Shawn Hawryluk · CISSP · MBA
Cybersecurity consulting grounded in 20 years of building and operating the infrastructure, identity systems, and security programs being secured. Not theory — practice.
Security programs don't fail because of bad technology. They fail because the people designing them have never operated the systems they're trying to protect.
Your PAM tool is deployed but your privileged accounts aren't defined. Your IGA platform passed testing but your access reviews are rubber stamps. Compliance reports look clean but your service accounts haven't been inventoried since the last auditor asked.
The gap isn't a missing product — it's a missing perspective. Someone who's been the infrastructure engineer getting the firewall change request at 4pm on a Friday, the security architect navigating a ransomware recovery, and the IAM lead explaining to the board why identity is the connective tissue holding everything together.
That's what I bring. Not the security hammer. Not ivory tower ideals. The pragmatic view of someone who's built the systems, broken the systems, and rebuilt them better.
Deep expertise across cybersecurity — with a specialization in identity and access management. Every engagement is delivered personally. No juniors, no hand-offs.
IAM strategy your leadership can actually articulate. I synthesize existing work, surface buried strategic content, and deliver communicable direction — not another maturity assessment that collects dust.
Who has the keys to your kingdom? Complete privileged account inventory mapped to people, purpose, and risk. Prioritized remediation roadmap. Fixed scope, clear deliverables.
Security program design from governance frameworks to control implementation. NIST CSF, ISO 27001, Zero Trust — translated into operational reality for your specific environment.
Policy development, risk assessment methodology, compliance mapping, and audit readiness. Built to withstand scrutiny from auditors, regulators, and boards — not just clear this quarter's checkbox.
IR planning, tabletop exercises, playbook development, and post-incident analysis. Practical preparation grounded in real breach response experience, including ransomware recovery.
AWS and Azure security architecture, identity federation, conditional access, and hybrid environment hardening. Built by someone who's operated these environments, not just passed the certification.
No bloated SOWs. No army of junior consultants. A direct, senior-level engagement from scoping to deliverable.
Most organizations have done more work than they realize — it's buried in project charters, vendor reports, and tribal knowledge. I start by finding what you already have before building anything new.
"We need an IAM strategy" usually means something deeper — governance gaps, leadership uncertainty, or years of project-centric delivery without strategic direction. I surface the actual problem, not the presenting symptom.
Your threat model isn't generic. Your risk appetite isn't Gartner's. I design strategies adapted to your constraints — your budget, your team, your technical debt, your organizational culture.
A strategy document nobody reads is shelfware, not strategy. I deliver artifacts your leadership can articulate, your teams can execute, and your auditors can reference. Pragmatic over perfect.
CISSP · MBA · Founder, Shuhari Consulting
I didn't start in security. I started in IT operations — networks, servers, infrastructure architecture. I spent years as the person on the other end of security's demands, learning exactly what it feels like when someone hands you a "critical security requirement" with no context on how it interacts with the systems you're responsible for.
That background fundamentally shapes how I consult. I've held budget authority, managed teams, navigated ransomware recoveries, and reported to CISOs and CIOs. I've designed cloud security architectures, built identity programs from scratch, and led PAM and IGA implementations inside complex hybrid environments. I understand the constraints because I've lived them.
My specialization is Identity & Access Management — the connective tissue of modern security. IAM touches every system, every user, every compliance requirement. When it's done well, everything downstream works better. When it's neglected, every other security investment underperforms.
I work directly with clients. No account managers. No junior associates. When you hire Shuhari, you get me — 20 years of context, sitting across the table, doing the work.
Shu Ha Ri (守破離) is a Japanese concept describing the stages of learning — from disciplined study of fundamentals, to breaking from convention, to transcending rules entirely through deep mastery. It originated in the study of classical Japanese calligraphy and was later adopted across martial arts, tea ceremony, and modern disciplines like Agile development. I encountered it 15 years ago and it stuck — it describes the arc of every career worth having, and it maps naturally to how organizations mature their security posture. The name is a genuine reflection of how I think about growth, not a marketing concept.
守 · 破 · 離
Observations from 20 years of identity, security, and the messy reality in between. Articles and analysis — no thought-leadership fluff.
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No sales pitch. No discovery call theater. Tell me what you're dealing with and I'll tell you honestly whether I can help.