Security leadership from someone who has carried the pager — for the firms that need it and the founders building what comes next.
Over twenty years running security inside financial services. Now available as your CISO, your guide to the security technology worth adopting, and your practitioner sounding board on the way to market.
For hedge funds, asset managers, fintechs and growth-stage companies that need senior security judgment — and a regulator-ready program — without a full-time executive hire.
Fractional / vCISO
Own the program end to end: strategy, roadmap, budget, team and incident leadership — or build the function from scratch and hand it to a full-time leader when you're ready. Investor and LP due diligence answers that read like they came from inside the business.
Regulatory readiness
SEC, FINRA, NYDFS Part 500, SOX and FFIEC expectations translated into controls, evidence and policies that hold up in an exam or an operational due diligence review.
Security innovation
Access to vetted, next-generation security technology before it's mainstream — matched to your actual problems, piloted with discipline, and deployed without vendor theater.
AI governance
Practical guardrails for adopting AI tools and agents: data exposure, model and vendor risk, acceptable-use policy and the controls regulators will ask about.
Third-party risk
A vendor and service-provider risk program proportionate to your size — tiering, due diligence, contract terms and ongoing monitoring.
Board & executive reporting
Board and InfoSec Committee reporting your directors will actually read: program status, key risk metrics, and maturity against NIST CSF, tracked quarter over quarter with clear decisions and asks.
How engagements work
01 — Assess
A clear-eyed baseline
A fixed-scope review of your risks, controls and regulatory posture, ending in a prioritized roadmap you can take to leadership.
02 — Lead
Ongoing CISO coverage
A monthly retainer with defined hours, a standing cadence with leadership, and on-call support when something goes wrong.
03 — Transition
Hand off with confidence
When it's time for a full-time leader, help define the role, interview candidates and transfer the program cleanly.
For cybersecurity founders
Build for the buyer by working with one.
I've been the first design partner, the first enterprise customer and an early investor. I know what makes a CISO take the meeting, run the pilot and sign the PO — and what makes them stop answering.
Advisor and angel investor to early-stage companies building the next generation of security and AI.
Companies I advise
Native Security
Daylight Security
Ideation & validation
Pressure-test the problem with a practitioner before you write the code. Is it painful, budgeted and owned by someone?
Positioning & GTM
ICP, messaging and pricing that land with security buyers — especially in regulated industries like financial services.
Design partners & traction
Warm introductions to peer CISOs, outreach that gets replies, and pilots structured to convert into paid deployments.
Fundraising readiness
A pitch that survives a technical diligence call, and introductions to security-focused investors when the story is ready.
About
Israel Bryski
A security executive with over twenty years inside financial services — from engineering and regulatory remediation at bulge-bracket banks to building and leading security programs at investment firms.
Why Bitahon?בִּטָּחוֹן is the modern Hebrew word for security. Its older, deeper meaning is trust — the confidence that what you rely on will hold. That's the standard this practice is built to.
Chief Information Security OfficerMIO Partners (McKinsey's investment office)
Director of Information Security — built the functionEton Park Capital Management