A Vendor-Independent Approach to Security
Most cybersecurity vendors start with the product they want to sell and work backward to your problem. We start with your business.
Every organization we work with receives a tailored engagement — informed by your industry, your regulatory obligations, your existing infrastructure, and what you cannot afford to lose. Our team holds CISSP, CCDE, CISM, CISA, CRISC, and TOGAF certifications spanning security strategy, enterprise architecture, risk governance, IT audit, and network design. That breadth isn't decorative — it means we can advise from the boardroom to the network edge without gaps in understanding.
For organizations that need around-the-clock threat monitoring and incident response, we extend our capabilities through a strategic partnership with a US-based managed detection and response provider — a firm with over two decades of cybersecurity operations experience, a 24/7/365 security operations center, and integration capabilities across all major security platforms. We selected this partner because they share our commitment to full response — not just alerting — and because their technology-agnostic model aligns with our vendor-independent philosophy.
Security Assessments & Penetration Testing
You cannot defend what you have not examined. Our security assessments go beyond automated vulnerability scans — we evaluate your infrastructure, applications, processes, and people against real-world attack scenarios. The result is not a generic report with thousands of findings sorted by scanner severity. It is a clear, prioritized roadmap organized by actual business impact and exploitability — so you invest in fixes that matter, not fixes that look impressive on paper.
What's included
- External and internal penetration testing against your network perimeter, web applications, and internal systems
- Vulnerability assessment with business-context prioritization — ranked by exploitability and impact, not just CVSS score
- Social engineering and phishing simulation to evaluate human-layer defenses
- Detailed remediation roadmap with clear ownership assignments and timelines
- Executive summary for leadership and board-level reporting
Vulnerability Management
A single penetration test shows your posture at one point in time. Vulnerability management is the ongoing discipline of continuously identifying, evaluating, and remediating weaknesses as your environment changes and new threats emerge. We help organizations move from reactive patching to a structured program that consistently reduces risk — tracking vulnerabilities from discovery through verified remediation.
What's included
- Ongoing vulnerability scanning across infrastructure, endpoints, and applications
- Risk-based prioritization that factors in your specific business context and threat landscape
- Patch management strategy and remediation tracking with verified closure
- Regular reporting cadence — monthly, quarterly, or aligned to your compliance cycles
- Integration with your existing security tools and IT management workflows
Compliance & Regulatory Consulting
Costa Rica's regulatory landscape is evolving rapidly. Financial institutions face mandatory cybersecurity requirements under SUGEF 10-07. Every organization handling personal data must comply with Ley 8968 and may need to register databases with PRODHAB. International clients increasingly require ISO 27001 certification or SOC 2 reports as a condition of doing business. We help organizations understand exactly which requirements apply to them, assess their current gaps, and build a practical path to compliance — without overengineering or creating obligations that don't exist.
What's included
- Gap assessment against applicable frameworks — Ley 8968, SUGEF 10-07, PRODHAB registration requirements, ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS 4.0, NIST CSF
- PRODHAB database registration guidance and security protocol development
- SUGEF 10-07 readiness for financial institutions — multi-factor authentication, real-time fraud detection, encrypted communications, incident response documentation
- Ley 8968 compliance program development — consent management, ARCO rights procedures (Access, Rectification, Cancellation, Opposition), data security measures, breach notification protocols (5-business-day requirement)
- PCI DSS self-assessment questionnaire preparation or qualified security assessor support for organizations processing card payments
- ISO 27001 readiness assessment, ISMS development, and internal audit support
- Ongoing compliance monitoring and regulatory change tracking
Costa Rica Regulatory Context
Penalties under Ley 8968 range from approximately $3,000 to $18,000 for minor infractions, with serious violations — such as processing data without consent or failing to register a required database — carrying fines of $20,000 to $80,000. The most severe infractions can result in fines up to $120,000 and database suspension for up to six months. Despite these penalties, compliance gaps remain widespread — only a fraction of the estimated 5,000+ databases that should be registered with PRODHAB are actually registered. This enforcement gap is closing, and organizations that move now will be ahead of those that wait.
