Our Approach to Cybersecurity

At Petronella Technology Group, cybersecurity is not just about installing antivirus software or setting up a firewall. We take a comprehensive, layered approach to security that addresses people, processes, and technology. Our methodology is built on industry-standard frameworks including NIST Cybersecurity Framework, CIS Controls, and MITRE ATT&CK, ensuring that your security program is aligned with the same standards used by Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Every engagement begins with a thorough assessment of your current security posture, followed by a prioritized remediation roadmap that addresses your most critical risks first.

Our security operations team provides continuous monitoring through our Security Information and Event Management platform, which correlates events across your entire environment to detect threats in real time. When a potential threat is identified, our analysts investigate and respond immediately, often containing threats before they can cause damage. This proactive approach dramatically reduces the risk of successful cyberattacks and provides the rapid response capability that is essential in today's threat landscape.

We believe that employee awareness is one of the most important layers of defense. Human error remains the leading cause of data breaches, and no amount of technology can fully compensate for untrained employees. PTG provides comprehensive security awareness training programs that educate your team about phishing, social engineering, password security, data handling, and incident reporting. Our training programs include simulated phishing campaigns that test employee readiness and identify areas where additional education is needed, helping organizations build a strong security culture from the ground up.

Beyond prevention, PTG prepares organizations for the reality that breaches can occur despite the best defenses. Our incident response planning services help businesses develop, document, and test response procedures so that when an incident does occur, your team knows exactly what to do. From tabletop exercises to full incident simulations, we ensure that your organization is prepared to respond quickly and effectively, minimizing damage, preserving evidence, and meeting all regulatory notification requirements within required timeframes.

The PTG Compliance Process

Achieving and maintaining regulatory compliance requires a structured, repeatable process. PTG has developed a proven compliance methodology refined over more than two decades of helping businesses navigate complex regulatory requirements. Our process begins with a comprehensive gap assessment that evaluates your current policies, procedures, and technical controls against the specific requirements of your target framework. This assessment identifies exactly where your organization stands and what needs to be done to achieve compliance.

Following the gap assessment, PTG develops a prioritized remediation roadmap that outlines every action item needed to close identified gaps. We categorize items by risk level and effort required, allowing organizations to address the most critical deficiencies first while planning for longer-term improvements. Our consultants work alongside your team to implement technical controls, develop required policies and procedures, create employee training programs, and establish the documentation and evidence collection processes needed to demonstrate compliance during audits and assessments.

Compliance is not a one-time project but an ongoing commitment. Regulations evolve, threats change, and business environments shift. PTG provides continuous compliance monitoring services that track your compliance status in real time, alert you to emerging gaps, and ensure that your security controls remain effective. We conduct regular internal audits, update policies as regulations change, and prepare your organization for external audits or assessments. Our goal is to make compliance a natural part of your business operations rather than a periodic scramble to meet audit deadlines.

For organizations subject to multiple compliance frameworks, PTG takes a unified approach that maps overlapping requirements across frameworks. Rather than implementing separate programs for each regulation, we build a comprehensive security and compliance program that satisfies multiple requirements simultaneously. This integrated approach reduces costs, eliminates redundant processes, and provides a clearer picture of your overall security and compliance posture, making it easier to manage ongoing obligations and demonstrate compliance to auditors, clients, and business partners.

PTG Service Areas

Petronella Technology Group delivers a comprehensive suite of technology and cybersecurity services to businesses throughout the Research Triangle. Our managed IT services provide proactive monitoring, maintenance, and help desk support that keeps your technology running smoothly and your team productive. We handle everything from server management and workstation support to cloud migrations and network infrastructure, giving you a complete IT department without the overhead of hiring in-house staff.

Our cybersecurity services protect your business from the constantly evolving threat landscape. We offer security risk assessments, vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, security awareness training, endpoint detection and response, email security, and managed SIEM monitoring. For businesses that need to meet regulatory requirements, our compliance consulting services cover CMMC, NIST, HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI DSS, GDPR, CCPA, ISO 27001, and FTC Safeguards Rule compliance with gap assessments, remediation planning, policy development, and audit preparation.

PTG also provides digital forensics and incident response services for businesses and law firms dealing with data breaches, cybercrimes, and litigation support. Our forensic lab handles computer and mobile device forensics, network forensics, cryptocurrency investigation, and electronic discovery. Craig Petronella provides expert witness testimony and forensic consulting for attorneys across North Carolina. Additionally, our cloud services team manages migrations to and ongoing operations in Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and private cloud environments.

Our emerging technology practice helps businesses leverage artificial intelligence, blockchain, and automation securely and compliantly. From custom AI development and secure inference hosting to AI compliance consulting and blockchain security, PTG ensures that organizations can adopt new technologies without compromising security or regulatory standing. We combine deep technical expertise with practical business insight to deliver technology solutions that drive real results for businesses of all sizes in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area.

Trusted by Businesses Across the Triangle

Since 2002, Petronella Technology Group has earned the trust of more than 2,500 businesses across Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Apex, Morrisville, Holly Springs, and the broader Research Triangle region. Our clients span every major industry including healthcare, legal, financial services, government contracting, construction, architecture, manufacturing, non-profit, and professional services. We are proud of the long-term relationships we have built with businesses that rely on us as their technology partner year after year.

Our BBB accreditation since 2003 reflects our commitment to ethical business practices and customer satisfaction. PTG has been recognized by industry organizations and media outlets for our expertise and community involvement. CEO Craig Petronella has been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and WRAL as a cybersecurity expert, and his Amazon best-selling books have helped thousands of business owners understand the importance of IT security and compliance.

We measure our success by our clients success. When a healthcare practice achieves HIPAA compliance and avoids costly penalties, when a government contractor wins a new DoD contract after achieving CMMC certification, when a law firm successfully responds to a data breach with our forensic support, and when a small business grows confidently knowing their technology is secure and well-managed, those are the results that drive our work every day. Contact us at 919-348-4912 to learn how PTG can help your business achieve its technology goals.

How PTG Managed IT Services Work

PTG managed IT services provide businesses with a complete technology management solution that replaces or supplements in-house IT staff. Our approach begins with a thorough technology assessment and documentation of your entire IT environment, including hardware, software, network infrastructure, cloud services, and security controls. This creates a comprehensive baseline that enables proactive management and rapid troubleshooting when issues arise. We document everything so that your technology environment is never dependent on a single person's knowledge.

Our proactive monitoring systems watch your servers, workstations, network equipment, and cloud services around the clock, identifying and resolving potential problems before they impact your business. Automated alerts notify our team of hardware failures, software errors, security events, backup failures, and performance degradation. Many issues are detected and resolved automatically through our management platform, while others are escalated to our technicians for manual intervention. This proactive approach typically prevents more than eighty percent of the IT problems that plague businesses relying on reactive support models.

When your employees need help, our help desk provides responsive support through multiple channels including phone, email, chat, and remote desktop assistance. Our technicians are experienced professionals who resolve most issues on the first contact, minimizing downtime and keeping your team productive. For issues that cannot be resolved remotely, we dispatch on-site technicians throughout the Research Triangle area. Our ticketing system tracks every request from submission to resolution, providing full transparency into support activities and response times.

Beyond day-to-day support, PTG provides strategic technology guidance through our virtual CIO and virtual CISO services. Our technology advisors work with your leadership team to develop IT roadmaps, evaluate technology investments, plan for growth, and align technology strategy with business objectives. Regular technology reviews ensure that your infrastructure remains current, secure, and capable of supporting your business as it evolves. This strategic partnership ensures that technology serves as a competitive advantage rather than a source of frustration and unexpected costs.