SACYBER
Independent cyber and AI governance for South African organisations
SACYBER is a South African security and AI governance consultancy, established to close the gap between IT delivery and security accountability. Many small and mid-sized organisations have capable IT teams, established service providers and a growing collection of security products — but no independent senior leadership to turn those components into a coherent security and risk-management programme.
SACYBER is led by Richard Ryan, who brings thirty-nine years in IT — thirteen of them at Microsoft, security operations at BUI and global infrastructure at Investec — to fractional CISO services, security governance, risk management, regulatory readiness and standards-based assurance. He holds the EC-Council Associate C|CISO credential. Clients work directly with Richard, alongside their existing IT team or service providers.
Work ranges from focused assessments against the CIS Controls, Joint Standards 1 and 2, and ISO/IEC standards through to ISMS implementation, AI governance and an ongoing fractional CISO retainer.
Security and AI governance, delivered independently
- Fractional CISO (vCISO) — Senior security leadership on retainer, without a permanent executive appointment.
- Security Governance — Policy, risk registers, board reporting and the evidence to support them.
- AI Governance & ISO 42001 — Acceptable use, King V alignment, and readiness for the AI management system standard.
- ISO 27001 Consulting — Gap assessment, ISMS implementation and internal audit ahead of certification.
- Joint Standard 1 & 2 — Independent assurance review for FSCA and PA regulated institutions.
- CIS Controls v8.1 Assessment — A fixed-scope maturity assessment for SMEs, scored across all 18 controls.
SACYBER works with boards, executives and IT leaders who need security decisions made properly — not more tools. Engagements run from a standing Fractional CISO retainer through to a fixed-scope assessment against a single standard.