The CCSF | Cybantage
The Cybantage Cyber Survivability Framework · Built From Practice, Confirmed by Research

Five stages. Every one designed
from what we watched happen
when the claim was filed.

The CCSF is not derived from industry frameworks, vendor certifications, or framework committee work. It was designed in direct response to what Cybantage observed in post-incident claim denial proceedings — the specific failure modes that cause insurers to dispute or deny claims, and the governance gaps that leave executives personally exposed when they do. The research confirmed those observations across 1,478 organizations. The framework is the applied implementation of both.

Each stage's output is the next stage's input.
The framework writes its own statement of work.

While each stage can be performed as a standalone assessment, the framework is intended to be engaged in full to achieve the most meaningful outcomes.

1
Stage 1
CISI Assessment
Score

The entry point for the entire CCSF. The Cyber Insurance Survivability Index scores your organization's claim defensibility across 34 questions in 10 domains — measuring both claimant-side security control gaps and insurer-side policy exclusion risk. The CISI is the only assessment in the market that measures both dimensions simultaneously. Every subsequent stage is calibrated against this baseline.

CISI Assessment ReportAutomated PDF on completion. Domain scores, outcome band, financial exposure, priority recommendations.
Analysis DebriefStructured 60-minute session. Denial trigger analysis, Domain 10 findings, CCSF stage recommendation.
Stage 2A Engagement ProposalScoped from CISI findings. Domain 10 flags and critical failures inform the LDI instrument priority.
Domain 10 — The Independent Flag: A score of 0 on any Domain 10 sub-question is an immediate Stage 2A and 2B trigger regardless of Domains 1–9 performance. Domain 10 exists because Cybantage has been present when insurers invoked policy exclusions to deny claims against organizations with strong security postures. Three live flags: D10-NS, D10-TP, and D10-SY.
2A
Stage 2A
Leadership Defensibility Index
Expose

A dual-track assessment instrument administered to both executive leadership (ELT) and IT/Security leadership simultaneously — under attorney-client privilege. The gap between the two tracks is a primary analysis data point. The Cybantage Analysis Engine applies seven-dimension analysis to produce the LDI Report: a forensic-grade leadership profile available in no other advisory product in the market. The LDI exists because the single most damaging conversations in post-breach proceedings are not with regulators or insurers — they are with the organization's own board. Executives consistently hold beliefs about their security posture that diverge materially from what IT leadership actually knows. The LDI surfaces that gap before anyone asks.

LDI ReportFull report with seven-dimension CAE analysis, gap matrix, executive scorecard. Delivered under privilege.
Three Clarity TargetsThe three named governance gaps that define Stage 2B scope and the CyberRes governance work.
LDI ScorecardOne-page board-ready deliverable for the Risk Committee. Privilege-marked, not producible in discovery.
Privilege wrapper required: Qualified outside counsel should be retained before Stage 2A commences. The attorney retains Cybantage as a technical expert, establishing the attorney-client privilege that protects all findings. This structure is recommended to ensure the absolute confidentiality of the findings.
2B
Stage 2B
Privileged Review
Protect

The formal legal protection instrument of the CCSF. Where Stage 2A exposes governance gaps, Stage 2B documents the organization's response — creating a legally protected record of due diligence, producing the board-level survivability briefing, and formally reviewing Domain 10 policy exclusions with qualified insurance counsel. The Privileged Review Record exists because in post-breach proceedings, the absence of documented due diligence is itself evidence of governance failure. Executives who hold a current Privileged Review Record walk into a board inquiry, a regulatory examination, or a deposition in a fundamentally different posture than those who do not.

Privileged Review RecordLegally protected documentation of governance findings and organizational response. Not producible in discovery.
Domain 10 Policy ReviewExclusion scope confirmed with insurance counsel. Nation-state, third-party, and systemic event gaps addressed.
Board PackagePrivileged briefing for board and risk committee. Executive exposure documented. Legal due diligence record established.
What this protects against: In post-incident environments, forensic investigators and opposing counsel look for two things: what went wrong technically, and whether leadership knew, acknowledged, and acted. The Privileged Review Record answers the second question — before it is asked, under privilege, with legal counsel's name on it.
3
Stage 3
CISI Forensic Deep Dive
Verify

LDI-informed forensic verification of all 10 CISI domains against production systems. Applies the same standard a carrier's forensic investigator will use — testing whether controls actually protect, not whether they are documented. Findings are cross-referenced against Stage 2B Domain 10 Policy Review findings, LDI-identified governance gaps, and the CISI baseline score. The output is the authoritative gap record that scopes Stage 4.

