Cybersecurity Services Raleigh NC: AI + Human Hybrid SOC
Ten-plus production AI agents running on Petronella Technology Group's enterprise private AI cluster. 24/7 threat analysis paired with human experts, not a tier-1 helpdesk. Defending Raleigh businesses since 2002 with full-spectrum security operations, compliance advisory, and digital forensics response.
Raleigh's Full-Spectrum Cybersecurity Partner
Direct answer: Petronella Technology Group is a Raleigh-headquartered cybersecurity, private AI, and digital forensics firm founded in 2002. We pair ten-plus production AI agents running on our enterprise private AI cluster with human practitioners who carry CMMC-RP credentials, federal Digital Forensics Examiner certification, and deep Triangle-market context. We protect small and mid-size organizations across Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, Apex, and the broader Research Triangle.
We opened in 2002, earned BBB A+ accreditation in 2003, and have stayed at 5540 Centerview Drive ever since. We are also a CMMC-AB Registered Provider Organization (RPO #1449, verified at the Cyber AB member directory), which formally positions us to advise defense contractors on CMMC readiness across the RTP industrial base. We are not a national call-center MSSP that routes your tickets through a helpdesk in another time zone. We are a Raleigh firm with a Raleigh phone number, engineers who know the specific compliance requirements that NC-based defense contractors, research hospitals, financial institutions, and engineering firms face, and a leadership team that carries CMMC-RP, CCNA, CWNE, and federally-registered Digital Forensics Examiner #604180 credentials.
Our work spans the full security stack: proactive monitoring with an AI-augmented hybrid SOC, identity and access management, endpoint protection, email security, penetration testing, private AI deployment for regulated workloads, digital forensics (SIM swap recovery, crypto forensics, pig butchering response, business email compromise, ransomware response, network forensics), compliance advisory for CMMC, HIPAA, PCI, SOC 2, CJIS, and NIST frameworks, and hands-on incident response when the worst happens. We bring this scope to organizations with ten users and to organizations with five hundred, because the threat actors targeting Raleigh businesses do not sort by headcount.
How Does Petronella Technology Group's Private AI Cluster Change Cybersecurity?
Direct answer: Our enterprise private AI cluster runs ten-plus production AI agents that triage alerts, correlate threat signals, and surface high-fidelity incidents to human analysts around the clock. Because the cluster runs on hardware we own and operate, controlled unclassified information (CUI), protected health information (ePHI), and other sensitive data never egress to a third-party AI vendor. That architecture is what makes AI-accelerated detection compatible with CMMC Level 2, HIPAA Security Rule, and other regulated workloads.
Most MSSPs now advertise AI-powered detection. The question every defense contractor and healthcare organization should ask: where is the AI running, and who owns the inference pipeline? If your security vendor is sending telemetry, log snippets, or file contents to a public AI API for analysis, you have quietly introduced a new data-egress surface that your compliance obligations may not permit. Our private AI cluster was built specifically to avoid that trade-off. Detection runs on infrastructure under our direct control, data does not leave the boundary, and human experts review AI conclusions before action is taken on your environment.
The ten-plus agents run continuous threat analysis, pattern recognition across historical incident data, behavioral baselining for user and entity activity, and first-pass triage of SIEM alerts. A human security engineer reviews escalations before containment decisions execute on client environments. This hybrid architecture produces faster detection without the false-positive fatigue that plagues unsupervised AI-only SOC products, and it keeps the human accountability that compliance auditors and insurance carriers increasingly require.
For organizations with stricter data-sovereignty requirements, we also deploy private AI instances on-premises or in dedicated tenant environments. Learn more on our private AI cluster page. For organizations considering AI adoption across their business more broadly, our AI readiness diagnostic maps the security controls needed before AI tooling touches regulated data.
What Does Petronella Technology Group Protect?
