Sentinel · Central Texas · Small manufacturers, machine shops, distributors
Incident response and security hardening for shops that don't have an IT department — from someone who has run a spout, climbed an ISP tower, and hardened a domain controller.
One operator. If I'm on a job I'll call you back the same day.
The problem, in your units
Your MSP will hand you a report about encrypted records. Your foreman will tell you the line has been down since Tuesday and the customer wants to know about Friday's order.
Those are two different problems, and most security vendors only understand one of them.
Three ways to start
Prices are published because you shouldn't have to sit through a discovery call to find out whether you can afford the first step.
01 · Readiness
$2,050 fixed
Half a day on site. I look at what's actually running: network layout, remote access, backups, who has admin, what's exposed to the internet. You get a findings document in plain English with a ranked fix list — this week, this quarter, this year.
Travel included anywhere in the service area. No slide deck. No upsell built into the report.
For: you suspect you have gaps and want to know how bad it is.
02 · Response
$5,750 starting
Something happened. I capture system state before remediation overwrites it, scope which systems and accounts were reached, sequence rebuild versus restore, and close the path it came through.
That's a first block of 20 hours. Past that it's $300 an hour, and you'll know before we get there. Every capture is integrity-sealed with a complete handling log, so nothing is lost while you decide your next move.
For: you're in it right now, or in the two weeks after and unsure it's finished.
03 · Ongoing
$1,600 / month
Up to eight hours a month, reserved for you, plus a direct number and a same-business-day response. Hours don't roll over — you're paying for the reservation, not a punch card.
Every month you get a one-page note: what changed, what I watched, what I'd do next. Quiet months get one too. Cancel anytime, no three-year MSP contract and no auto-renew.
For: you want this handled continuously without hiring a department.
What I don't do — and why I'll tell you on the first call
I don't determine who is responsible for an incident, and I don't prepare findings for a court, insurance, or other proceeding. In Texas that is licensed investigative work under Chapter 1702 of the Occupations Code, and I don't hold that license.
Response and hardening are a different thing, and the same statute says so directly: reviewing computer-based data to prepare for or respond to a cybersecurity event is expressly outside the licensing requirement (Tex. Occ. Code §1702.104(c)).
If what you need crosses that line, I'll say so on the first call and refer you to someone licensed. Everything I've already captured goes with you.
Why me
I spent years climbing ISP towers in the Ozarks, then built web systems back when that meant XML and XSLT by hand. I've done network engineering and red-team work. And I've stood at a spout on the floor of a centrifugal-casting foundry.
That last one is the part no other security vendor can claim, and it's the part that matters. I know what it costs when a line stops. I know why the operator disabled the thing your consultant installed. I know that “just take it offline for the weekend” isn't a plan — it's a delivery you're going to miss.
I build from foundational principles rather than reselling somebody else's platform, and I keep verifiable records of what was done and when. Not as a marketing line — because when you're standing there deciding what to rebuild and what to restore, that's the difference between a record and a recollection.
What actually happens when you call
You describe what's going on. I tell you whether I'm the right person. If I'm not, I'll say so and point you somewhere better.
Fixed fee, fixed dates, defined deliverable. You approve it or you don't.
On site or remote, depending. You hear what I find as I find it, not in a reveal at the end.
Your board, your next vendor, your own counsel. It's your record of what your systems looked like and what changed — not my conclusions about anybody.
No contract minimum. No auto-renew. Nobody else touches your environment.
Straight answers
No — and in Texas I'm not permitted to. Determining who's responsible, or preparing findings for a court or an insurance proceeding, requires a private investigator license under Chapter 1702. I do response and hardening, which the same statute expressly exempts. If you need that work, I'll say so on the first call and refer you to someone licensed.
Small shops aren't targeted — they're swept up. Automated scanning doesn't check your headcount before it tries your remote-access port.
Good. Keep him. This isn't help desk work — it's the layer above it, and most break-fix vendors will tell you the same thing if you ask them directly.
The Walkthrough is half a day and a fixed fee. Start there. If the findings say you're in decent shape, that's a real outcome and we're done.
No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. What I can do is make sure you know what you're exposed to, that your backups actually restore, and that you have a plan for the day it matters.
Book twenty minutes
If it's urgent, call +1 (254) 677-8222 — that's faster than this form.
Twenty minutes. No obligation, no deck.
Hue&Logic Creative Labs LLC · Central Texas. Response and hardening services. Not a licensed investigations company; work requiring an investigations company license under Tex. Occ. Code ch. 1702 is referred out.
