The problem they put to us
The same blind spot, replicated across an entire portfolio
A Top 50 global private equity firm carrying the same question across every holding: how exposed is this company, and how would we know if it improved?
Cyber risk arrived at the investment committee as technical severity, which travels badly. There was no consistent way to compare one company's cyber exposure against the next, no way to connect remediation spend to value, and no way to evidence at exit what two or three years of ownership had actually changed.
They recognised the gap in minutes. What took longer was working out what would have to exist to close it.
What we built in response
One measure, five decision points
What they described is the shape of what we now build. Here is where it lands in the deal cycle.
01
At acquisition
Quantify a target's cyber exposure in financial terms, in the reporting currency the deal team already uses, and identify the vulnerabilities, sensitive data, attack scenarios and control gaps driving it.
02
During ownership
Prioritise remediation according to financial risk reduction rather than technical severity, and track how exposure moves as controls are improved.
03
Across the portfolio
Give an operating team a consistent financial measure of cyber risk across otherwise very different portfolio companies, so comparison is finally possible.
04
For insurance
Compare quantified residual risk against existing cyber coverage to identify potential gaps, and determine what should be mitigated, accepted or transferred.
Insurance coverage analysis is an analysis only and not an insurance product. Astragar works with licensed insurance brokers, agents and carriers in the US who can provide insurance quotes.
05
At exit
Evidence how cyber exposure has changed during the holding period, giving buyers a measurable view of the improvements made under ownership.
What we took from it
Cybersecurity becomes part of the value-creation thesis
Not a technical compliance exercise run alongside the real work, but a line the deal team, the operating partner and the buyer can all read the same way. That is the standard this conversation set for us.
Comparable across holdings
One financial measure that holds whether the company is a SaaS platform or a manufacturer.
Spend tied to risk reduction
Remediation prioritised by what it removes from exposure, not by severity colour.
Coverage tested, not assumed
Residual risk read against the policy that is actually in force.
Provable at exit
A measured delta across the holding period rather than an assertion in the data room.
Where this goes next
Put one cyber measure across your portfolio
We can run the same approach on a single holding first, then extend it across the portfolio once the measure has proved itself.
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See your cyber risk in $ terms, not CVSS scores.
