Security Assessments
- Environment discovery & gap analysis
- CIS control mapping & roadmap
- Evidence & executive summary
What Is a Cybersecurity Assessment?
A cybersecurity assessment is a structured review of your organization's technology environment to identify security gaps, misconfigurations, and compliance shortfalls before an attacker or an auditor finds them for you. It typically covers your network, endpoints, identity and access controls, backup practices, and existing security policies, and results in a prioritized, plain-English roadmap rather than a wall of raw scan data no one on your team can act on.
How System Alternatives Helps
We start with environment discovery, understanding what you actually have rather than just what's documented, then map findings against the CIS Critical Security Controls, a widely recognized framework insurers and auditors reference. Every assessment produces an executive summary your leadership can act on and technical evidence your IT team or cyber-insurance underwriter can review in detail. Where gaps exist, we prioritize fixes by actual risk, not by what's easiest to sell.
Vulnerability Review
- Authenticated scans (endpoints/servers)
- Prioritized patch & config findings
- Exception tracking & retest plan
Policies & Proof
- Baseline security policy review
- Backup/DR & incident plan check
- Insurance attestation support
What's Included
Discovery
- Network & endpoint inventory
- Identity & access review
- Backup & recovery practice review
Analysis
- CIS control gap mapping
- Risk-prioritized findings
- Compliance framework alignment
Deliverables
- Executive summary report
- Technical evidence & detail
- Prioritized remediation roadmap
Who This Service Is For
Cybersecurity assessments are most valuable for businesses approaching a cyber-insurance renewal that requires evidence of security controls, organizations in regulated industries facing compliance deadlines, companies that have never had an independent security review, and any business that has grown quickly and suspects its security posture hasn't kept pace. It's also a useful second opinion for businesses with an internal IT team that wants outside validation of where they stand.
Why Businesses Choose System Alternatives
We assess against the CIS Controls specifically because they're the framework most cyber-insurance underwriters and compliance auditors already recognize, so our findings translate directly into evidence you can use. We also don't treat an assessment as a one-time sales pitch for a bigger contract. Many customers use us purely for the assessment and remediation guidance, with no obligation to become a managed services customer. As a local Oregon and Washington team, we deliver findings in a conversation instead of a PDF that sits unread.
Service Area
System Alternatives provides cybersecurity assessments for businesses throughout the Portland metro area, Oregon, and Washington.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is included in a cybersecurity assessment?
- An assessment covers environment discovery across your network, endpoints, and identity controls, a gap analysis mapped to the CIS Critical Security Controls, a review of your backup and incident-response practices, and a prioritized roadmap with both an executive summary and technical detail.
- Who needs a cybersecurity assessment?
- Businesses approaching a cyber-insurance renewal, organizations facing a compliance deadline, companies that have never had an independent security review, and any business that suspects its security posture hasn't kept up with its growth all benefit from an assessment.
- How much does a cybersecurity assessment cost, and what affects the price?
- Pricing depends on the size of your environment (number of users, servers, and locations) and how deep the assessment needs to go. We'll scope the assessment and provide a fixed quote after an initial conversation about your environment.
- How long does the assessment process take?
- Most assessments take one to three weeks from kickoff to final report, depending on environment size and how quickly discovery information can be gathered. We'll give you a specific timeline once the engagement is scoped.
- Does this help with cyber-insurance or compliance requirements?
- Yes. We assess against the CIS Controls, a framework widely recognized by cyber-insurance underwriters and compliance auditors, and provide documentation formatted to support insurance applications, renewals, and audit evidence requests.
- What happens after the assessment is complete?
- You receive a prioritized remediation roadmap ranked by actual risk. From there, you can implement fixes with your own team, bring in System Alternatives for remediation support, or use the findings purely as documentation. There's no obligation to become a managed services customer.