Forensic Findings ReportFull domain-by-domain verification results. Evidence quality assessment. Claim defensibility gaps identified.
Priority Gap MatrixRanked remediation priorities weighted by claim denial risk. Inputs the Stage 4 program scope directly.
Stage 4 Scope DocumentComplete scope, timeline, and program design for CyberRes based on Forensic Deep Dive findings.
The distinction that matters: This is not a penetration test or red team exercise. Stage 3 is forensic verification — it tests the same evidence a claims investigator will seek. The question is not whether an attacker can get in. The question is whether your controls can be proved to have been operating at the time of an incident.
4
Stage 4
CyberRes — Build & Sustain
Build & Sustain

CyberRes builds the program and keeps it built. The initial engagement addresses all Forensic Deep Dive findings across governance design, identity hardening, backup integrity, IR operationalization, policy alignment, and regulatory compliance mapping. The sustained program runs quarterly CISI re-scores, monthly advisory, annual LDI re-evaluation, and full insurance renewal support — creating a program that performs under real-world conditions and sustains through every policy renewal cycle.

Full Program BuildAll Priority Gap Matrix items addressed. Governance design, technical hardening, IR operationalization, compliance mapping.
Quarterly Re-ScoreCISI re-assessment against the baseline. Score trajectory tracked. Renewal preparation continuous.
Annual LDI CycleLeadership re-evaluation under privilege. Privileged Review Record updated. Board package refreshed annually.
The compounding effect: Organizations sustaining through Stage 4 are simultaneously building claim defensibility, maintaining the Privileged Review Record, and generating the continuous evidence chain that forensic investigators require. Every year of CyberRes is a year of demonstrable, sustained control operation — the most powerful defense against post-breach claim denial.
⚖️ Legal Architecture

The privilege wrapper is not a product feature. It is the infrastructure that makes the findings defensible — and we built it because we have seen what happens without it.

In post-incident environments, findings that were not conducted under privilege become discoverable. They are used against the organization. We have observed this directly. The privilege wrapper is established before Stage 2A begins and maintained through the life of the engagement.

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  • Qualified outside counsel retained before Stage 2A activity begins
  • Industry-specific engagement letters for healthcare and financial services
  • LDI instruments and 2B deliverables prepared at direction of legal counsel
  • Findings produced and presented within the privilege wrapper — not outside it
  • Annual re-evaluation cycle covered under same privilege structure
  • Privilege extends to board package and insurance positioning letter

Universal forensic logic.
Industry-adaptive regulatory mapping.

The compliance-to-survivability gap exists in every regulated industry. The CCSF applies the same forensic standard across all four verticals while mapping to each vertical's specific regulatory cascade.

🏥
Primary Vertical

Healthcare + MedTech

31.3% of breached healthcare organizations ceased to exist independently. HIPAA attestation, HITRUST certification, and OCR compliance do not translate to forensic survivability. Nation-state exclusions, EHR clearinghouse dependencies, and systemic outage coverage gaps are primary Domain 10 risks.

HIPAA / HITECHHITRUSTOCR EnforcementChange Healthcare PrecedentEHR Dependency
🏦
Primary Vertical

Financial Services + FinTech

FTC Safeguards Rule enforcement, DORA compliance requirements, and state-backed exclusions define the regulatory landscape. Third-party API and payment processor dependencies create supply chain coverage gaps standard policies frequently exclude.

GLBA / FTC SafeguardsDORAPCI DSSAPI Supply ChainState-Backed Exclusion
🏛️
Secondary Vertical

Government Contractors

Most attacks on cleared contractors are state-backed by definition. CMMC Level 2/3 certification does not address the nation-state exclusion paradox — the exclusion may void coverage for the most likely threat actor class in this sector.

CMMC Level 2/3NIST 800-171FAR / DFARSNation-State ExclusionCUI Protection
⚙️
Secondary Vertical

Manufacturing

OT ransomware surge, CrowdStrike-type systemic events, and IT/OT convergence create coverage gaps that ISO 27001 certification does not address. Business interruption policies frequently exclude non-malicious correlated outages — the scenario most likely to impact production environments.

ICS / OT SecurityNIST CSFSystemic Event GapISO 27001OT Ransomware

From initial assessment to sustained program.
Every stage builds on the last.

Stage 1
CISI Assessment
1–2 days
Stage 2A
Leadership Defensibility Index
2–3 weeks
Stage 2B
Privileged Review
2–4 weeks
Stage 3
CISI Forensic Deep Dive
3–6 weeks
Stage 4
CyberRes — Build & Sustain
6–12 mo + ongoing

The CISI assessment is where every engagement begins.

Free assessment. Optional analysis debrief. Every completed assessment generates a full domain score profile, Domain 10 flag analysis, outcome band placement, and financial exposure estimate.