CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

FRSecure vs IANS

FRSecure is an information security services company that helps organizations build security programs. IANS is a practitioner-sourced intelligence engine where data, peer experience and expert insights converge for security teams. CISO Tribune files both under Security consulting and advisory and Penetration testing and red team services. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • FRSecure
  • IANS
FRSecure vs IANS: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
FRSecureFRSecure is an information security services company that helps organizations build security programs.frsecure.comIANSIANS is a practitioner-sourced intelligence engine where data, peer experience and expert insights converge for security teams.ians.com
What it sells
  • Incident Response[1][6][11]An organized approach to responding to a cybersecurity breach, incident, or attack.
  • Risk Assessment[1][2][4][6]An assessment designed to discover and quantify information security risk.
  • Penetration Testing[1][8]Emulated real-world attacks used to discover and exploit weaknesses.
  • PCI DSS[12]Review and advice on PCI DSS compliance from a Qualified Security Assessor Company.
  • Vendor Risk Management[7]Services that evaluate the risk that vendors present to an organization.
  • Ask IANS[12]An AI Q&A service built on a proprietary database of IANS Faculty expert advice.
  • Client Portal[12][14]A library of research, tools and templates contributed by IANS Faculty.
  • CISO Inquiry Community[12]An invitation-only service where CISOs gain insights from a private community of peers.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pages
  • August 25, 2026IANS named Kelley Hippler as its Chief Revenue Officer, citing her revenue leadership experience at Thought Industries, Briefly Legal, and Forrester.[16]
  • July 15, 2026IANS announced the launch of its Model Context Protocol Server, which delivers cybersecurity insights and data through the AI tools security teams use.[10]
  • March 31, 2026IANS announced the launch of a security-focused news offering with daily coverage written by its in-house reporters and backed by expert practitioner analysis.[9]
  • February 4, 2026IANS appointed Dan Klein as Executive Vice President, Faculty and Professional Services.[11]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
FRSecure points to heavily regulated industries such as healthcare and financial as ones that often require providers to meet the more thorough audit standards. FRSecure states that organizations processing cardholder data involving any of the major card brands have PCI DSS requirements to meet. FRSecure describes its RPM program as intended for new or growing IR programs.From its own pages, IANS sells mainly to CISOs and their cybersecurity teams. A privacy service from IANS is aimed at CISOs, privacy teams and compliance teams. IANS offers an invitation-only community in which CISOs gain insights from their peers. IANS describes professional development that runs from hands-on technical skill to the executive table. No vendor can become an IANS client. IANS offers data-as-a-service delivery of its content to clients that license it.
Last verified
November 6, 2026October 16, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Security consulting and advisory is the primary category of both FRSecure and IANS; both are also filed under Penetration testing and red team services.

Where they differ, field by field

  • FRSecure is also filed under Incident response and forensics and MDR and managed SOC. IANS is also filed under Security awareness training.
  • FRSecure lists Incident Response, Risk Assessment, Penetration Testing, PCI DSS and Vendor Risk Management. IANS lists Ask IANS, Client Portal and CISO Inquiry Community.

How they differ

CISO Tribune files FRSecure under Security consulting and advisory, Penetration testing and red team services, Incident response and forensics, and MDR and managed SOC, with Security consulting and advisory as its primary category. CISO Tribune files IANS under Security consulting and advisory, Penetration testing and red team services, and Security awareness training, also with Security consulting and advisory as its primary category. The two overlap in consulting and in offensive testing, but what each sells differs.

FRSecure sells incident response, risk assessment, penetration testing, PCI DSS compliance review as a Qualified Security Assessor Company, and vendor risk management. It states that information security is all it does and that it does not do IT, sell hardware, or provide telco services. IANS describes itself as a cybersecurity research and advisory firm that supports decision-making for CISOs and their cybersecurity teams. It sells Ask IANS, an AI Q&A service built on a database of IANS Faculty expert advice, a Client Portal of research, tools and templates, and the invitation-only CISO Inquiry Community. IANS also states that no vendor can become an IANS client.

