How STIGroup partnered with an integrated analytical laboratory and biorepository to meet customer-driven security requirements, strengthen ransomware resilience, and operationalize NIST-aligned controls.

 

Industry	Life sciences, biotechnology, and clinical research enablement
Customer profile	Integrated analytical lab and biorepository supporting global sample storage, management, and bioanalytical testing. Operates highly customized laboratory systems and a cloud-based environment to scale digital services.
Engagement model	vCISO leadership plus 24x7 security operations, governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) support, and program operations delivered as an extension of the customer’s in-house IT team.
Timeframe	Multi-year partnership (approximately five years) spanning assessment, buildout, and ongoing operations and continuous improvement.

 

Business challenge

Following a transition to operating independently, the customer needed to mature cybersecurity and IT capabilities that were previously supported by a larger parent organization. At the same time, the organization was scaling its digital services and supporting regulated research programs that introduced heightened expectations for data privacy and cybersecurity.

Key drivers included customer and contract requirements (including U.S. federal research sponsors), alignment to recognized security frameworks, and the need to reduce ransomware exposure. The customer also needed to prioritize investments thoughtfully: they did not have an unlimited budget and required a risk-based approach that focused resources where they would have the greatest impact.

While the organization does not generally work with protected health information (PHI), certain clinical trial or research workflows can introduce HIPAA-related privacy and security obligations, making strong governance and controls essential for handling sensitive data appropriately when required.

STIGroup approach

STIGroup partnered with the customer as an extension of their in-house IT organization, providing vCISO leadership and fractional specialist resources to build and operate a practical, defensible security program.

1) Establish a security roadmap anchored to best-practice frameworks

We began with a security risk assessment and IT review to understand the environment, the customer’s business objectives, and external requirements. From there, we built a multi-year roadmap aligned to recognized control frameworks and contract-driven expectations, including NIST 800-53 Low baseline alignment for applicable federal requirements.

2) Build foundational controls to reduce ransomware and operational risk

Early investments focused on controls that materially reduce the likelihood and impact of high-consequence events such as ransomware and credential compromise.

• Endpoint protection and detection: deployment of next-generation anti-malware and endpoint detection and response (EDR), backed by 24x7 monitoring and response.
• Centralized visibility: implementation and ongoing management of a security information and event management (SIEM) capability, including onboarding new log sources and detection use cases.
• Vulnerability management: operational processes for identifying and reducing exploitable exposure across priority systems.

3) Operationalize governance, awareness, and evidence-ready practices

As the program matured, STIGroup helped the customer formalize repeatable governance and training routines to support compliance, reduce human risk, and demonstrate control effectiveness to stakeholders.

• Policies, standards, and procedures aligned to the operating reality of laboratory and research environments.
• Security and privacy awareness: monthly training that alternates between cybersecurity and privacy topics, plus recurring phishing simulations to reinforce behavior.
• Incident readiness: processes and playbooks integrated with security monitoring and escalation paths for time-sensitive triage.

4) Support ongoing compliance operations and continuous improvement

Today, STIGroup continues to run core security program operations while helping the customer address evolving requirements. This includes strengthening vendor and supply chain risk management, maturing control evidence, and preparing for new third-party assurance expectations driven by customers and partners.

Team model and collaboration

The customer maintains an in-house IT team with infrastructure, service desk, and project oversight, including contractors supporting highly customized laboratory and business systems. STIGroup works closely with executive and operational stakeholders, including IT leadership, an IT security lead, privacy leadership, and legal counsel involved in governance and compliance decisions.

STIGroup delivers an integrated, fractional team that functions as an outsourced cybersecurity and GRC department: vCISO leadership, security operations, vulnerability management support, and structured program management to keep multiple workstreams moving in parallel.

Results and business impact

By combining governance leadership with hands-on engineering and 24x7 operations, the customer has improved their security posture while keeping investments aligned to business priorities.

• A pragmatic, framework-aligned security program that supports customer and contract-driven requirements, including NIST 800-53 Low baseline alignment where applicable.
• Continuous security monitoring and response coverage to reduce the operational impact of threats and improve escalation speed.
• Improved visibility across critical systems through SIEM operations and expanded log onboarding and detection use cases.
• Stronger organizational security culture through recurring training and phishing simulations that balance cybersecurity and privacy topics.
• A sustainable operating model where in-house IT retains ownership of core systems while STIGroup provides the specialized resources needed to scale security and compliance.
• Clear investment prioritization that emphasizes the most risk-reducing controls, particularly for cloud-hosted and digitally scaled services.

Why it worked

• Trust-based partnership: decisions were guided by what best fit the customer’s environment and goals, not by pushing a one-size-fits-all product agenda.
• Risk-based tuning: control maturity was right-sized across domains to focus effort where it mattered most.
• Program continuity: security improvements were implemented, measured, and sustained through consistent operational cadence.

Services delivered

• vCISO leadership and security program governance	• Security risk assessment and roadmap development
• NIST-aligned control program buildout and operations	• 24x7 security operations monitoring and incident response coordination
• Endpoint security program (NGAV/EDR) implementation support	• SIEM platform engineering, log onboarding, and detection use case development
• Vulnerability management program operations	• Security and privacy awareness training and phishing simulations
• Vendor and supply chain risk management program maturation	• Penetration testing and application security assessment

 

Looking to scale cybersecurity and compliance without scaling headcount?

STIGroup helps healthcare and life sciences organizations meet customer-driven requirements, strengthen operational resilience, and build sustainable security programs that evolve with the business.