Security does not have to be complicated.
I provide independent cyber security advice to organisations that need an experienced perspective on a difficult problem. I help challenge assumptions and make practical improvements across people, process, technology and physical security.
Start a conversationHow I approach security
Organisation names and marks are shown solely to identify organisations and programmes from Dale Pearson's professional experience. They do not imply endorsement of or current affiliation with Demetra Labs.
Understand the risk.
Then decide what is worth doing.
Security is about managing risk, not eliminating it. Something can be technically correct and still make little sense for the organisation using it.
I look at each problem in context. What could realistically happen? What would the consequences be? What would it cost to address, and would that money be better spent elsewhere?
Sometimes the answer is a new control or a larger piece of work. Sometimes I will introduce you to a specialist I trust. And sometimes the sensible answer is to accept the risk and spend the money somewhere more useful.
Talk through a problem
A focused remote conversation when you need an experienced, independent perspective.
This could be a strategy question, a difficult decision, a second opinion, a supplier proposal or simply a security problem you are struggling to resolve.
Build or improve capability
Advice drawn from experience building and leading security capabilities at scale.
Red teams, adversarial assurance, vulnerability management, testing strategy, operating models, governance, metrics and team design.
Challenge assumptions
An independent review of what you are doing, why you are doing it and whether there is a better way.
This is particularly useful when a programme has become complicated or expensive, or when it is no longer clear whether the work is addressing the original risk.
CISO & board advisory
Independent senior security support for organisations, security leaders and boards that need experienced judgement without adding another layer of consultancy.
I can help with security strategy, difficult decisions, programme direction, board and executive communication, supplier challenge and acting as an experienced second opinion. This can also include fractional or Virtual CISO-style advisory support where senior security input is needed without a full-time CISO.
Physical & adversarial
I still take on selected physical security work where an adversarial view of the environment can add real value.
That can include premises, access, people, behaviour, process and the gaps between technical and physical security.
Simple questions often lead to better security.
Good advice starts by understanding what you are actually trying to protect, what could realistically go wrong and what matters to the business.
Security is about more than technology.
Over the years I have deliberately studied security from different perspectives. My professional development has included offensive security and exploitation, physical intrusion and adversarial techniques, human behaviour and body language, digital investigation and broader leadership and business study.
That range of training affects how I look at problems today. Technology matters, but so do people, behaviour, premises, process and the decisions made around them.
Security experience from architecture to the boardroom.
I'm Dale Pearson. I've worked in technology since 1998 and in cyber security since 2004, including senior security leadership roles in the UK and across EMEA before more than fourteen years leading global Red Team capabilities at General Electric and Barclays.
My background goes well beyond security testing. I've held regional information security leadership roles, worked across security and risk, and built and led globally dispersed specialist teams. At Barclays I designed and led the Global Red Team and reported key adversarial risks monthly to ExCo board members. At GE I worked across multiple industry sectors and with CEO, CIO and CISO communities around the world.
That combination of operational security, leadership and executive engagement is what I bring to Demetra Labs: the ability to understand the technical detail, put it into business context and help organisations decide what is actually worth doing.
Not sure what the answer is? That is a perfectly good place to start.
Tell me what you are trying to solve. If it is something I can help with, we can talk it through. If it is not, I will tell you rather than try to sell you work you do not need.
Start a conversationPractical options.
No unnecessary complexity.