FRSecure says it has been in business for over 10 years. IANS says it was launched in 2000 and draws its data from conversations among 170+ Faculty and CISO clients. FRSecure points to heavily regulated industries such as healthcare and financial as ones that often require providers to meet more thorough audit standards. On recent activity, IANS announced the launch of its Model Context Protocol Server on July 15, 2026, and a security-focused news offering on March 31, 2026.

What it sells: FRSecure

What Incident Response does[1][6][11]
FRSecure describes incident response as an organized approach to rapidly responding to the aftermath of a cybersecurity breach, incident, or attack. FRSecure assists in the identification, containment, and recovery of ransomware. FRSecure incident response team assists with forensics when a compromise is suspected.
What Risk Assessment does[1][2][4][6]
FRSecure offers a risk assessment designed to discover and quantify information security risk. FRSecure uses a risk assessment methodology and platform called S2.
What Penetration Testing does[1][8]
Penetration testing from FRSecure uses emulated real-world attacks to discover and exploit weaknesses in systems, configurations, and processes. FRSecure experts follow Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES) methodology during penetration testing. FRSecure offers pen tests that expose vulnerabilities in internet-facing systems, networks, firewalls, devices, and web applications.
What PCI DSS does[12]
As a PCI DSS Qualified Security Assessor Company, FRSecure provides the expertise necessary to review and advise organizations on PCI DSS compliance. FRSecure certified professionals can help an organization define its PCI DSS environment, determine compliance gaps, and provide necessary attestations of compliance. FRSecure gap analysis identifies gaps in credit card processing and customer data storage methods that need to be addressed.
What Vendor Risk Management does[7]
FRSecure uses SecurityStudio for vendor risk management. FRSecure offers three different levels of vendor risk management services depending on needs and the number of vendors.

What it sells: IANS

What Client Portal does[12][14]
The Client Portal provides a library of research, tools and templates contributed by IANS Faculty. Client Portal website data and infrastructure are based in the U.S.

Questions about FRSecure and IANS

What do FRSecure and IANS sell?
FRSecure sells Incident Response, Risk Assessment, Penetration Testing, PCI DSS and Vendor Risk Management. IANS sells Ask IANS, Client Portal and CISO Inquiry Community.
Are FRSecure and IANS in the same category?
Yes. Security consulting and advisory is the primary category of both on CISO Tribune.
Who are FRSecure and IANS sold to?
FRSecure points to heavily regulated industries such as healthcare and financial as ones that often require providers to meet the more thorough audit standards. From its own pages, IANS sells mainly to CISOs and their cybersecurity teams.
What have FRSecure and IANS announced recently?
August 25, 2026: IANS named Kelley Hippler as its Chief Revenue Officer, citing her revenue leadership experience at Thought Industries, Briefly Legal, and Forrester.

About FRSecure

FRSecure is an information security services company that helps organizations build security programs. FRSecure states that its mission is to fix the broken information security industry. FRSecure states that information security is all it does and that it does not do IT, sell hardware, or provide telco services. FRSecure has been in business for over 10 years, and its team has more than 300 years of combined experience working in information security and 30 different kinds of certifications. FRSecure describes many organizations as understanding that they need to do something around information security and data protection without knowing which risks pose the biggest threat or where to begin combatting them.[1][2][3][6]

FRSecure offers a risk assessment designed to discover and quantify information security risk. FRSecure uses a risk assessment methodology and platform called S2, and the final report of a gap assessment maps the specific controls to the corresponding controls in S2. Gap assessments from FRSecure are conducted with regulatory requirements in mind. FRSecure analysts work with the client team to understand which capabilities and controls are in place.[2][4][5][6]

FRSecure uses SecurityStudio for vendor risk management, and that software platform employs S2Vendor to measure and manage the security risk of an organization's vendors. FRSecure offers three different levels of vendor risk management services depending on needs and the number of vendors.[7]

Penetration testing from FRSecure uses emulated real-world attacks to discover and exploit weaknesses in systems, configurations, and processes. FRSecure experts follow Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES) methodology during penetration testing. FRSecure offers pen tests that expose vulnerabilities in internet-facing systems, networks, firewalls, devices, and web applications that could lead to unauthorized access. Red teaming from FRSecure is a real-world attack simulation focusing on defense evasion with a mix of social engineering and external and internal network-level testing. FRSecure social engineering exercises use techniques that include email, phone, and physical methods.[8][9]

