Cybersecurity Assessment
CISSP-led 168-point security evaluation against CIS Controls v8.1. You get a written report with risk scores, a vulnerability scan, and a prioritized remediation roadmap, delivered in 5 business days.
CIS v8.1 evaluation
assessment leadership
remediation roadmap
For Canadian businesses with 10–150 users. Offices in Toronto, Hamilton, and Vancouver.
Quick Answer: A cybersecurity assessment is a structured evaluation of your security posture against an established framework (CIS Controls v8.1, NIST CSF 2.0, or ISO 27001). For a Canadian SMB, a typical assessment takes 3-5 business days, covers 150-200 control points, and produces a written report with risk scores, gap analysis, and prioritised remediation roadmap. Expect to invest $3,000-$8,000 CAD for a mid-market assessment; compliance-driven assessments (PCI DSS, SOC 2) cost $10,000-$30,000.
Key takeaways:
- Three assessment types: quick-scan (1-2 days, $1,500-$3,000), standard CIS v8.1 (3-5 days, $3,000-$8,000), and compliance-driven (2-4 weeks, $10,000-$30,000).
- Deliverables should include a risk-scored findings matrix, prioritised remediation roadmap, and executive-summary slide deck — not just a PDF dump.
- A good assessor explains trade-offs (not just “fix everything”) and assigns realistic ownership and timelines.
- Re-assess annually for a stable business, or after any major change: M&A, cloud migration, office move, staff turnover at admin level, or security incident.
Assessment type comparison
| Type | Duration | Cost (CAD) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick-scan | 1-2 days | $1,500-$3,000 | Cyber-insurance renewal, board-level briefing |
| CIS Controls v8.1 | 3-5 days | $3,000-$8,000 | Standard SMB baseline, annual security review |
| NIST CSF 2.0 | 5-10 days | $5,000-$15,000 | Mid-market, regulated industries |
| PCI DSS / SOC 2 readiness | 2-4 weeks | $10,000-$30,000 | Payment processing, SaaS vendor audits |
Named one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed IT Companies two years running (2024 & 2025). See our certifications →
What’s in the written report
A cybersecurity assessment is a structured evaluation of your security posture. It identifies vulnerabilities, tests your existing controls, and produces a remediation plan ranked by actual risk. Our CEO holds the CISSP certification and a Master of Science in CS/AI, so every assessment is reviewed by senior security leadership.
The report maps your environment against CIS Controls v8.1, the framework auditors, insurers, and compliance officers reference. Here’s what it covers:
- CIS Controls v8.1 gap analysis: 168-point evaluation across endpoints, identity, email, backup, network, and compliance.
- Vulnerability scan results: External and internal scanning that flags unpatched systems, open ports, and misconfigurations.
- Prioritized remediation roadmap: Findings ranked by severity and business impact, not a 90-page PDF nobody reads.
- Compliance mapping: Alignment to PIPEDA, PHIPA, CyberSecure Canada, and industry-specific requirements.
Timeline: 2-hour initial session, then a written report delivered within 5 business days. See what Fusion’s managed cybersecurity includes.
Who this cybersecurity assessment is for
Not every business needs the same trigger. These are the situations where we see the most urgency:
- Post-incident: You’ve had a breach, ransomware scare, or near-miss and need to know what’s still exposed.
- Compliance-driven: Your auditor, insurer, or board wants documented proof that controls are in place.
- Switching MSPs: You’re leaving your current provider and want an independent baseline before onboarding someone new.
- Insurance requirements: Your cyber insurance renewal requires a current cybersecurity assessment or risk evaluation.
Fusion Computing has supported Canadian businesses since 2012. Assessments are available across all provinces, with offices in Toronto, Hamilton, and Vancouver. Toronto cybersecurity assessment | Vancouver cybersecurity assessment
“An assessment isn’t a sales pitch. It’s a baseline. We walk through your environment, map the gaps against CIS Controls, and give you a prioritized list of what to fix first. About 40% of the time, businesses discover they’re paying for tools they’re not actually using.”
Mike Pearlstein, CISSP, CEO of Fusion Computing
What happens next
Three steps. No obligation at any point.
- Free 30-minute consultation: We’ll discuss your environment, your concerns, and whether a full assessment makes sense.
- 168-point cybersecurity assessment: On-site or remote. 2-hour session covering endpoints, identity, email, backup, network, and compliance.
- Written report in 5 business days: Risk scores, gap analysis against CIS Controls v8.1, and a prioritized remediation roadmap. The findings are yours to implement with any provider.
Typical cost: $2,500 to $6,500 CAD depending on organization size, number of endpoints, and cloud scope. Businesses with fewer than 25 users typically fall at the lower end. See Fusion’s broader IT business assessment.
