Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers to the questions Fidelis hears most.

What does Fidelis Management Services do?

Fidelis Management Services (Fidelis) is an independent risk advisory firm. Fidelis helps leaders identify who and what puts their organization at risk, understand where they are exposed, and reduce that exposure over time, through process and control design, training, and recurring senior advice as new threats emerge.

What does counterintelligence have to do with my company?

Counterintelligence is the discipline of understanding hostile people: who they are, what they intend, and how they operate, so you can take away their ability to succeed. It is not only about espionage. The same discipline addresses terrorism and targeted violence, sabotage, and subversion, because all of them share one foundation, a human being acting with hostile intent. In government it counters foreign intelligence services and the threats they enable. In the private sector, the same methods identify whoever is targeting your executives, your facilities, your technology, or your workforce, whether that is a competitor recruiting your researchers, an aggrieved individual fixated on your leadership, an investor whose interest comes with strings, or an employee on the way out the door. Most security programs are built to defend systems. Fidelis is built to understand the people working against them.

Who do you typically work with?

Primarily organizations whose people, technology, or information are worth targeting: technology and IP-intensive companies, enterprises with trusted-access risk, and boards and executives facing a more volatile threat environment. Fidelis also advises private clients and family offices, including on significant private projects. Engagements are built for leaders who want exposure identified early and reduced deliberately.

Can you share examples of past work, or references from other clients?

No, and that is deliberate. Fidelis does not name clients, describe past engagements, or publish case studies. The discretion you would want on your own matter is the discretion every client gets, without exception. If someone referred you to Fidelis, they have already told you what they are willing to say. Beyond that, the useful conversation is not about somebody else's problem. It is about yours.

How is Fidelis different from a security company, a general contractor, or an IT firm?

Fidelis does not sell the things it evaluates, and that independence is the point. Fidelis is not a guard-force provider, a construction contractor, or an IT/cybersecurity vendor, so its findings are not shaped by a product or service it is trying to sell you. Fidelis provides an objective, outside assessment and reporting you can act on.

Fidelis looks principal-led. Who actually does the work?

Fidelis is intentionally principal-led. On every engagement you work directly with the founder, a senior national-security and counterintelligence professional, so you get senior judgment and a single accountable point of contact rather than a junior team. When a matter calls for it, Fidelis brings in vetted specialists. As the firm grows, that standard, senior people and direct accountability, will not change.

How do engagements usually work?

Most begin with a defined piece of work: a briefing, a workshop or exercise, or a focused review with a clear question and a clear end. That is often enough on its own. But risk is rarely retired in a single stroke: threats change, people move, access widens, and the assumptions behind good decisions expire. So most relationships continue on a retained basis, with Fidelis staying close as conditions shift, reassessing exposure, updating the plan, and keeping senior judgment on call. It starts with a brief conversation through the Contact page. Nothing sensitive is needed up front, and an engagement begins only through a separate, mutually agreed written arrangement.

Do you conduct investigations or background checks?

No. Fidelis does not conduct licensed private investigations or background investigations. Fidelis’s work is independent review, verification, and documentation, advisory in nature, delivered so you can make informed decisions and direct appropriately licensed providers where that is warranted.

Do you assess our IT systems or cybersecurity?

No. Fidelis does not assess IT infrastructure, networks, or cyber defensive posture, and does not perform technical security work. Fidelis’s premise is that people are the primary threat vector: even most "cyber" losses turn on a human-enabled vulnerability. Fidelis advises on the human dimension of technology protection: the people, partners, access, travel, and information practices through which sensitive technology is actually lost. Fidelis coordinates with your technical teams rather than replacing them.

What is Capital Project Risk Advisory, and when do we need it?

Capital Project Risk Advisory is independent, non-executing advisory for private clients, family offices, and fiduciaries with significant capital committed to a construction or development project. Money is committed before results are visible, information is fragmented across contractors and vendors, and problems tend to surface late, when they are most expensive to fix. Fidelis reviews project documentation and reporting, identifies risk indicators, and reports independently to the principal, so the picture reaching you is not the one shaped by the parties performing the work.

How do you handle confidentiality and sensitive information?

Discretion is fundamental to how Fidelis works. Early conversations can stay at a general level, and Fidelis arranges a secure means to discuss anything sensitive. Please do not send classified, legally privileged, or confidential third-party information through the website; the contact form is for general business inquiries only. See the Privacy & Data Notice for how website information is handled.

How do you price engagements?

Pricing is engagement- and scope-based. Because every organization, problem, and situation is different, Fidelis does not publish a standard hourly rate; the investment reflects the scope, complexity, and duration of the specific engagement. After a short scoping conversation, Fidelis provides a clear proposal, whether a fixed-scope review or an ongoing retained-advisor arrangement, so you know the scope and cost before any work begins.

If yours isn't here, use the Contact page and Fidelis will respond directly.