Upcoming Product
Security Readiness Audit
A practical audit for startups that want an expert view of where they stand today, where the gaps are, and what should be prioritised next. The Security Readiness Audit will be scoped as a focused cyber security readiness assessment for founders and early teams who want clear priorities without unnecessary complexity.
The full audit offer is in development. Join the list to get notified when it goes live and receive practical startup security resources first.
Quick answer
A cyber security readiness assessment examines a startup's current security controls, processes and blind spots and produces a prioritised view of what to fix next. For early-stage teams this means a concise scorecard, a gap analysis against a simple security framework, and a short action plan founders can act on or share with stakeholders.
What this audit will help startups do
- Identify security blind spots before they become more expensive
- Assess readiness before growth, customer scrutiny, or scaling pressure
- Understand which controls are missing, partial, or weak
- Get a prioritised action plan instead of vague findings
- Give leadership a clearer, more practical view of current maturity
What we review in a cyber security readiness assessment
- Asset and account inventory — who/what has access and what exists
- Access and credential controls — basic access hygiene and privileged accounts
- Build & deployment hygiene — how code, secrets and dependencies are handled
- Data protection basics — backups, encryption and data handling practices
- Incident readiness — simple detection, response and recovery considerations
- Third-party & vendor exposure — visibility of outsourced risk
Planned sections
- Security readiness scorecard
- Gap analysis across the startup security framework
- Blind spot discovery
- Prioritised action plan
- Executive summary for founders and leaders
- Readiness before growth or customer scrutiny
- What to fix first versus what can wait
- When to move into ongoing advisory support
Karimah's view
For startups, usefulness beats completeness. A focused cyber security readiness assessment should quickly surface the small number of changes that materially reduce exposure and give founders a straightforward roadmap. Our approach emphasises clarity: a concise scorecard, a short gap analysis and practical next steps rather than large, technical reports that are hard to action.
Practical steps you can take now
- Create or confirm an inventory of critical assets (code repos, cloud projects, databases, admin accounts).
- Review who has admin access and remove unnecessary privileges.
- Ensure backups are in place and test a restore of a small, non-sensitive dataset.
- Document a simple incident contact path so the team knows who to call if something happens.
- List third-party services you rely on and confirm basic security settings (MFA, contract clauses, support contacts).
Get notified
Be first to hear when the Security Readiness Audit launches
Join the list for launch updates, practical startup security resources, and early access to the audit offer.
Frequently asked questions
A few of the core questions startups ask when they want a clearer picture of security readiness.
What is the Security Readiness Audit?
It is an upcoming offer designed to help startups assess current security maturity, identify gaps, and prioritise the next most important actions. The audit is structured as a concise cyber security readiness assessment tailored to startup constraints.
Is this the same as a cyber security readiness assessment?
The terms overlap. We use "Security Readiness Audit" to describe the specific Karimah product in development; conceptually it operates as a cyber security readiness assessment — a short, practical review of controls, processes and blind spots with a prioritised set of next steps.
Who is it for?
It is for founders, startup leaders, and growing teams that want expert review, practical prioritisation, and a clearer understanding of where they stand.
How is it different from implementation support?
Implementation support helps teams operationalise security foundations. The audit is designed to review readiness, identify gaps, and sharpen decisions about what to do next. If you want hands-on changes after the audit, we point to next steps and where implementation support may be useful.
Will this be useful before enterprise sales or fundraising?
Yes. It is intended to help startups understand whether their current security baseline is strong enough before scrutiny increases and to give founders a concise summary they can share with stakeholders.
Can I join the list now?
Yes. Join the list to hear when the Security Readiness Audit launches and to receive related startup security resources first. You can also explore our existing resources on Security for Startups while you wait.