Direct answer: We cover the full modern attack surface including endpoint detection and response, identity and access management, email and phishing defense, network perimeter, SIEM and log monitoring, data loss prevention, penetration testing, private AI security, and executive-level vCISO leadership. We also run a dedicated digital forensics practice covering SIM swap recovery, cryptocurrency theft investigation, pig butchering response, business email compromise, ransomware response, and network forensics (see our network forensics and crypto forensics services). Compliance advisory spans CMMC, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC 2, CJIS, and NIST 800-53 and 800-171 frameworks.
Security Risk Assessments
We map your environment, identify gaps against NIST CSF and CIS Controls, score risk by likelihood and impact, and give you a prioritized remediation roadmap. No jargon-heavy reports that sit on a shelf. See our assessment process.
Multi-Factor Authentication Rollout
MFA deployment across Microsoft 365, VPN, RDP, and critical SaaS applications. We handle the configuration, conditional access policies, phishing-resistant authenticator setup, and user onboarding so adoption actually sticks.
EDR / XDR: Endpoint Detection & Response
Next-generation endpoint protection with behavioral analytics, threat hunting, and automated containment. We deploy, tune, and manage the platform so you get protection without the noise of an unmanaged console. Learn more about our EDR/XDR service.
SIEM & Log Management
Centralized log aggregation, correlation rules calibrated to your environment, and alerting that connects to our SOC team. We build out SIEM infrastructure that meets CMMC AU family requirements and HIPAA audit log mandates out of the box.
Firewall & Network Perimeter
Next-gen firewall configuration, segmentation design, VPN hardening, and intrusion prevention rule management. We audit what is already deployed and fix the gaps before attackers find them through your perimeter.
Email Security & Phishing Defense
DMARC, DKIM, and SPF enforcement combined with AI-based phishing detection, impersonation protection, and sandboxed link analysis. Email is still the entry point for the majority of ransomware incidents we respond to in the Triangle. See our email security service.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Policy-driven controls that prevent sensitive data from leaving through email, USB, cloud sync, and print channels. Particularly critical for healthcare organizations protecting PHI and contractors handling CUI under CMMC.
Incident Response
When a breach happens, time is the variable that determines how bad it gets. Our incident response team handles containment, forensic preservation, root-cause analysis, notifications, and remediation. Available 24/7 for critical events. See our breach response capability.
Penetration Testing
Manual and automated testing across network, web application, wireless, and social engineering vectors. We provide PTES-aligned reports that your insurance carrier, board, and auditors can actually use. View our pen testing services.
SOC 2 Readiness
We guide you through Trust Services Criteria gap analysis, evidence collection, control implementation, and auditor liaison for SOC 2 Type I and Type II engagements. Designed for SaaS companies and technology firms operating in the Triangle. See our SOC 2 consulting.
Security Awareness Training
Role-based training that satisfies CMMC AT-2 and AT-3 requirements and goes beyond generic click-rate tracking. We train your team on the specific scenarios your industry actually faces, from BEC to ransomware to supply-chain compromise. Learn more at our training page.
Virtual CISO (vCISO)
Executive-level security leadership on a fractional basis. Your vCISO owns the security program, attends board meetings, manages vendor relationships, drives compliance projects, and gives you strategic oversight without a full-time salary. Details at our vCISO page.
What Does the Triangle-Area Cyber Threat Picture Actually Look Like?
Direct answer: Raleigh and the Research Triangle attract sophisticated threat actors because the region concentrates defense contractors, research hospitals, biotech firms, financial institutions, engineering firms handling infrastructure projects, and university research networks in a small geographic footprint. The dominant patterns we respond to are business email compromise targeting wire transfers, ransomware delivered through phishing or exposed remote desktop, credential stuffing against Microsoft 365 tenants without full MFA enforcement, supply-chain attacks targeting MSPs with privileged access, social-engineering calls impersonating IT or executives, and cloud misconfiguration exposure in Azure and AWS. Raleigh is not a generic mid-size city from a cybersecurity perspective.
