Executive-level cybersecurity leadership for Dallas, Frisco, Plano, Richardson and Fort Worth companies that need an experienced CISO without adding a full-time executive.
Former CTO/CIO at a public company and CISO at a Nasdaq-listed crypto FinTech platform. Based in Frisco, serving Dallas–Fort Worth and clients nationwide.
Dallas–Fort Worth has become one of the country's fastest-growing hubs for FinTech, payments, SaaS and regulated technology. Local companies are scaling fast, signing enterprise customers, and facing investor and audit scrutiny — but many are not ready to hire a full-time CISO at $350,000 or more.
A fractional CISO gives Dallas companies:
Build and oversee the security program, prioritize risk, and translate technical issues into language the board and investors understand.
Prepare for SOC 2, PCI DSS, NYDFS Part 500, and customer security audits. We build the program, not just the paperwork.
Establish governance for generative AI, agentic systems, third-party AI tools, and regulatory expectations before they become urgent. See our AI governance advisory.
Support diligence, M&A, and public-company cybersecurity disclosure with defensible materials and credible answers.
Build and test your incident response plan. Lead tabletop exercises and be the call at 2 a.m. when something goes wrong.
Hire your first security hire, manage MSSP relationships, and prioritize security spending where it actually reduces risk.
Every engagement is scoped to where your company actually is. A typical first 90 days:
Security posture assessment against NIST CSF, a risk register you can actually use, quick wins executed inside the first month, and an honest briefing to leadership about where you stand.
Policies that match how your teams really work, an incident response plan with roles and escalation paths, vendor risk process, and the start of SOC 2 or PCI readiness if audits are on your horizon.
Board-ready reporting cadence, tabletop exercise with your leadership team, security roadmap tied to business milestones, and metrics your investors can track.
After the first quarter, most Dallas clients move to a steady rhythm: weekly working sessions, monthly risk reviews, quarterly board or investor updates, and on-call access when something breaks.
Different customers and regulators pull different levers. We build one program that answers all of them.
Trust services criteria, control selection, evidence collection, and auditor management — the gate to enterprise SaaS deals.
Cardholder data scope reduction, SAQ completion, and QSA coordination for payments and lending platforms.
A common language for security posture that boards, insurers, and enterprise customers all recognize.
New York's cybersecurity regulation applies more broadly than most Texas companies realize — one NY customer can trigger it.
For lending and financial data businesses, an FTC-enforced baseline that examiners actually check.
Inventory, policy, and oversight for AI tools entering your company through the front door and the back door. See our AI governance advisory.
Most security consultants hand you a binder. A former CTO/CIO hands you a board pack: risk trend lines your directors can read in five minutes, spend tied to risk reduction, and an honest "here's what we're not doing yet" slide that builds more trust than a wall of green checkmarks.
The same operator instinct applies to incident response. Plans that live in a shared drive fail in the first hour of a real event. We build response plans with named roles, out-of-band communication channels, legal and disclosure decision trees, and cyber insurance coordination — then we break them safely in tabletop exercises with your actual leadership team, not a generic scenario deck.
When something does go wrong at 2 a.m., you call a phone number that reaches the person who built your program — not a ticketing queue.
We work with Dallas–Fort Worth companies across the metroplex, including:
Venture-backed FinTech and SaaS companies preparing for Series A and B diligence, enterprise sales cycles, and SOC 2 readiness — the fintech-heavy segment of our fractional CISO for fintech practice.
Payments, insurance, and B2B technology firms navigating customer vendor assessments, regulatory deadlines, and board reporting.
Telecom and technology companies with regulated data, complex supply chains, and compliance requirements that outpace internal security staff.
Industrial tech, healthtech, and energy-finance companies building security programs to support growth and enterprise customer demands.
We also serve clients in Austin, Houston, San Antonio and nationwide for companies that value executive-level security leadership. See also our fractional CISO in Texas page.
Most cybersecurity providers in the Dallas market lead with managed IT or MSP services and add vCISO as an upsell. NTD is different. The practice is led by a former public-company technology executive who has served as CTO, CIO, and CISO — including taking a Nasdaq-listed crypto FinTech through SPAC, IPO, and public-company cybersecurity disclosure.
That operating experience matters when a Dallas CEO is preparing for a fundraise, a board meeting, or an audit, and needs credible answers under pressure.
We work with 2–3 companies at a time so every client gets real attention and judgment.
Fractional CISO engagements start at $5,000/month. Engagements are scoped by time, complexity, and the level of executive involvement required. This puts NTD squarely in the Dallas market rather than making the service appear unusually cheap or expensive compared to other local fractional CISO providers.
For comparison: a full-time CISO in Dallas–Fort Worth typically costs $300,000–$400,000 in salary and equity before benefits and tooling. Most companies at the fractional stage need two to four days a month of executive security judgment, not a full-time hire.
A fractional CISO provides part-time executive cybersecurity leadership to companies that need CISO-level judgment but are not ready for a full-time hire.
The terms are often used interchangeably. NTD uses both fractional CISO and vCISO models, with in-person availability in Dallas–Fort Worth and remote support nationwide.
Typical triggers include a customer security audit, SOC 2 deadline, board request, upcoming fundraise, regulatory inquiry, or the need to build a security program without hiring a full-time executive.
No. NTD is based in Frisco and prioritizes Dallas–Fort Worth clients, but also serves companies in Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and nationwide.
Yes — readiness, control build-out, evidence collection, and auditor coordination. The program comes first; the report follows.
Typically within two weeks. The first 30 days are always baseline assessment and quick wins, regardless of scope.
If your Dallas–Fort Worth company is facing a security audit, compliance deadline, board request, or upcoming transaction, schedule a free 30-minute consultation.
Schedule a 30-Minute Consultation