Practice Area

Cyber & Technology
Risk Advisory

For critical infrastructure operators, federal programmes, and regulated enterprises where a wrong call costs more than money.

Security reporting describes risk. It rarely tells a CISO or a board what to do next: what to fix first, what to defer, how to justify the spend. That gap is where most regulated organisations stall, and where breaches find room.

Nick Ashley builds the prioritisation models, reporting structures, and investment justifications that close it, calibrated to the regulatory context your organisation operates in.

Who We Serve

  • Critical infrastructure operators (NERC CIP, energy, utilities, water, transport)
  • Federal and DoD-adjacent programmes
  • Regulated enterprise (financial services, healthcare systems, defence contractors)
  • Boards and risk committees requiring executive-level risk translation
  • Organisations undergoing security transformation, modernisation, or M&A

What We Do

Adversarial Risk Assessment

Black box assessments, threat modelling, red team and purple team advisory, and insider threat analysis. Built on adversarial thinking developed at U.S. Cyber Command and UFMCS Red Team.

Decision Architecture & Executive Advisory

Risk prioritisation frameworks, executive decision support, board-level risk reporting, and investment justification. Designed for environments where decisions have regulatory and operational consequence.

Security Strategy & Governance

Technology risk governance, NIST/RMF alignment, cyber programme design, mission assurance frameworks, and OT/ICS security advisory for operational technology environments.

AI Governance & Modernisation

AI-enabled risk analysis workflow design, AI governance frameworks, and modernisation strategy for organisations integrating AI into regulated or high-consequence operations.

M&A Due Diligence

Cyber and technology risk assessment supporting M&A transactions: black box assessments, security architecture review, and executive risk reporting to inform acquisition decisions.

Our Frameworks

Built and refined in live critical infrastructure and national security environments. None are vendor frameworks or borrowed methodology.

ATLAS Enterprise decision support and risk prioritisation
CCTM / Cognitive Kill Chain Human-layer and adversarial risk modelling
SENTINEL Executive risk reporting
Full framework documentation →

Credentials

24 years across the environments Bastion advises.

CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional
Active security clearance
UFMCS Red Team Member Course (selection-based)
U.S. Cyber Command
MISO Energy, Tier 1 grid operator, NERC CIP-regulated
Booz Allen Hamilton
Army National Guard, 19 years
MS, Cyber Security Management
Full bio: Nick Ashley →

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