Industries Most Targeted in the Triangle
- DoD contractors and federal suppliers operating under CMMC requirements along the I-40 and RTP corridors, where supply-chain attacks have increased since 2023
- Healthcare and life sciences organizations at Rex, WakeMed, UNC Health, and the CROs and biotech firms operating in RTP, all holding large volumes of ePHI
- Financial services firms, regional banks, and credit unions in Wake and Durham counties, where wire fraud and BEC campaigns are the primary threat vector
- University research networks at NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, and Duke, where open academic environments create friction with security controls and complicate insider-threat scenarios
- Law firms and accounting practices handling sensitive client financial data, frequently targeted by ransomware groups that know professional services firms face reputational pressure to pay
- Engineering and architecture firms working on government or infrastructure projects, increasingly required to meet CMMC controls despite having no prior GRC function
Threat Patterns We See Most in NC
- Business Email Compromise targeting wire transfer and payroll processes, particularly common in the real estate, construction, and professional-services sectors active throughout Wake County
- Ransomware delivered via phishing or RDP exposure, with operators specifically seeking organizations with thin security teams and high operational pressure to pay to restore access quickly
- Credential stuffing against Microsoft 365 tenants where MFA is not enforced on legacy authentication protocols, a gap we still find in a large share of new client environments
- Supply-chain attacks targeting managed service providers and software vendors that have privileged access to multiple downstream clients, an especially high-risk vector for firms that rely on unvetted third-party tools
- Social engineering calls impersonating IT support or executives, with attackers using LinkedIn and public company information to construct convincing pretexts targeting Triangle-area firms specifically
- Cloud misconfiguration exposure in Azure and AWS environments, where rapid growth in cloud adoption has outpaced security configuration discipline across many Raleigh-area organizations
Why Does a Local Raleigh Firm Beat a National MSSP for Most Triangle Businesses?
Direct answer: For small and mid-size organizations headquartered in the Raleigh-Durham-Cary area, a local firm with genuine on-site response capability typically produces better security outcomes than a national MSSP at a lower total cost. Physical dispatch when containment requires hands on an endpoint or server, relationship continuity with the same engineers year after year, Triangle-specific compliance knowledge, vetted relationships with NC-based breach attorneys and law enforcement, and plain-language communication with business leaders all combine into faster response and better decision-making during incidents.
We have responded to incidents at businesses within 15 minutes of our office when the situation called for an engineer physically on-site. A national provider cannot offer that. When a manufacturing client in Garner had a ransomware outbreak at 6 AM on a Saturday, we had someone there by 7:15. That response time matters enormously to the outcome.
There are legitimate reasons to consider national MSSPs, particularly if your organization has a large distributed footprint. But for small and mid-size organizations operating primarily in the Raleigh area, a local firm with deep Triangle-market knowledge typically produces better security outcomes at a lower total cost. Here is why.
On-Site Response Capability
We can be on-site in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, or Morrisville during a critical incident faster than any remote-only provider can dispatch a contractor. Physical access to endpoints, servers, and network infrastructure often makes the difference between a 4-hour recovery and a multi-day outage.
Triangle-Specific Compliance Knowledge
Our team understands the specific CMMC requirements facing RTP-area defense contractors, the HIPAA audit environment that NC DHHS and federal OCR apply, and the Wake County court and law enforcement digital evidence handling standards that some clients must meet under CJIS. See our CJIS compliance services.
Relationship Continuity
Our average client relationship spans years, not months. You are not re-onboarding your environment to a new analyst team every time a national provider experiences turnover. The engineer who designed your network segmentation is the same one who responds when an alert fires.
24/7 Coverage Without Offshore Escalation
Our SOC monitoring coverage runs around the clock. Critical alert escalations go to engineers familiar with your environment, not a tier-1 helpdesk reading from a runbook for the first time. This distinction matters most at 2 AM when a decision has to be made about containment.
Vetted Vendor Relationships
We have established relationships with NC-based attorneys specializing in breach notification, state and federal law enforcement for incident reporting, and cyber insurance brokers who understand Triangle-market policy nuances. These relationships accelerate your response when they matter most.