FRSecure technical services team helps identify vulnerabilities through regular scanning. FRSecure describes vulnerability assessments as identifying technical vulnerabilities through a combination of automated tools, expert interpretation of the findings, and remediation recommendations. FRSecure web application scanning uses automated tools to evaluate web applications for vulnerabilities such as Cross-site scripting, SQL Injection, Command Injection, Path Traversal and insecure server configurations.[10]

FRSecure describes incident response as an organized approach to rapidly responding to the aftermath of a cybersecurity breach, incident, or attack. FRSecure assists in the identification, containment, and recovery of ransomware and helps organizations prevent and prepare for future incidents. FRSecure tabletop exercises are designed to practice and find weaknesses in plans such as disaster recovery, incident response, and more.[6][11]

As a PCI DSS Qualified Security Assessor Company, FRSecure provides the expertise necessary to review and advise organizations on PCI DSS compliance. FRSecure certified professionals can help an organization define its PCI DSS environment, determine compliance gaps, and provide necessary attestations of compliance. FRSecure helps prepare organizations for the SOC 2 audit and does not perform the actual audit itself. FRSecure overlays risk assessment results onto the five Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) levels so an organization can see where it stands in each level. For organizations using Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), or Microsoft 365 (M365), FRSecure provides configuration and security health checks based on CIS benchmarks.[3][6][12]

FRSecure notes that heavily regulated industries such as healthcare and financial often require their providers to comply with Type 2 standards. FRSecure states that organizations that process cardholder data involving any of the major card brands have PCI DSS requirements to meet. FRSecure states that it can support a wide range of requirements across almost any industry.[1][3][5][6][7][10][11][12]

FRSecure on the record

Sources

FRSecure full record

  1. [1]frsecure.comFRSecure · frsecure.com · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Information Security and Compliance Experts | FRSecureFRSecure · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]SOC 2 Compliance Support Services | FRSecureFRSecure · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Cybersecurity Risk Assessment Services | FRSecureFRSecure · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Cybersecurity Gap Assessment Services | FRSecureFRSecure · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Information Security Consulting & Management Services | FRSecureFRSecure · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Cyber Vendor Risk Management (VRM) Services | FRSecureFRSecure · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Penetration Testing Services: External, Internal, Web App, & MoreFRSecure · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Social Engineering Attack Prevention | FRSecureFRSecure · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Cybersecurity Vulnerability Assessment Services | FRSecureFRSecure · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Cyber Incident Response Services | FRSecureFRSecure · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]PCI DSS Compliance Consulting Services | FRSecureFRSecure · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

IANS full record

  1. [1]ians.comIANS · ians.com · undated page, accessed October 16, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Security program assessmentsIANS · ians.com · undated page, accessed October 16, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]About IANS — who we are and what we believe | IANSIANS · undated page, accessed November 2, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]IANS — The intelligence platform for security leadersIANS · undated page, accessed November 2, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]2024 Security Budgets: Data From 755 CISOsIANS · published September 5, 2024 · Tier A
  6. [6]IANS 2025 Security Budget Benchmark ReportIANS · published August 5, 2025 · Tier A
  7. [7]Cybersecurity Salaries 2026: Staff Pay and Retention DataIANS · published March 31, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Webinar: Where to Deploy AI Across Your SecOps TeamIANS · undated page, accessed November 2, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]IANS Launches News Offering and Reinvents Its Platform for How Security Leaders Work TodayIANS · published March 31, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]IANS Launches the First Cybersecurity MCP Server Delivering Practitioner-Validated Intelligence Directly into Clients' Native AI ToolsIANS · published July 15, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]IANS appoints Dan Klein as Executive Vice President, Faculty and Professional Services to Support Faculty and Consulting Services GrowthIANS · published February 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Terms of Service | IANSIANS · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]MCP Data Privacy & Security | IANSIANS · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]IANS Cybersecurity Commitment | IANSIANS · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]2025 Staff Pay Data From 525+ Infosec ProfessionalsIANS · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]New CRO to Help IANS Expand Practitioner-Sourced Intelligence, Peer Insight, and AI-Ready Guidance for Security TeamsIANS · published August 25, 2026 · Tier A

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