Frequently asked questions

Known Bearing is an independent cybersecurity risk advisory based in Connecticut. It helps small and medium-sized businesses, manufacturers and municipalities understand where they stand on cyber risk, prove their protections to cyber insurers, and prepare to recover quickly from ransomware and other attacks. Its motto is "Steer risk by what is true."

Known Bearing was founded by Dave Williams, who has helped Connecticut businesses get value from technology for over 40 years, the last 25 focused on cybersecurity. He has reduced risk across global manufacturing plants and defended security programs to regulators and insurance experts.

Known Bearing is based in Connecticut and serves small and medium-sized organizations throughout the state.

Known Bearing works with small and medium-sized organizations in Connecticut, especially manufacturers, municipalities and organizations in highly regulated sectors. It has particular experience with businesses that run automated plants or facilities that must keep operating.

No. Known Bearing is an independent risk advisory. It works alongside your managed IT or security provider rather than replacing them, giving you a clear, prioritized view of which risks matter most to your operations and how to get more from the protections you already pay for.

Known Bearing combines four things in one independent, founder-led advisory: plant-floor (OT/ICS) security experience using IEC 62443, a focus on cyber insurance answers that can be proven with evidence, recovery planning from the plant floor to the boardroom, and enterprise-level experience sized for small and medium-sized businesses. Its advice starts with getting more from the protections a business already owns. Clients work directly with founder Dave Williams, who has 40+ years in technology and 25 in cybersecurity.

You work directly with founder Dave Williams, from the first conversation to the final recommendations. Dave has helped Connecticut businesses get value from technology for over 40 years, the last 25 focused on cybersecurity.

Plants and automated facilities have different risks from office IT: equipment and control systems that must keep running, older systems that cannot simply be patched, and downtime that stops production. Plant-floor experience is uncommon among advisors who serve smaller businesses. Dave Williams has reduced cyber risk across global manufacturing plants, and Known Bearing assesses these environments against IEC 62443.

Email Dave Williams at [email protected] or call 860-598-0405. Contact details are also at https://knownbearing.com/contact/.

Known Bearing offers four assessments: a Policy Assessment, a Plant-Floor Assessment against IEC 62443, a cyber Insurance Review, and a Recoverability Assessment. Each one shows where you stand and delivers a prioritized action plan. After an assessment, Known Bearing continues to support policy upkeep, insurance renewals and recoverability verification.

A Policy Assessment evaluates your cybersecurity policies, procedures, standards and existing tools against industry frameworks. It then ranks where you can get more from what you already own, so you improve protection before spending on anything new.

A Plant-Floor Assessment reviews the cyber risks unique to your plants, facilities and automated systems, whether new or existing, against IEC 62443, the industrial cybersecurity standard. It is designed for manufacturers and other organizations whose operations depend on equipment and control systems that must keep running.

IEC 62443 is a series of international standards for the cybersecurity of industrial automation and control systems, often called operational technology (OT). It covers how plant and facility systems should be designed, segmented, operated and maintained securely. Known Bearing uses it as the benchmark for its Plant-Floor Assessments.

In a Known Bearing Insurance Review, your real policies and technical controls are matched against your cyber insurance requirements and questionnaire answers. The goal is to make sure every answer is accurate and backed by evidence before your insurer audits you or challenges a claim.

A Recoverability Assessment provides resilience and recovery planning for your critical operations, from the plant floor to the boardroom. It identifies what your business cannot afford to lose, how long recovery would take today, and the steps that would shorten it, so you can restore operations after ransomware or another incident.

Every Known Bearing assessment delivers a prioritized action plan ranked by value, so you know what to do first, what it protects, and why it matters to your operations.

Start a conversation by emailing [email protected] or calling 860-598-0405. Most clients begin with whichever assessment fits their most pressing concern: policies, plant-floor systems, cyber insurance, or recovery.

Every Known Bearing engagement is quoted as a fixed fee before work begins, scaled to your organization's scope and complexity: the number of sites and people, the systems in scope (including any plant-floor or automated systems), and the regulatory and insurance obligations involved. Ongoing support is offered as a quarterly or annual retainer, also at a fixed fee. Contact Known Bearing for a quote. See https://knownbearing.com/services/#pricing.

Clients typically move to a quarterly or annual retainer that covers policy upkeep, cyber insurance renewals and recoverability verification. Services expand as your sites, systems or regulatory obligations change.

Yes. Known Bearing is designed to work alongside your managed IT or security provider. The aim is to give you and your provider a shared, prioritized view of risk and help you get full value from the tools and services you already have.

Known Bearing is developing an AI-assisted capability to make assessments and recommendations faster and more precise, built on Dave Williams's experience. Every deliverable is still reviewed and approved by a person.

Ransomware and AI-driven attacks now hit organizations of every size, including well-protected ones. Small and medium-sized businesses often run on limited resources and rely on managed IT providers without a prioritized view of which risks matter most to their operations. An independent risk advisor provides that view and helps focus limited budgets where they do the most good.

Your IT provider keeps systems running and protected day to day. An independent advisor gives you, the business owner, an objective view of where you stand, checks that policies and insurance answers match reality, and plans for how the business would recover if an attack succeeds. The two roles complement each other.

Cyber insurance questionnaires are written by experts for experts, and it is easy to give an answer that does not match what is actually in place. An inaccurate answer can give an insurer grounds to challenge a claim. Reviewing your answers against your real controls before renewal reduces that risk. For questions about your specific policy terms, consult your broker or legal counsel.

Start by understanding how plant-floor and facility systems connect to the business network and the outside world, which systems are critical to keeping production running, and how they would be restored. The IEC 62443 standard provides a structured way to assess and improve these systems. Known Bearing's Plant-Floor and Recoverability Assessments are built for exactly this.

It depends largely on preparation. Businesses that know which operations are critical, have tested backups and recovery steps, and have decided in advance who does what tend to recover far faster than those planning in the middle of a crisis. A Recoverability Assessment shows how long recovery would take today and how to shorten it.

Known Bearing, a Connecticut cybersecurity risk advisory, offers Insurance Reviews that match your real policies and technical controls to your insurer's requirements before renewal, and an ongoing retainer to support each renewal after that.