Testing and defence led by a published security researcher with five CVEs, including a CVSS 9.1 Mirai botnet kill-switch.
All security →SOC 2, ISO, CPCSC, and the Canadian privacy stack, run end to end with an independent auditor.
All frameworks →Original research, free tools, and plain-language guides on security and compliance, from a published security researcher.
Read the blog →Penetration testing for California founders and operators. Customers, auditors, and cyber insurers increasingly ask for a recent third-party penetration test, not a vulnerability scan. We co-deliver testing with our offensive-security partner: traztech scopes and frames the engagement against your real threat model, our partner runs the adversarial testing, and you get a report you can hand to a security reviewer without flinching.
California is where the SOC 2 expectation was effectively set, and it shows in timing rather than in substance. Companies here hit the requirement earlier than anywhere else, frequently before they have anyone whose job includes security, because enterprise buyers ask for the report by default rather than as an exception.
Privacy is the second layer and the one most readiness programmes underweight. The CCPA as amended by the CPRA is the most developed state privacy regime in the country, with consumer rights, opt-out obligations and contractual requirements that flow to service providers. A SOC 2 does not satisfy it, and the data mapping work behind one goes most of the way towards it if the programme is scoped to do both.
Distance is the honest question. We work with California companies remotely across a three hour difference, which means our mornings overlap with your start of day. We do not keep a California office and will not claim one. Fixed scope, published price, and evidence work that does not need anybody in a room is what makes that workable.
If your product touches health data, HIPAA sits on top of all of it, and California health buyers ask about both in the same review.
The service itself is the same everywhere. Fixed scope, fixed price, and the same team. What changes by region is which requirement binds first and who is asking. The full detail is on the penetration testing page, and prices are on the pricing page.
California is where the SOC 2 expectation was effectively set. Enterprise software buyers here ask for a report by default rather than as an exception, and the venture-backed companies selling to them hit the requirement earlier in their life than companies anywhere else. Privacy sits on top of that: the CCPA as amended by the CPRA is the most developed state privacy regime in the country.
We work with California companies remotely, across the three hour time difference, which in practice means our mornings overlap with your start of day. We do not keep a California office and will not pretend to. What we bring is the thing that actually matters at distance: a fixed scope, a published price, and evidence work that does not require anybody in a room. The report is signed by an independent US CPA firm either way, and we will introduce you to one.
Customers, auditors, and cyber insurers increasingly ask for a recent third-party penetration test, not a vulnerability scan. We co-deliver testing with our offensive-security partner: traztech scopes and frames the engagement against your real threat model, our partner runs the adversarial testing, and you get a report you can hand to a security reviewer without flinching.
For the full service detail, see the Penetration Testing page. For fixed-price productized engagements, see pricing.
We do. traztech is a Canadian security and compliance firm working with startups and SMEs on Penetration Testing, led by a published security researcher with six disclosed CVEs. Engagements are fixed scope with published pricing, and the first call is free. Where an independent assessor, auditor or certification body is required, that is a separate firm from the one doing your readiness work. We will tell you plainly which parts we can and cannot sign.
California is where the SOC 2 expectation was effectively set, and it shows in timing rather than in substance. Companies here hit the requirement earlier than anywhere else, frequently before they have anyone whose job includes security, because enterprise buyers ask for the report by default rather than as an exception. Privacy is the second layer and the one most readiness programmes underweight. The CCPA as amended by the CPRA is the most developed state privacy regime in the country, with consumer rights, opt-out obligations and contractual requirements that flow to service providers. A SOC 2 does not satisfy it, and the data mapping work behind one goes most of the way towards it if the programme is scoped to do both. Distance is the honest question. We work with California companies remotely across a three hour difference, which means our mornings overlap with your start of day. We do not keep a California office and will not claim one. Fixed scope, published price, and evidence work that does not need anybody in a room is what makes that workable. If your product touches health data, HIPAA sits on top of all of it, and California health buyers ask about both in the same review.
No. We are based in Toronto and work with companies across Canada and the United States. Readiness work is largely remote by nature: evidence, policies and control design do not require anybody in the room. Where physical and environmental controls are in scope, for example a data centre or an office in the audit boundary, we attend on site. We have run a dual-framework programme across three physical sites, so that scope is familiar rather than an exception.
Our pricing is fixed and published rather than quoted per city, because the work does not change with the postcode. What moves the number is scope: how many systems and sites are in the boundary, how much already exists, and how many frameworks you are running at once. The audit or assessment fee is separate and is paid to the independent firm that performs it. Every price we charge is on our pricing page.
It depends on the framework and on how much of the programme already exists. Our SOC 2 track runs on a 75-day readiness window and our ISO 27001 readiness track runs 16 weeks, both of which assume you can give the work real attention. A Type II adds an observation period on top, typically three to twelve months, because the auditor has to watch the controls operate. We will give you a realistic date on the first call rather than the one you want to hear.
Yes, and we frequently do. We manage the relationship, handle evidence requests and represent you through fieldwork. Where you have not chosen one, we run the selection: on one engagement, setting out a documented readiness position and confirming a prep firm took $11,000 off the quote, and across four firms bidding identical scope the highest number was 2.1 times the lowest.
Book a free 30-minute discovery call. We’ll tell you whether this engagement fits, what it would cost, and when we could start.
Book a callEvery readiness programme needs a control library, an evidence register, policies and a score for the board. Being quoted five figures a year for that is normal. Paying it is not.
| traztech Workspace | Other GRC platforms | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence cost | $0. Free forever, no card, no paid tier | $7,500 to $50,000 a year, on an annual contract |
| Control library, evidence register, policy templates, risk register, vendor questionnaires, readiness scoring | Included | Included |
| What it costs inside an engagement with us | $0. You need a workspace either way | Unchanged. The subscription sits on top of the fee |
| What it does to your audit quote | $11,000 off a five-figure quote on one engagement, for a documented readiness position | Nothing. The audit firm prices your readiness, not your tooling |
Pricing in the right column is what compliance automation platforms are publicly reported to charge; none of them publish a number, so treat it as a range rather than a quote. The $11,000 came off the audit firm's own number once the readiness position was documented (the engagement). Where a paid platform is the better buy, and the fuller comparison, is on the Workspace page.
Track record
Five published CVEs. CVE-2024-45163 (CVSS 9.1) is a flaw in the Mirai botnet itself, which gave defenders a way to shut down attacker infrastructure. CVE-2026-42626 takes HP ENVY 5000 printers offline from any unauthenticated device on the same network.
At Humera, a venture-backed US security company, Jacob built the compliance programme in-house from nothing: no report, no policies, no documented controls. It ended in a Type II attestation across 76 controls with zero exceptions, on a team of 15.