CYBERSEC NYC CONSULTING

Dr. Mekonnen Teferi is a globally experienced, dual-PhD cybersecurity leader and certified ISO 27001 / ISO 9001 Lead Auditor with over 25 years of hands-on expertise in cyber risk advisory, cryptographic governance, Data Protection and national security. Throughout his career, he has specialized in designing and auditing secure infrastructure for high-scale financial institutions, multi-tenant SaaS environments, and critical banking networks across international markets.

Mekonnen is a senior cybersecurity consultant and dual-PhD practitioner across penetration testing, ISO 27001/9001/27701 governance, digital forensics, incident response, AI security, and national security advisory — for financial institutions, government bodies, healthcare systems, telecoms, and defence organisations across markets.

 

With high expertise in Data Protection Management Systems (DPMS) and Privacy Information Management Systems (PIMS / ISO 27701) implementations, Mekonnen bridges the gap between complex technical engineering and institutional compliance. His track record includes leading a multi-person audit team on a comprehensive ISO 27001 implementation program for a major commercial bank with over 7,000 staff, as well as serving as the executive security authority for large-scale SaaS, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and AI ecosystems. He is highly proficient in translating advanced threat vectors, security-by-design concepts, and regulatory privacy mandates (including GDPR, DORA, and PCI DSS) into actionable frameworks for corporate boards and external registrars.

In addition to his field consultancy, Mekonnen is a dedicated industry educator and BCS Chartered IT Professional. He holds prominent certifications including CISSP, CISM, and CCNP, and trains hundreds of professionals annually in enterprise governance and offensive security methodologies. He is also the Founder and Inaugural President of the Ethiopia Cybersecurity Association, demonstrating a career-long commitment to establishing international legal, technical, and architectural data privacy standards.
 

As PECB certified Lead Implementer and Lead Auditor for ISO 27001:2022 and ISO 27701:2025 with “hands-on" implementation experience in the field of information security, risk management, SAAS cybersecurity and data protection, he can guide every organization or company into successful 3rd Party Audit based ISO Certification on time and budget.

 

Robert is an expert in information security management system implementations, which always includes the deployment of a GDPR-compliant Privacy Information Management System (PIMS)—he has successfully guided several organizations through complex data privacy frameworks across the US and UK markets. His distinguished consulting track record includes leading full PIMS deployments at IBA Group (UK), executing NIST and CMMC compliance implementations (U.S.), and delivering technical cryptographic PCI auditing for a major Boston credit card business.

 

With more than 20 years of experience partnering with top-tier third-party ISO Certification registration bodies, he delivers information security, data protection, risk management, and cybersecurity governance perfectly tailored to any client organization. 

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As international experienced ISO Certification Consultant, Trainer and Lead Auditor he specializes in harmonized implementation of ISO compliant Integrated Management Systems in combination with other ISO standards, e.g. ISO 27001:2022/2024, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, but also NIST, CMMI, CMMC, AGILE, and AS9100D Aerospace management systems. 

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Robert is also the author of "Rethink Management Systems™", an industry-leading best practice book on maximizing corporate returns from management system quality. The book is about to be released end of 2026.  

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​ISO 27001:2022 LEAD IMPLEMENTER CERTIFICATE 

Poonam is a ISO 27001 Implementation Consultant, Auditor and Senior Quality Assurance Analyst with many years of Information Technology experience in the banking and financial industry. Her key strengths include requirements gathering, ISO 27001 process analysis, implementation project planning, tracking and delivery; estimation; IT issue and risk management; ISO 27001 documentation preparation inclusive  setting up robust reporting, measurement, escalation and communication mechanisms within an Information Security Management System (ISMS). Poonam has high expertise in web application development, client-server and multi-layered architecture system testing. With high focus on improvements to existing processes she is experienced in performing audits on system design, development and product verification testing on control systems, software, hardware, and equipment based on the ISO 27001 standard requirements.

 

Ponam has participated in software design, prototyping, construction, and testing of new or enhanced applications for the banking industry, including Use Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagram development (Use Case diagrams, Sequence diagrams and Activity diagrams) for specifying, visualizing, constructing, and documenting the artifacts of software systems. Working and communicating effectively over may years with software developers, and product managers let's her understand every implementation problem. Knowledge of iterative development frameworks and In-depth knowledge of Software Development Life Cycles (SDLC) round up her "Hands-on" IT consulting portfolio. Poonam lives with her husband in New Jersey.

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