Vulnerability assessment vs. cybersecurity assessment
The terms get used interchangeably, and the distinction matters when you scope a project. A vulnerability assessment is a focused exercise: scan your environment, surface unpatched systems, exposed services, weak configurations, and outdated dependencies, then deliver a CVSS-scored list of what to remediate. A cybersecurity assessment is the broader framework review: it includes the vulnerability scan, but adds policy, identity, backup, incident response, vendor management, and compliance evaluation. If a control is missing entirely, a vulnerability scanner will not catch it; a cybersecurity assessment against CIS Controls v8.1 or NIST CSF 2.0 will.
Most Canadian SMBs need both layers in one engagement. The vulnerability scan answers “what is exploitable on our network today?” The framework review answers “are we defensible against the threats we actually face, and do we meet PIPEDA, PHIPA, or cyber-insurance requirements?” Skipping the framework review is the most common reason a clean vulnerability scan still produces a six-figure breach: the gap was not in patching, it was in the absence of a documented incident response plan, or no MFA on a privileged service account, or a vendor with unrestricted network access.
Industry guidance: The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security recommends framework-based assessment for any organization handling personal information or operating critical infrastructure, not vulnerability scanning alone. CIS Controls v8.1 maps directly to NIST CSF 2.0 and ISO 27001, so a single CIS-based assessment satisfies most insurer and regulator requirements simultaneously. Source: cyber.gc.ca, Baseline Cyber Security Controls for Small and Medium Organizations.
Our approach: Every Fusion Computing cybersecurity assessment includes both layers. The 168-point evaluation against CIS Controls v8.1 covers the framework review; an authenticated and unauthenticated vulnerability scan runs in parallel during week one. Findings from both feed a single risk-ranked remediation roadmap. You leave with one report, not two, and one prioritized list, not a stack of disconnected scanner output.
168-Point Assessment. CISSP Leadership. No Obligation.
30-minute consultation to start. Written report in 5 business days.
Cybersecurity Assessment FAQs
What does the cybersecurity assessment cost?
Fusion’s 168-point cybersecurity assessment is typically $2,500 to $6,500 CAD, depending on environment size and scope. We’ll confirm pricing after a free 30-minute consultation. There’s no obligation to engage Fusion for remediation afterward.
How long does the assessment take?
The initial session is about 2 hours. You’ll receive a written report within 5 business days. For larger environments (100+ endpoints), the timeline may extend to 7-10 business days.
What’s included in the report?
A 168-point evaluation across endpoints, identity, email, backup, network, and compliance. The report includes risk scores, CIS Controls v8.1 gap analysis, and a prioritized remediation roadmap.
Do you need access to our systems?
Yes. We’ll need read-level access to review configurations, policies, and logs. It’s a structured intake process with a signed NDA and defined scope before anything begins.
Does the assessment cover PIPEDA and PHIPA?
Yes. We map findings to PIPEDA, Ontario PHIPA for healthcare, CyberSecure Canada, and the upcoming Bill C-8 supply-chain and incident-reporting obligations.
Assessment Services by Location
Fusion operates from 3 Canadian offices and conducts cybersecurity assessments coast to coast.
Your Cybersecurity Assessment Starts Here
168-point assessment. CISSP-certified leadership. Prioritized roadmap. No obligation.
Toronto: (416) 508-7802 · Vancouver: (604) 800-7788 · Toll-free: 1-888-541-1611
What a cybersecurity assessment covers
A cybersecurity assessment for Canadian SMBs benchmarks your current posture against CIS Controls v8.1 and NIST CSF, identifies the top-five control gaps, and produces a costed remediation plan aligned to cyber-insurance requirements and PIPEDA/PHIPA obligations. Fusion Computing provides CISSP-led assessments at a fixed fee, typically completed in 2-3 weeks.
According to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security’s Baseline Controls for Small and Medium Organizations, most Canadian SMBs fail the baseline on MFA coverage, patch cadence, and backup-restore testing — the same three controls that show up in post-incident root-cause analyses.
According to IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach report, organizations using a structured security framework (CIS, NIST CSF, ISO 27001) reduced breach costs by 21% versus peers operating without a framework.
The City of Hamilton’s denied $5 million cyber-insurance claim in 2024 — rejected because multi-factor authentication had not been fully implemented — is the canonical Canadian example of why assessment findings must convert to deployed controls, not just documented gaps.
According to 2024 cyber-insurance underwriting analysis, Canadian insurers now require evidence of recent third-party cybersecurity assessment as part of renewal — often with specific control-attestation requirements.
“The typical SMB cybersecurity assessment produces findings and stops there. Ours produces findings plus a costed remediation plan, a compliance mapping, and a 12-month execution calendar — so the output actually changes the security posture, not just the filing cabinet.” — Mike Pearlstein, CISSP, CEO, Fusion Computing
