Sam W.

Turn Security Into Your Fastest Path to Revenue

Enterprise clients won’t sign until you can prove security, privacy, and compliance. I get you there — fast, audit-ready, and without grinding your roadmap to a halt.

I’m Sam Wertheim, D.Cybersecurity, an Upwork Expert-Vetted (Top 1%) fractional CISO with 18 years across DoD (Defense Innovation Unit), financial services, Fortune 5 enterprises, and federal agencies, and I hold an active Secret clearance. I currently serve as fractional CISO to a NYDFS-regulated insurtech and as sitting CISO for an identity-governance platform. My doctoral research and enterprise work focus on AI-driven social engineering — bringing both battle-tested compliance execution and a forward view on where threats are heading.
WHERE I CREATE VALUE

• Close enterprise deals — SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, NYDFS §500, done right and audit-ready
• Win defense contracts — CMMC Level 2 / NIST 800-171 readiness for DoD suppliers
• Secure cloud & AI products — AWS, Azure, GCP, SaaS platforms, and the new risk surface AI introduces
• Strengthen risk posture — without slowing the business down

WHY CLIENTS KEEP ME ON RETAINER

• 100% Job Success · $600K+ earned · 5,400+ hours on Upwork
• Executive security leadership at a fraction of a full-time CISO’s cost
• A practitioner, not just an advisor — I’ve run the pen tests, built the SIEM, filed the regulatory certifications
• Deep regulatory specialization (NYDFS §500, SOC 2, ISO 27001, CMMC) most generalists can’t match

WHAT CLIENTS SAY

“Sam is a pro and we would have lost a large corporate client without his help.” — SOC 2 / HIPAA client
“He is extremely knowledgeable, responsive, and attentive.” — DevOps / AI security client
“It was a pleasure working with Sam. He’s very knowledgeable and great to work with.” — Digital health client

SOUND FAMILIAR?

• Drowning in security questionnaires and vendor risk reviews?
• Need to be audit-ready before your next enterprise deal closes?
• Facing a CMMC deadline from the DoD or your prime contractor?
• Running Vanta, Drata, or Sprinto but unsure what comes next?
• Shipping AI-driven products and unsure how to govern the risk?