Engagement

How a client becomes a client

The practice accepts a deliberately limited number of engagements, and every one follows the same sequence: measured, documented, and confidential from the first exchange. This page describes what to expect, from initial inquiry to standing retainer.

How an Engagement Begins

Step 01 · Inquiry
First Contact
Reach out through the confidential form or through a referral partner. Pseudonyms are welcome; specifics are not required. Nothing is retained from inquiries that do not proceed.
Step 02 · Conflict Check
Conflicts of Interest
Before any substantive conversation, we confirm that no existing engagement is adverse to your interests. The practice does not represent opposing parties, in any matter, under any structure. If a conflict exists, we decline without disclosing why to either side.
Step 03 · Consultation
Confidential Consultation
A private conversation to understand the situation, the threat model, and whether the practice is the right fit. There is no obligation, and candor runs both directions: if the right answer is a smaller scope, or a different firm, we say so.
Step 04 · Engagement Letter
Proposal & Terms
A written proposal with defined scope, named deliverables, and fixed terms. No hourly meter, no open-ended billing. What we will do, by when, for what: in writing, before work begins.
Step 05 · Engagement
Work Begins
Secure communication channels are established, points of contact are named, and the work proceeds on the agreed schedule. Many engagements conclude with delivery; some continue under a standing retainer, described below.

Standing Retainers

For clients whose perimeter we have built (a hardware firewall installation, a hardened estate network, a managed organizational boundary), continuity is offered through three standing retainers. The tiers differ in scope, never in attention: every retainer is held by the engineer who built the configuration, not a ticket queue, and every alert is reviewed. Not sampled. Reviewed.

Tier I
Perimeter
The boundary, watched.
  • Managed hardware firewall: configuration held to standard
  • Every alert triaged, investigated & answered
  • Firmware & security updates applied as released
  • Direct escalation to the engineer of record
Tier II
Estate
The posture, maintained.
  • Everything in Perimeter, plus:
  • Quarterly rule & configuration review
  • Firmware lifecycle & hardware refresh planning
  • The Quarterly Briefing (below)
  • Breach & credential monitoring for named accounts
Tier III
Domain
The whole of it, held.
  • Everything in Estate, plus:
  • Priority incident response, pre-negotiated SLA
  • Annual architecture review, on site
  • Coverage across multiple properties or entities
  • Travel & transit security support
We publish no prices. Retainer terms are quoted after consultation and documented in the engagement letter, and they reflect scope (properties, entities, complexity), never tiers of attention. Every client, at every tier, gets the same engineer.

The Quarterly Briefing

Estate and Domain clients receive the Quarterly Briefing: a single page, written personally (not generated, not syndicated), covering the threats that actually pertain to your profile. What changed this quarter, what it means for you, and what, if anything, we are doing about it.

No vendor content. No recycled headlines. No padding to justify the page count: if a quiet quarter warrants three sentences, you receive three sentences, and that is its own kind of assurance. Delivered over the secure channel established at engagement.

Contact

Begin at step one

Initial consultations are confidential and obligation-free. We respond within 24 hours. Pseudonyms welcome on first contact.

Inquire Confidentially