Plain-Language Communication
Security practitioners who work with SMBs every day learn how to translate technical findings into business terms that an owner, CFO, or board member can act on. We do not hand you a 200-page NIST gap assessment and leave you to figure out prioritization on your own.
What Are Petronella Technology Group's Response Commitments?
Direct answer: Managed security clients receive documented SLAs covering 24/7 SOC monitoring, 15-minute critical alert acknowledgment, containment begin within 1 hour, on-site dispatch within 4 hours across the Raleigh metro, and a 99.9 percent SOC platform uptime target. These commitments govern both automated alerts from your environment and direct calls to (919) 348-4912.
What Happens When You Call (919) 348-4912 During an Incident?
Direct answer: Your call hits our live AI receptionist Penny within two rings. Penny routes security emergencies directly to our on-call engineer, who is human and based in the Raleigh area. For confirmed incidents, the on-call engineer escalates to Craig Petronella (Digital Forensics Examiner #604180) and mobilizes the forensics and incident response team. Containment guidance begins on the same phone call. On-site dispatch to the Raleigh metro follows within our 4-hour SLA commitment.
Penny is the live AI receptionist running on our private AI cluster. She picks up before the third ring, every time. When you describe a security event or say the word "breach," "ransomware," "compromised," "phishing," or "forensics," she routes to the on-call engineer queue rather than the general inbox. This keeps the path from dialed call to human engineer under two minutes during business hours and under five minutes after hours. For active incidents, do not hang up after reaching voicemail. Penny does not drop to voicemail for security emergencies; she persists until a human answers.
The on-call engineer begins triage on the phone. First questions cover scope (what systems are affected), active indicators (are you watching files encrypt in real time, did funds leave, are emails being sent from accounts you do not control), and immediate containment options. For ransomware in progress, we guide disconnection sequence before we mobilize deeper response. For business email compromise where a wire is outbound, we coordinate with your bank's fraud team while the forensics path spins up.
For confirmed forensics scenarios, the call escalates to Craig Petronella. Craig is a federally-registered Digital Forensics Examiner (DFE #604180), which matters when evidence handling has to meet chain-of-custody standards that insurance carriers, outside counsel, and law enforcement will accept. He personally runs forensic imaging, timeline reconstruction, and expert-witness documentation for engagements that may end up in litigation, regulatory proceedings, or criminal referral. This is the kind of capability most managed security firms do not carry in-house and have to outsource, introducing delay at the worst possible time. For defense contractor incidents involving controlled unclassified information, we also coordinate the CUI-handling protocols required under CMMC compliance reporting obligations.
If you are currently in an active incident, call us now at (919) 348-4912. Do not shut down systems before we connect. Premature shutdown destroys volatile evidence that your cyber insurance carrier, legal team, and forensic analysts need. We will guide the right containment sequence on the call. See our breach response process for a deeper walkthrough.
Who Is Petronella Technology Group's Cybersecurity Team?
Direct answer: Petronella Technology Group is led by founder Craig Petronella, who holds CMMC-RP, CCNA, CWNE, and federally-registered Digital Forensics Examiner #604180 credentials. The delivery team (Blake Rea, Justin Summers, Jonathan Wood) is fully CMMC-RP certified. The firm is a CMMC-AB Registered Provider Organization #1449 verified at the Cyber AB member directory. We are BBB A+ accredited since 2003, 5-star rated on Google, and have operated continuously from Raleigh since 2002.
- Craig Petronella, Founder and Principal - CMMC-RP, CCNA, CWNE, and federally-registered Digital Forensics Examiner #604180. Craig personally runs forensic engagements for SIM swap recovery, cryptocurrency theft, pig butchering, ransomware, business email compromise, and network forensics cases.
- Blake Rea, Justin Summers, Jonathan Wood - CMMC-RP certified delivery team handling gap assessments, System Security Plan development, control implementation, and C3PAO assessment preparation for defense contractor clients.