Incident Response Planning & Readiness
The 2022 Conti ransomware attack on Costa Rica's government demonstrated what happens when incident response plans either don't exist or haven't been tested. Twenty-seven institutions were compromised. International trade halted. The country declared a national emergency. The question for your organization is not whether an incident will occur — it is whether you will be ready when it does. We help businesses build, test, and maintain incident response capabilities that minimize damage and recovery time.
What's included
- Incident response plan development customized to your organization's size, industry, and regulatory requirements
- Tabletop exercises and simulation drills — testing your team's decision-making under realistic scenarios
- Communication protocols for internal teams, customers, regulators (including PRODHAB notification within 5 business days), and media
- Roles, responsibilities, and escalation procedures clearly documented and practiced
- Post-incident review framework — lessons learned, control improvements, and plan updates
- Retainer-based incident response support for organizations that need immediate access to expert guidance when an event occurs
Security Awareness Training
The most sophisticated security infrastructure in the world can be bypassed by a single employee clicking a phishing link. In Costa Rica, an average of 38 people fall victim to electronic scams every day — and those are only the reported cases. Security awareness training is not a checkbox exercise. Done well, it transforms your workforce from your greatest vulnerability into a genuine line of defense. We design and deliver training programs that change behavior, not just satisfy auditors.
What's included
- Customized training programs tailored to your industry, your threat landscape, and your employees' actual workflows
- Simulated phishing campaigns — baseline testing, ongoing campaigns, and measurable improvement tracking over time
- Role-specific training for high-risk functions — finance, executive assistants, IT administrators, HR
- Compliance-aligned content meeting Ley 8968 awareness requirements and industry-specific mandates
- Quarterly reporting on participation rates, click rates, and behavioral improvement trends
- Executive briefings on organizational risk posture based on training outcomes
Virtual CISO (vCISO) Services
A full-time Chief Information Security Officer commands a salary well beyond what most Costa Rican mid-market companies can justify — yet these organizations face the same threats and regulatory pressures as enterprises that employ entire security teams. Our virtual CISO service delivers senior cybersecurity leadership on a fractional basis. Your organization receives dedicated, named advisory — the same person who understands your business, your board, and your risk profile — at a fraction of the cost of a full-time executive.
What's included
- Dedicated senior security advisor as your fractional CISO — not a rotating team of junior analysts
- Security program development and maturity roadmapping aligned to your business objectives
- Board and executive reporting — translating technical risk into business language that leadership can act on
- Security budget planning and investment prioritization
- Vendor evaluation and selection guidance — independent recommendations with no commissions or resale incentives
- Policy and governance framework development — acceptable use, access control, data classification, incident response, business continuity
- Regular strategic reviews and risk posture assessments — monthly or quarterly cadence based on your needs
Security Architecture & Design
Security that is bolted on after the fact is always more expensive and less effective than security that is designed in from the beginning. Our team holds the CCDE — Cisco Certified Design Expert — one of the rarest certifications in technology, held by fewer than 800 professionals worldwide. Combined with TOGAF enterprise architecture methodology, this allows us to design network and security architectures that are resilient by design, not by accident. Whether you are building a new office, migrating to the cloud, or redesigning your entire infrastructure, we ensure security is embedded at every layer.
What's included
- Enterprise security architecture design aligned to business requirements and risk tolerance
- Network segmentation and zero-trust architecture planning
- Cloud security architecture for Microsoft Azure, AWS, and hybrid environments
- Secure remote access and branch office design
- Firewall, IDS/IPS, and perimeter security design and optimization
- Architecture reviews for existing environments — identifying structural weaknesses and design improvements
- Documentation and technical specifications for implementation teams
Managed Detection & Response (MDR)
Detection without response is just expensive alerting. Our managed detection and response capability is delivered through a strategic partnership with a US-based cybersecurity operations provider with over two decades of experience protecting organizations across North America. Their security operations center operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, staffed by expert analysts who don't just flag threats — they investigate, contain, and fully remediate them. This is what distinguishes genuine MDR from services that send you alerts at 3 AM and expect your team to figure out the rest.
Your dedicated The Digital Bite advisor serves as your single point of contact — translating threat intelligence into business context and ensuring the monitoring service aligns with your specific environment and priorities.
Three service tiers — scaled to your organization
Shield
Essential Protection
Continuous monitoring and full incident response for your endpoint environment or cloud email — choose the coverage that addresses your most immediate risk. Includes real-time threat detection, immediate containment and isolation before data exfiltration occurs, and complete remediation.
