About PI Sec Audit

Independent cybersecurity leadership to help organizations manage risk, meet external requirements, and strengthen resilience.

Phil Irving

Cybersecurity is often approached as a collection of tools, controls, or checklists. My focus is different: understanding the underlying principles, and applying them in a way that fits the organization, the requirement, or the individual.

I began working with computers while in high school when my father brought home an IBM 5100 Portable Computer. I taught myself APL and developed my first application - a MasterMind game - within two weeks.

With the introduction of the IBM Personal Computer running MS-DOS, I gained hands-on experience with one of the earliest widely adopted platforms. In a shared school environment, I encountered - and resolved - a fundamental issue: ensuring that multiple users could securely manage their own files without interfering with others.

Addressing this challenge required implementing practical controls aligned with what are now recognized as core security principles, including Identity and Access Management (IAM) and the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) triad.

These early experiences established a pattern that has defined my work ever since: understanding systems at a fundamental level, and applying that understanding to solve real-world problems in a practical, effective way.

Currently I help organizations and professionals understand and manage cybersecurity risk - drawing on experience that spans from the earliest days of personal computing to today’s enterprise environments. My work combines hands-on technical depth, governance, and education. I support executives making risk decisions; organizations meeting external requirements; and individuals building or strengthening their expertise.

You can review my Cirriculum Vitae.

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