- CMMC-AB Registered Provider Organization #1449 - Formally listed at the Cyber AB member directory. RPO status is the formal CMMC Accreditation Body recognition for firms authorized to advise defense contractors on CMMC readiness.
- BBB A+ Accredited Since 2003 - Twenty-plus years of continuous BBB accreditation from our Raleigh office, the longest track record of any cybersecurity-focused firm in the Triangle.
- 5-Star Google Business Profile - Verified client reviews from healthcare, defense, financial, engineering, and professional-services clients across the Triangle.
- Founded 2002, Same Raleigh Address - 5540 Centerview Drive, Raleigh NC. Continuous operation from the same Triangle location since founding.
Credentials matter because they tell you which engagements a firm is qualified to handle, but they are not the whole story. The more important question for a cybersecurity partner is whether they carry the credentials and the track record. We do both. Learn more about Craig's background or review how we engage new clients.
Which Compliance Frameworks Does Petronella Technology Group Support?
Direct answer: We support CMMC 2.0 (Levels 1, 2, and 3), HIPAA Security Rule, NIST 800-53 and 800-171, SOC 2 Type I and Type II, PCI DSS, and CJIS Security Policy. Our delivery team is fully CMMC-RP certified and the firm is a CMMC-AB Registered Provider Organization #1449. We design security controls that satisfy technical requirements so compliance becomes a byproduct of good security practice, not a separate audit-prep scramble.
CMMC 2.0
Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 readiness for defense contractors and subcontractors in the RTP DoD supply chain. CMMC-RP certified team.
View CMMC Guide →HIPAA Security Rule
Technical safeguard implementation, risk analysis, breach preparedness, and BAA management for NC healthcare organizations and covered entities.
View HIPAA Services →NIST 800-53 / RMF
Federal control implementation for agencies, contractors, and higher-education institutions operating under the Risk Management Framework in North Carolina.
View NIST 800-53 →SOC 2 Type I & II
Gap analysis through evidence collection and auditor support for technology firms and SaaS providers seeking SOC 2 attestation for enterprise clients.
View SOC 2 Services →PCI DSS
Scoping, network segmentation, compensating controls, and SAQ preparation for merchants and service providers handling cardholder data across NC.
View PCI Services →CJIS Security Policy
Technical controls for NC law enforcement agencies and government entities with access to FBI Criminal Justice Information Services data systems.
View CJIS Services →Credentials That Reflect Real Practitioner Experience
Petronella Technology Group is led by Craig Petronella, who founded the firm in 2002 and has spent more than two decades working in the cybersecurity and managed IT space across Raleigh and the broader Triangle market. Craig holds CMMC-RP certification from the Cyber AB, a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) credential, the Certified Wireless Network Expert (CWNE) designation, and serves as a federally-registered Digital Forensics Examiner (DFE #604180). His work spans everything from board-level security briefings to hands-on forensic analysis of compromised systems.
The broader Petronella team includes CMMC-RP certified practitioners Blake Rea, Justin Summers, and Jonathan Wood, making us one of the few North Carolina firms with a fully CMMC-RP certified delivery team rather than relying on a single credentialed principal. This depth matters when you are managing CMMC readiness across multiple business units or need concurrent advisory and implementation capacity.
Beyond CMMC, the team carries technical certifications covering network security, cloud security, endpoint forensics, and incident response. We invest in credential maintenance because the threat landscape shifts, and staying current is not optional in this field.
The Types of Security Work We Do in This Market
Every engagement is different, but these are representative examples of the problems Triangle-area organizations bring to us and the outcomes we work toward. Details are anonymized where client confidentiality requires it. What these profiles share is a pattern: the organizations that reach us are typically dealing with an active incident, a compliance deadline that surfaced faster than anticipated, or an insurance renewal that added security requirements their current posture cannot satisfy. We meet each of these situations with the same sequence: understand the scope quickly, stabilize the immediate risk, then build toward a durable posture so the same problem does not reappear twelve months later.
