodologies.

Quantitative

Risk Quantification

FAIR-based quantitative risk analysis translating cyber risk into financial exposure — enabling CFO and board-level decision-making.

Third-Party

Supply Chain Risk

Vendor risk assessment programmes, TPRM frameworks, and continuous monitoring of third-party exposure across your supply chain.

Architecture & Frameworks

Zero Trust

Zero Trust Architecture

Design and implementation advisory for Zero Trust network architecture — identity-centric security, microsegmentation, and continuous verification.

Cloud

Cloud Security Architecture

Secure-by-design cloud architecture for AWS, Azure, and GCP — CSPM, CWPP, data security posture, and DevSecOps integration.

ISO 27001 · NIST · DORA

Framework Implementation

End-to-end implementation support for NIST CSF, ISO 27001, CIS Controls, SOC 2, and DORA — from gap analysis to certification.

Training & Resilience

People-Centric

Awareness Programmes

Role-specific training journeys for executives, technical teams, and general staff — combining e-learning, live workshops, and phishing simulations.

Simulation

Tabletop Exercises

Crisis simulation exercises for incident response, ransomware, and data breach scenarios — testing your playbooks against realistic attack narratives.

Recovery

Resilience Planning

Business continuity integration, DR testing programmes, and incident response plan development — ready before you need it.

Specialist Assessments

Targeted engagements that answer a specific question, sized to weeks rather than quarters. Each runs standalone or feeds into a wider programme.

Regulatory

Indian DPDP Act Readiness

End-to-end readiness for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023. We map your personal data flows, establish lawful processing and consent mechanics, draft the notices and records the Act requires, and stand up breach-notification and grievance-redressal processes. You finish with a defensible position and evidence to show for it.

Network

Firewall Audit

Rule-base review across perimeter and internal firewalls. We identify permissive and shadowed rules, any-any exposure, unused objects, and drift from your intended segmentation model, then benchmark the configuration against CIS and vendor hardening guidance. Output is a prioritised remediation set your network team can action directly.

Application

API Security Testing

Authenticated testing of REST and GraphQL interfaces against the OWASP API Security Top 10 — broken object-level authorisation, function-level authorisation gaps, mass assignment, and rate-limit weaknesses. We test business logic, not just the schema, and every finding arrives with a reproduction path and a fix.

Data

PII Data Discovery

Discovery and classification of personal data across databases, file shares, SaaS platforms, and backups — including the copies nobody documented. We produce a data inventory and flow map, flag over-retention and unnecessary exposure, and give you the register that DPDP and ISO 27001 both expect you to maintain.

Knowledge Hub

Insights &
Resources

Whitepapers, guides, and technical briefs from our advisory practice — freely available to security professionals.

Latest Publications

Whitepaper

Building a Board-Ready Cyber Risk Report

A practical framework for translating technical risk findings into business language that resonates with non-technical executives and board members.

May 2026 · 24 pages
Guide

Zero Trust Implementation Roadmap: A Practical Guide for Mid-Market Organisations

Step-by-step guidance for adopting Zero Trust principles without disrupting business operations — covering identity, network, and data pillars.

April 2026 · 38 pages
Video

DORA Compliance: What Financial Institutions Need to Know Now

A recorded webinar walking through DORA's ICT risk management requirements, critical third-party provisions, and timelines for compliance.

March 2026 · 52 min
Brief

2026 Threat Landscape: Key Trends for Security Leaders

Our annual brief covering the evolving threat landscape — AI-assisted attacks, supply chain risks, and sector-specific threat intelligence.

January 2026 · 12 pages
Whitepaper

Security Awareness That Works: Moving Beyond Compliance Ticking

Evidence-based approaches to human risk reduction — what actually changes behaviour, and how to measure the impact of awareness programmes.

December 2025 · 20 pages
Guide

Incident Response Planning: From Theory to Tested Playbooks

A comprehensive guide to building, testing, and continuously improving incident response capabilities — including tabletop exercise templates.

November 2025 · 44 pages

Browse by Topic

12 Resources

Risk Management

Frameworks, tools, and methodology for cyber risk identification, quantification, and treatment.