Best suited for organizations beginning their security journey or those with a focused risk profile.
Fortress
Advanced Protection
Everything in Shield, expanded to cover both endpoints and cloud email platforms (Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace). Unified monitoring across your two most targeted attack surfaces — endpoints where malware executes and email where phishing originates. Eliminates the blind spots that exist when these are monitored separately.
Best suited for organizations with distributed workforces or significant cloud email usage.
Citadel
Complete Protection
The most comprehensive tier monitors your entire critical infrastructure — endpoints, cloud email, and all security-relevant data sources through a managed SIEM. Includes continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) with proactive vulnerability detection, deception technology to identify attackers early, and dark web monitoring for compromised credentials.
Best suited for organizations with complex environments, sensitive data, or regulatory requirements mandating comprehensive monitoring.
What every tier includes
- 24/7/365 security operations center monitoring by expert human analysts
- Full incident response — investigation, containment, and remediation (not just alerting)
- Zero-latency response model — critical threats never sit in a queue
- Native and custom detection libraries informed by offensive security research
- Integration with your existing security tools — no requirement to replace your current technology investments
- Access to dashboards, reports, and security events through a dedicated portal
- The equivalent protection of adding 3-5 full-time security professionals to your team
Not sure which tier is right? Let's discuss your environment.
Schedule a ConsultationContinuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)
Traditional security operates in cycles — annual penetration tests, quarterly vulnerability scans, periodic reviews. Attackers don't operate on your schedule. Continuous Threat Exposure Management is a framework — endorsed by leading industry analysts — that shifts your security posture from periodic assessment to ongoing exposure reduction. Gartner projects that organizations implementing CTEM programs will be three times less likely to suffer a breach by 2026. We help organizations build and operate CTEM programs that continuously identify, prioritize, validate, and remediate exposures before they can be exploited.
What's included
- Attack surface mapping and continuous discovery — identifying all assets, services, and entry points, including shadow IT and forgotten systems
- Exposure prioritization based on real-world exploitability and business impact — research shows that medium-severity vulnerabilities are exploited more frequently than critical ones, making traditional CVSS-based prioritization unreliable
- Validation through controlled testing — confirming that identified exposures are actually exploitable and that deployed controls actually work
- Remediation mobilization — operationalizing fixes across teams with clear ownership and accountability
- Quarterly CTEM reviews integrated with vCISO advisory or MDR engagements for a unified security posture
CTEM engagement model: Available as a standalone quarterly engagement or included within the Citadel MDR tier. CTEM pairs naturally with vCISO services — creating a continuous cycle of assessment, monitoring, and strategic improvement.
Vendor-Agnostic by Design
Unlike technology integrators who earn commissions from product sales, our recommendations are 100% aligned with your interests. We don't resell products. We don't maintain vendor quotas. We evaluate your environment, assess your needs, and recommend the platforms that best fit your specific situation.
Endpoint Security
CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Bitdefender, Coro, Cynet, Huntress
Network & Perimeter Security
Fortinet, Cisco, Check Point, Palo Alto Networks, Ubiquiti, HPE Aruba, Cisco Meraki
Cloud & Infrastructure Security
Cloudflare, Microsoft, VMware, Zscaler
Security Operations & Threat Intelligence
Adlumin, Qualys, Horizon3.ai, Arctic Wolf, Abnormal Security, SecurityScorecard
IT Management & Monitoring
Auvik, Scalefusion, Jamf, ManageEngine, N-able, Kentik
Identity, Compliance & Awareness
Duo Security, DNSFilter, Infima, KnowBe4, Apptega, Cynomi
This list represents current expertise and is continuously expanding. If your organization uses platforms not listed here, talk to us — our vendor-agnostic approach means we adapt to your environment, not the other way around.