Ransomware Recovery: Financial Services
A financial services firm with approximately 85 users experienced a targeted phishing incident that led to ransomware deployment across shared network drives. Our team contained the spread, preserved forensic artifacts for the insurance carrier, coordinated with legal counsel on breach notification obligations under NC GS 75-65, and returned the environment to full operation within four hours. The firm was able to open the next business morning without data loss on any production system.
Level 2 Preparation: Defense Subcontractor
An engineering subcontractor in the RTP area had contracts that would require CMMC Level 2 certification within 18 months. Starting from no formal security program, we conducted a full NIST 800-171 gap assessment, built out their System Security Plan, implemented MFA across all CUI-accessible systems, and deployed SIEM logging to meet the audit requirements of the AU control family. The organization passed their C3PAO assessment without any findings requiring corrective action plans.
External Network Assessment: Healthcare Provider
A mid-size healthcare provider operating across three Triangle-area locations contracted us for an annual external penetration test ahead of their HIPAA risk analysis cycle. Our team identified two externally reachable services running outdated software with known CVEs, one of which provided a path to internal network access. We delivered a PTES-compliant report with proof-of-concept documentation, and the client remediated all critical findings within 30 days with our guidance.
Ongoing SOC + EDR Management: Professional Services Firm
A Raleigh law firm with 60 users and significant client data sensitivity retained us for ongoing managed security services including 24/7 SOC coverage, EDR management, email security, and quarterly security reviews. Over a 12-month period our team blocked multiple spear-phishing attempts targeting attorneys by name, identified one compromised credential before it was weaponized, and helped the firm achieve the security posture required by its malpractice carrier's cyber endorsement requirements.
Explore Adjacent Capabilities
Cybersecurity does not exist in isolation. These adjacent services from Petronella Technology Group work with our security offerings to give you a complete protective posture.
Managed IT Services Raleigh
Virtual CISO Services
CMMC Compliance Guide
HIPAA Security Advisory
NIST 800-53 Compliance
Healthcare Cybersecurity
Financial Services Security
AI Security & AI Services
Cybersecurity: Durham NC
Cybersecurity: Chapel Hill NC
Cybersecurity Consulting Raleigh
CJIS Compliance: NC Agencies
Engineering Firm IT Security
Private AI Cluster
Network Forensics
Cryptocurrency Forensics
CMMC Cost Breakdown
AI Readiness Diagnostic
How We Engage New Clients
Petronella Inner Circle
How Does a Cybersecurity Program Actually Mature Over Twelve Months?
Direct answer: A cybersecurity program built properly in the first year moves through four phases: baseline and risk scoring, foundational control implementation, detection and response hardening, and governance plus continuous improvement. Organizations that try to skip phases or jump straight to advanced tooling consistently end up with expensive dashboards nobody watches and audit findings that could have been prevented. The right sequence saves budget and produces durable outcomes.
Months 1 to 3: Baseline and risk scoring. We inventory assets, map data flows, identify crown-jewel systems, and score current control posture against a relevant framework (NIST CSF for general programs, NIST 800-171 for CMMC-bound organizations, HIPAA Security Rule for healthcare, ISO 27001 for international operations). The output is a prioritized roadmap with realistic timelines. This phase is where most DIY programs skip steps and pay for it later. A risk register you can defend to auditors, insurance carriers, and the board is not optional.
Months 4 to 6: Foundational controls. Multi-factor authentication across every identity surface (email, VPN, RDP, privileged accounts, critical SaaS). Endpoint detection and response deployment with baselines tuned to your environment. Email security layered on top of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace with DMARC enforcement. Backup architecture that actually survives ransomware (immutable storage, off-network copies, tested recovery procedures). Network segmentation for regulated workloads. This is the phase where insurance carriers become willing to renew without material premium increases or sub-limits.
