Translating geek into human.

Fractional CTO & CISO for founders who know they need a technology and security strategy — but aren't ready to hire a $250K executive to get one.

25+
Years of tech leadership
40+
Security programs built
8+
Frameworks navigated
0
Fear-mongering

Mike has the ability to communicate technical concepts to a non-technical audience. When assigned a task, you can trust it will be done with the same level of attention to detail as if you had done it yourself.

JH
JD Helms
COO @ SoftwareOne · Co-Founder @ PsychReport.ai
What's actually happening

You don't have a security problem. You have a leadership gap.

Every vendor in your inbox is selling urgency. Firewalls, endpoint protection, zero trust, AI-powered threat detection — the list never stops and nobody's translating it into decisions you can actually make.

A client sent you a security questionnaire and your team is scrambling. Your cyber insurance premium just doubled. Someone mentioned SOC 2 and the room went quiet.

Sound familiar?

These aren't technology problems. They're what happens when a growing company doesn't have someone in the room who speaks both boardroom and server room.

Mike Faas
Who you're working with

I'm Mike Faas.

25+ years and 40+ security and technology programs — Fortune 500 to high-growth startups. I've sat in the CISO chair. I've built the governance programs. I've had the vendor calls where nobody in the room knew what questions to ask.

I started Echo Cyber because smart founders are making million-dollar technology decisions with vendor slide decks and gut instinct. Not another consultant talking in acronyms. Someone who can walk into a board meeting and explain what's actually going on — in plain English.

Based in Raleigh, NC. Dad. Blue belt. Reluctant morning person.

What people say

What it's like to work with me.

“A key contributor to both strategic direction and client engagement. Exceptional at building authentic, trust-based relationships with customers.”

JJ
James L. Jackson
Cybersecurity Leader
Client

“A natural problem-solver who remains cool under pressure. A born leader who continuously takes on more responsibility.”

JV
Jennifer Vosburgh
B2B Marketing Executive, Tego

“Strategic leader who builds trust with customers, vendors, and direct reports alike. One of the good guys.”

KS
Karan Sorensen
Innovation & Technology Executive
Track record

Proof beats prose.

Names withheld — NDAs are a feature, not a limitation.

National retail chain · brick-and-mortar

Fortune 500 Retailer

5,000+ employees Hundreds of locations Edge POS

Challenge. Security enforcement was nonexistent at the edge. POS systems across stores required manual intervention with no centralized governance.

Outcome. Cloud-native device governance framework. Enforceable, auditable security posture for the first time.

15

policies migrated

4

platforms automated

0

store outages

DTC ecommerce · rapid scale

High-Growth Ecommerce Brand

900+ users 32TB data 40 sites

Challenge. Outgrew their collaboration platform but couldn't afford downtime during a migration touching every employee and every business-critical site.

Outcome. Zero-disruption platform migration. Identity sync, policy-driven device reconfiguration, legacy infrastructure eliminated.

893

active users moved

1,200+

accounts archived

0

downtime

How it works

Three ways to work together.

No discovery calls that are really sales pitches. No "custom pricing" that means "we'll charge whatever we think you'll pay." Here's exactly what it costs.

Tune

Strategic Assessment

$7,500 one-time

I map your technology and security landscape, interview your stakeholders, identify the highest-leverage fixes, and hand you a prioritized roadmap you can actually execute.

  • Stakeholder interviews + current-state assessment
  • Technology and security gap analysis
  • Prioritized roadmap with clear next steps
Most Popular

Signal

Fractional CTO/CISO

$10,000 /month · 3-month min

I join your leadership team part-time. Strategy sessions, vendor calls, team building, incident response, board prep — whatever the role requires that week.

  • 10 hours/week embedded with your team
  • Staff meetings, vendor calls, board prep
  • Governance design + security program buildout
  • Roadmap execution and vendor negotiation

Echo

Ongoing Advisory

$3,000 /month · 6-month commitment

I stay in the picture for clients who've finished a Signal engagement — monthly counsel, quarterly strategic reviews, and on-call support for the decisions that matter.

  • Monthly check-ins + quarterly strategic reviews
  • On-call for key decisions and vendor evaluations
  • Governance oversight and course corrections

Most clients start with Tune. No pressure, no lock-in beyond what's listed above.

Free assessment

Not ready for a call? Start here.

15 minutes. 8 categories. Your A–F grade up front — full report one click from there. Just clarity.

Next step

Ready to have a real conversation?

30 minutes. No pitch — just honest questions and straight answers. You'll walk away with actionable next steps either way.

Translating geek into human.

Weekly newsletter

Signal vs. Noise

Cutting through the chaos of cybersecurity and technology — so you can lead with clarity. One email every Sunday. No fluff, no vendor hype, no fear-mongering.

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