The Credentials Behind Every Recommendation
Our team holds one of the most comprehensive certification portfolios of any cybersecurity consultancy operating in Costa Rica — spanning security strategy, risk governance, enterprise architecture, network design, IT audit, and infrastructure virtualization.
| Certification | Issuing Body | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| CISSP | ISC2 | The global standard for senior security professionals |
| CCDE | Cisco | Fewer than 800 holders worldwide — one of the rarest certifications in technology |
| CISM | ISACA | Security program management and governance |
| CISA | ISACA | Information systems audit, control, and assurance |
| CRISC | ISACA | IT risk identification, assessment, and management |
| TOGAF | The Open Group | Structured methodology for enterprise architecture design |
| CCNP Security | Cisco | Advanced network security implementation |
| CCNP Enterprise | Cisco | Enterprise network infrastructure design |
| PCNSA | Palo Alto Networks | Next-generation firewall deployment and management |
These aren't badges collected for marketing purposes. Each certification represents validated expertise that directly informs how we assess risk, design architecture, evaluate compliance, and advise our clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a security assessment and ongoing monitoring?
A security assessment is a point-in-time evaluation of your current posture — we examine your infrastructure, policies, and processes to identify vulnerabilities and gaps. It produces a snapshot and a remediation roadmap. Ongoing monitoring, through our managed detection and response service, provides continuous 24/7 surveillance of your environment — detecting and responding to threats as they emerge. Most organizations benefit from both: an initial assessment to establish a baseline and understand their risk, followed by ongoing monitoring to maintain protection over time.
What is Ley 8968 and does it apply to my business?
Ley 8968 is Costa Rica's data protection law — formally the Law for the Protection of Persons Regarding the Processing of Their Personal Data. It applies to all individuals, businesses, and government entities that collect or process personal data within Costa Rica. If your business stores customer names, email addresses, identification numbers, health information, or financial data, the law applies to you. Key obligations include obtaining informed consent before collecting data, implementing appropriate security measures, and respecting individuals' rights to access, correct, or delete their information. Organizations that manage databases for distribution or commercialization of personal data must also register with PRODHAB, the national data protection authority. We help businesses understand which obligations apply to them and build practical compliance programs.
Do I need to register my database with PRODHAB?
If your business manages a database containing personal data that is used for distribution, disclosure, or commercialization, then yes — registration with PRODHAB is legally required. The annual registration fee is $200 and requires documentation of your security measures, data handling protocols, and designated responsible persons. Financial institutions supervised by SUGEF are exempt from PRODHAB registration but face their own cybersecurity requirements under SUGEF 10-07. Many businesses that should be registered are not — creating significant legal and financial risk as enforcement activity increases. We can assess your situation and manage the registration process on your behalf.
What is a virtual CISO and why would my organization need one?
A virtual CISO (vCISO) is a senior cybersecurity executive who works with your organization on a fractional basis — typically a few days per month — providing the strategic security leadership that would otherwise require a full-time hire. This includes developing your security program, managing compliance efforts, advising on technology investments, reporting to your board, and overseeing incident response planning. For organizations that face real cybersecurity risks but cannot justify a full-time security executive, a vCISO provides the expertise you need at a fraction of the cost. Our vCISO service is backed by CISSP, CISM, CISA, and CRISC certifications — covering security management, governance, audit, and risk management in a single advisory relationship.
How long does a security assessment take and what should we expect?
A typical security assessment engagement runs 2-4 weeks depending on the scope and complexity of your environment. We begin with a scoping conversation to understand your infrastructure, identify priority areas, and agree on the assessment methodology. Testing itself usually takes 1-2 weeks, with critical findings communicated immediately rather than held until the final report. You receive a comprehensive report including an executive summary for leadership, detailed technical findings, risk ratings based on business impact (not just technical severity), and a prioritized remediation roadmap. We then schedule a review session to walk through the findings and answer questions. If requested, we can support remediation directly or validate fixes through retesting.
We already have antivirus and a firewall. Do we really need managed detection and response?
Antivirus and firewalls are essential — but they are perimeter defenses designed to block known threats. Modern attackers use techniques that bypass traditional tools: phishing campaigns that trick employees into granting access, credential theft that uses legitimate logins, and fileless malware that operates entirely in memory. Managed detection and response adds a layer of human-led analysis on top of your existing tools — expert analysts monitoring your environment 24/7, hunting for suspicious behavior, and responding immediately when threats are detected. The question isn't whether your current defenses are good — it's whether they are enough against an attacker who is specifically targeting your organization or industry. In Costa Rica, where banking fraud has increased 668% since 2020 and ransomware groups have targeted both government and private sector, the answer is increasingly clear.