Months 7 to 9: Detection and response hardening. SIEM implementation or managed SIEM subscription with correlation rules calibrated to your environment. SOC monitoring coverage (in-house, managed, or hybrid). Vulnerability management cadence with documented remediation SLAs. Penetration testing to validate the controls you have built actually work against realistic attacker tradecraft. Incident response plan tested through a tabletop exercise. The goal here is not just preventing attacks, it is detecting them early and responding fast when prevention fails.
Months 10 to 12: Governance and continuous improvement. Policies written to match what you actually do (not aspirational documents nobody follows). Security awareness training tailored to the roles and threats your people actually face. Vendor risk management for third parties with access to your data. Annual risk assessment refresh. Board-level security reporting cadence. vCISO strategic oversight for organizations without a full-time CISO role. This is where security stops being a project and becomes an operating capability.
Organizations that attempt to compress this timeline typically do so for the wrong reasons: an imminent audit, a breach in the industry that made the board anxious, or a contract requirement that surfaced late. We have taken on compressed engagements and can deliver them, but we will be honest about which corners we are cutting and what risk that introduces. The 12-month path is the path that produces durable outcomes without burning out your team or your budget.
For Triangle-area organizations unsure where they sit in this maturity curve, our security assessment produces a baseline in three to four weeks. For defense contractors specifically, the CMMC compliance guide walks through the 110-control NIST 800-171 framework that drives your readiness work. For organizations considering a fractional security leader rather than a full-time hire, our vCISO service provides strategic oversight at a fraction of the cost.
Questions Raleigh Business Owners Ask Us
What makes Petronella Technology Group different from other cybersecurity companies in Raleigh?
We have operated out of the same Raleigh location since 2002, which gives us over 24 years of context on the specific industries, threat patterns, and compliance requirements relevant to this market. Our entire delivery team holds CMMC-RP certification, which is uncommon at the small-business scale where most firms operate with a single credentialed principal. We also offer genuine on-site response capability in the Triangle, which national MSSPs cannot match. Beyond credentials, our clients tend to cite consistency: you work with the same team, not a rotating cast of analysts who need to relearn your environment.
Do you work with small businesses, or only enterprise-size companies?
The majority of our managed security clients are small and mid-size businesses, typically in the 10-to-250 user range. We have designed service tiers that make comprehensive security coverage affordable for organizations that cannot justify a full-time security team. That said, we also work with larger organizations on project-based engagements like penetration testing, CMMC readiness programs, and incident response. If you are unsure whether your organization is a fit, call us at (919) 348-4912 and we can give you an honest assessment in under 15 minutes.
How quickly can you respond to a cybersecurity incident at our Raleigh office?
For managed security clients, we acknowledge critical alerts within 15 minutes around the clock and begin containment procedures within one hour. For situations requiring physical on-site presence in the Raleigh-Cary-Morrisville-Durham corridor, we target dispatch within four hours during business hours and have responded on-site for critical incidents on weekends and overnight when the situation required it. Response times for non-clients on emergency retainer depend on availability, but we maintain capacity for emergency engagements.
We are a defense contractor in the RTP area. Do you handle CMMC Level 2 work?
Yes. CMMC Level 2 readiness is one of our primary service offerings for the Triangle-area defense industrial base. Our team holds CMMC-RP credentials, has experience guiding organizations through gap assessments against NIST 800-171, building System Security Plans, implementing the 110 controls, and preparing for C3PAO assessments. We understand the practical challenges of managing CUI in shared environments and the documentation burden that the CMMC assessment process requires. Visit our CMMC compliance guide for a detailed overview of the process.
What does a cybersecurity risk assessment from your team include?
Our risk assessments cover your full environment: network architecture and segmentation, endpoint and server configuration, identity and access management practices, email security posture, cloud configuration (Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS as applicable), physical security of on-site infrastructure, and vendor/third-party access controls. We score findings by likelihood and business impact, map them to relevant frameworks like NIST CSF or CIS Controls, and deliver a prioritized remediation roadmap. Assessments are scoped based on your environment size and the frameworks you need to satisfy. See our security assessment page for details.
Can you help our healthcare organization with HIPAA compliance and cybersecurity?
