The New Non-Negotiable in Private Equity
Why cyber hygiene must start before the ink dries on your next acquisition.
When private equity (PE) firms acquire a new company, every hour matters. The first 100 days—often called the “value-creation window”—set the tone for the entire investment. While deal teams are busy restructuring operations, optimizing costs, and aligning leadership, one critical risk often hides in plain sight: cybersecurity.
A company’s digital environment doesn’t pause for integration. The moment systems connect, sensitive data moves, and employees adopt new access credentials, cyber threats can multiply. Attackers know this, and often target newly merged organizations before security policies align. For PE firms, that means every acquisition introduces potential exposure that can derail growth plans, damage brand reputation, or even reduce portfolio value.
DYOPATH partners with private equity firms to make sure that never happens. Through our DYOGUARD™ Cyber & Security Assessments and Managed Security Services, we help investors establish a repeatable, scalable cybersecurity framework, one that keeps pace with aggressive growth timelines and ensures no portfolio company becomes the weak link.
Start Before the Deal Closes
Cybersecurity should start during diligence, not after. Just as you assess financial statements and liabilities, you should also evaluate digital risk. DYOPATH helps PE firms conduct pre-acquisition cyber due diligence, uncovering hidden vulnerabilities such as outdated firewalls, unmanaged endpoints, unencrypted customer data, or expired security certificates.
These insights not only help set accurate valuations but also inform negotiation strategy. Identifying cyber weaknesses early allows deal teams to plan remediation costs or require specific improvements post-close, protecting the fund’s downside before money changes hands.
Design a 100-Day Cyber Sprint
Once the acquisition is official, the clock starts ticking. During those first 100 days, PE operating partners must integrate IT systems, merge data, and unify processes—without losing security control. DYOPATH’s vCISO (Virtual Chief Information Security Officer) services provide a roadmap for that sprint.
We help new portfolio companies:
- Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) across all accounts.
- Verify and secure backup systems.
- Launch phishing and security-awareness training for employees.
- Establish baseline monitoring and endpoint detection.
- Begin compliance mapping for relevant frameworks (NIST, SOC 2, HIPAA, etc.).
Each step is about building momentum, not perfection on day one, but instead meaningful, measurable progress toward a secure foundation.
Standardize Security Across the Portfolio
Most PE firms juggle multiple companies, each with different tech stacks, vendors, and maturity levels. That fragmentation can invite chaos. DYOPATH helps unify cybersecurity across the portfolio with standardized policies, consistent risk scoring, and centralized reporting dashboards.
With this approach, fund managers gain real-time visibility into the cyber posture of every investment. That means faster reporting to LPs, easier compliance documentation, and a tangible story of governance and discipline to share during fundraising or exit discussions.
Cyber Confidence: The Ultimate Value Driver
The best PE firms know: you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Enter cyber hygiene, your best value preservation tool. By embedding DYOPATH’s proactive monitoring and risk-management systems into the 100-day playbook, firms not only protect themselves from disruption but also demonstrate operational excellence that buyers notice later.
Cybersecurity used to be a cost center. Today, it’s a confidence multiplier.
Ready to build your own 100-day cyber framework? Contact DYOPATH to schedule a Cyber Readiness Assessment and start securing your next acquisition before the ink dries.