Browse
8 Resources

Security Architecture

Technical guides covering Zero Trust, cloud security, identity, and network architecture.

Browse
6 Resources

Compliance

Practical guidance on ISO 27001, NIST CSF, DORA, SOC 2, and sector-specific requirements.

Browse
Client Impact

Outcomes That
Speak for Themselves

Selected engagements demonstrating measurable security improvements across sectors and organisation sizes.

Case Studies

Financial Services
67%Risk Reduction

Enterprise Risk Programme for a Regional Bank

Designed and implemented a comprehensive cyber risk management programme for a mid-sized bank facing regulatory pressure. Delivered quantified risk reduction across 14 critical systems and achieved ISO 27001 certification within 9 months.

Risk Assessment ISO 27001 Strategy
Healthcare
0Incidents Post-Remediation

Post-Breach Recovery & Architecture Redesign

Following a ransomware incident, led the technical and organisational recovery — redesigning network segmentation, implementing endpoint controls, and rebuilding the incident response capability with tested playbooks.

Resilience Architecture IR Planning
Energy & Utilities
DORACompliance Achieved

DORA Readiness Programme for Critical Infrastructure

Delivered a full DORA readiness assessment and remediation programme across ICT risk management, third-party oversight, and digital operational resilience testing requirements.

DORA Frameworks Third-Party Risk
Technology
85%Phishing Click Reduction

Human Risk Reduction Programme for a Scale-Up

Designed a 12-month security awareness programme for a 600-person technology company experiencing rapid growth. Reduced phishing simulation click rates and embedded security champions across all business units.

Awareness Training Human Risk Culture
Retail
ZTArchitecture Deployed

Zero Trust Transformation for a National Retailer

Developed the Zero Trust strategy and oversaw implementation across identity, device, and network layers — enabling secure hybrid working for 3,000 employees across 200 locations.

Zero Trust Architecture Identity
Public Sector
Faster Incident Response

Incident Response Capability Build for Government Agency

Built an incident response capability from scratch — playbooks, tooling, tabletop exercises, and a 24/7 escalation framework — reducing mean time to respond by 68%.

Resilience IR Tabletop
About XSEC

Security Advisors
Who've Been There

A team of seasoned practitioners with deep experience across financial services, critical infrastructure, healthcare, and technology.

Why XSEC

XSEC was founded by security practitioners who spent years inside large organisations and global consultancies — and saw firsthand how generic advice fails to translate into real security improvement.

We bring sharp technical expertise together with business acumen. Our advisors understand both the threat landscape and the organisational dynamics that determine whether security programmes succeed or fail.

We work as a genuine partner — embedded with your team, speaking your language, and accountable for real outcomes. Not just another report that sits on a shelf.

Principle 01

Business-First

Security exists to protect business value. Every recommendation is anchored to business risk, not technical orthodoxy.

Principle 02

Practitioner-Led

Our advisors have held CISO, architect, and security engineering roles — we advise from experience, not theory.

Principle 03

Measurable Outcomes

Every engagement defines clear success metrics upfront. We are accountable to measurable security improvement.

Meet Our Advisors

Our team brings together decades of experience across advisory, architecture, and operational security roles.

AK

Advisor Name

Managing Director

Former CISO. 20 years across financial services and critical infrastructure. CISSP, CISM, SABSA.

MR

Advisor Name

Principal — Architecture

Security architect specialising in Zero Trust, cloud, and identity. Former Big 4 partner. TOGAF, AWS Security.

SP

Advisor Name

Principal — Risk & Compliance

Risk quantification expert. Implemented ISO 27001 and NIST CSF across 30+ organisations. CRISC, ISO LA.

JL

Advisor Name

Principal — Resilience

Incident response and resilience specialist. Led post-breach recovery engagements across healthcare and energy sectors.

Get In Touch

Let's Talk About
Your Security

We respond within
one business day.

Email
amitg@xl-sec.com
Phone
TODO_PHONE
Office
Bengaluru, India
Availability

We typically have capacity for 2–3 new engagements per quarter. For urgent requirements or time-sensitive assessments, please mention this in your message.