We work with healthcare organizations across the Triangle on both HIPAA technical safeguard implementation and broader cybersecurity posture. This includes risk analysis under the HIPAA Security Rule, ePHI data flow mapping, access control and audit log implementation, breach preparedness planning, and Business Associate Agreement review. Our team understands the specific audit environment that NC DHHS and federal OCR apply in this region. Visit our healthcare cybersecurity page and our HIPAA compliance services for more information.
What cybersecurity services do you offer for law firms in Raleigh?
Law firms face specific threats: client confidentiality obligations under state bar rules, high-value targets for ransomware groups that understand attorneys face reputational pressure, and increasingly strict cyber requirements from malpractice carriers. We work with Raleigh law firms on managed security services including SOC monitoring, email phishing protection, endpoint security, and annual risk assessments. We also help firms satisfy the security requirements their cyber insurance carriers are now mandating for renewal. You can also review our legal sector cybersecurity page for more context.
Do you offer penetration testing for compliance purposes?
Yes. We conduct external network, internal network, web application, wireless, and social engineering penetration tests that produce PTES-compliant reports accepted by insurance carriers, auditors, and compliance frameworks including PCI DSS, SOC 2, and HIPAA. Our reports include proof-of-concept documentation, business impact analysis, and a remediation guide prioritized by severity. We also offer re-testing after remediation to verify that identified findings were addressed correctly. See our penetration testing services page.
How much does managed cybersecurity cost for a small Raleigh business?
Pricing depends on the number of users and endpoints, the compliance frameworks that apply to your business, and the specific services included (SOC monitoring, EDR management, email security, vulnerability scanning, etc.). We structure engagements to be predictable on a per-user monthly basis for budgeting purposes. The honest answer is that the cost of prevention is almost always significantly lower than the cost of a breach response, both in direct costs and in operational downtime. Call us at (919) 348-4912 or visit our managed services page to discuss options for your specific situation.
We experienced a data breach. Can you help us now?
Yes. Call us immediately at (919) 348-4912. Do not shut down systems before speaking with us, as this can destroy forensic evidence needed for insurance claims and legal obligations. Our incident response team will guide you through containment steps on the phone while we mobilize support. We handle technical containment, forensic preservation, coordination with legal counsel on NC breach notification obligations under GS 75-65, and communication with your cyber insurance carrier. Time is the critical variable in incident response outcomes. See our breach response page for more on our process.
How is Petronella Technology Group's AI + human hybrid SOC different from AI-only SOC products?
AI-only SOC products scale detection volume but struggle with the edge cases that produce either false positives (alert fatigue) or missed incidents (false negatives). Our hybrid model uses the ten-plus AI agents on our private cluster for first-pass triage, pattern recognition, and behavioral baselining, but every escalation reaching a client environment is reviewed by a human security engineer. This preserves the speed advantage of AI while keeping the human accountability that compliance frameworks like CMMC, SOC 2, and HIPAA increasingly require. It also keeps your regulated data inside our controlled boundary rather than sending it to third-party AI APIs for analysis.
Does Petronella Technology Group work with engineering and architecture firms on CMMC?
Yes. Engineering firms working on government or infrastructure projects are increasingly required to meet CMMC Level 2 controls even when they have no prior GRC function. We guide these organizations through NIST 800-171 gap assessment, System Security Plan development, implementation of the 110 controls, and C3PAO assessment preparation. Our engineering firm IT and CMMC page covers the specific challenges we have seen across AEC clients in the Triangle, including CUI handling during BIM coordination and project collaboration with subcontractors.
Cybersecurity Consulting Service Areas
Cybersecurity Services Service Areas
Ready to Talk With Raleigh's Cybersecurity Team?
Petronella Technology Group has protected Triangle-area businesses since 2002. Whether you need a security assessment, ongoing managed protection, CMMC readiness work, or immediate incident response, we are the call you make first.
5540 Centerview Dr, Raleigh NC | Founded 2002 | BBB A+ Accredited
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