The third quarter of 2026 was defined by a single, unifying theme at SBS CyberSecurity: building readiness before it's needed. From Incident Response in TRAC, our proprietary governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) platform, to a new advisory tier and standout national media coverage, Q3 put that idea to work across every corner of the business, leading up to our first-ever Converge Cyber + AI Conference in Omaha.
Practice Before the Incident: Incident Response in TRAC
Incident Response is now part of TRAC, announced September 30. Instead of a response plan buried across shared drives, email threads, and someone's memory, TRAC brings planning, testing, and live incident response into one workflow. Teams can build their response plan and put it to the test with tabletop exercises, capturing findings and corrective actions along the way. When an event does occur, they can triage it, manage the response, and keep a complete record for audits and internal reviews. It's a direct answer to the question SBS's own consultants ask clients constantly: If someone was in your network, would you be able to tell, and would your team know exactly what to do next?
The next planned TRAC launch is Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), SBS's entry point into a new regulated market of defense-industrial-base contractors and manufacturers, a natural extension of the same GRC expertise that has served community banks and credit unions for two decades.
2026 Converge Cyber + AI Makes Its Debut in Omaha
SBS welcomed the cybersecurity community to its first Converge Cyber + AI Conference on October 6–7, 2026, in Omaha, Nebraska. KnowBe4 CISO Advisor Erich Kron opened the conference with a human-centered look at why security's hardest problem is the people using the technology, and social-engineering expert Brian Brushwood closed it by showing how learning to think like an attacker makes people harder to fool.
In between, attendees chose from breakout sessions led by SBS experts and industry guests, joined a panel on the future of cyber education, and took on the Converge Cyber Challenge, a hands-on competition powered by SkillBit with 25 challenges to solve and awards for the top 10 finishers.
A New Tier of Guidance: The Cybersecurity Strategic Advisor
SBS also rounded out its advisory lineup this quarter with the Cybersecurity Strategic Advisor offering, replacing the previous Guide-level vCISO tier. The new positioning gives clients a clearer path between hands-on strategic guidance and full-service vCISO engagement, grounded in what SBS consultants hear most often from clients trying to figure out how much support they need.
SBS in the National Conversation
Few quarters have put SBS's expertise in front of more readers. The press release "GOAL: What the World Cup Teaches Us About Cybersecurity Before the Next Global Event" published July 15 and was picked up by outlets including Benzinga, Yahoo Finance, AP News, and Morningstar.
SBS leaders also lent their voice to two notable feature stories. In FinXTech's "CISOs Face Increasing Levels of Stress," CEO and Co-Founder Chad Knutson spoke to the mounting pressure security leaders face from AI-accelerated threats, rising personal liability concerns, and shrinking budgets relative to risk. And in Boss Today's "Cybersecurity Resilience Starts at the Top," President and Co-Founder Jon Waldman made the case that resilience is a leadership decision, not a technology purchase, reminding readers that automated attacks don't discriminate by company size or industry visibility.
Converge Lab Podcast Keeps the Conversation Going
Converge Lab: Navigating Cyber & AI, hosted by Jon Waldman, released three new episodes this quarter.
"Innovation Without Compromising Security" (July 10) featured DJ Seeterlin, Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer at Chesapeake Bank, on balancing innovation with the trust and security customers expect.
"Leading Secure Transformation in Financial Services" (August 7) welcomed Chris Kreul, CTO at First Bank & Trust, for an unfiltered look at what's working, and what isn't, in modern cybersecurity strategy.
"Stronger Security Starts with Culture" (September 1) featured Katie Shuck, Cyber Intelligence Analyst for the State of South Dakota's Fusion Center, on why people, not just tools, are the real edge in cyber risk management.
Giving Back: The Mother's/Father's Day Challenge
This quarter's Community Outreach challenge turned coworkers into detectives: Submit a childhood photo with a parent or caregiver, then donate a small fee to guess who's who in everyone else's. The Mother's/Father's Day Picture Challenge raised $230, and Senior Operations Specialist Melanie Hogan, who guessed the most correctly, chose Wounded Warrior Project as this round's fundraiser recipient.
That same spirit of giving carried into fall with the Pack the Classroom school supply initiative, SBS's next opportunity to support the community.
Recognizing Our People
Client satisfaction stayed strong all quarter, with SBS logging a perfect Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 100 for services in August, a reflection of the people delivering that experience every day.
The CyberStar Award recognizes team members nominated by their peers for embodying our values and going above and beyond. Q3 CyberStars include:
- July CyberStar: Terry Kuxhaus, Principal Consultant, nominated for his professionalism, responsiveness, and commitment to delivering a great client experience
- September CyberStar: Janet Reider, Executive Assistant, nominated for exemplifying SBS's core value of passion by demonstrating pride, enthusiasm, and dedication in everything she does
Congratulations to our Q3 CyberStars. Thank you for setting the bar.
What's Next at SBS
Q4 will bring more highlights from our first Converge Cyber + AI Conference, plus new Converge Lab episodes along the way.
As always, we're grateful for the people, partners, and clients who make this progress possible.
Follow SBS on LinkedIn to stay connected and keep up with what's next.