Shadowbear has earned SPECTRA Level 1 certification and been issued a SPECTRA Certificate of Resilience. SPECTRA certification is an independent standard that measures a managed security provider against what cyber insurers expect, rather than against the provider’s own marketing.
The full press release is published on EIN Presswire.
Every managed security provider tells you someone is watching your environment around the clock. Almost none of them can hand you an outside inspection that says so. The customer gets a second professional opinion they did not have to go find themselves and they get a warranty backing their service.
Ian Garrett, founder of Shadowbear
What SPECTRA Level 1 means for your business
Any provider can put a badge on its own website. A certification means something different when an outside party does the checking. SPECTRA certifies the company, not an individual employee, and it does not rely on a self-reported checklist: the provider submits documented evidence, and SPECTRA reviews it against technical, operational, and financial standards built around what cyber insurers look for.
For a business that relies on us, that adds up to three practical things.
- An outside reference point. When a customer questionnaire, an auditor, or an insurance application asks who protects your environment and how, you can point to an independent review instead of our own description of ourselves.
- A performance warranty. SpectraCare, SPECTRA’s performance warranty, covers our certified managed detection and response service: if that service fails to perform during a ransomware attack on a computer or server it protects, the warranty value is refunded to you. Every Cyber Defense Suite plan includes one.
- Something your insurer can weigh. The warranty complements your cyber insurance rather than replacing it, and SPECTRA-certified environments can qualify for preferred cyber insurance pricing through SPECTRA’s carrier partners. It is a factor an underwriter or broker can consider, not a guaranteed discount.
SPECTRA explains the certification for business owners in its own words: what SPECTRA certification means for your business.
What the Level 1 review covered
Certification at Level 1 required us to submit documented evidence against technical, operational, and financial standards, not only our technology. That included:
- written information security governance
- a standard incident response playbook
- contract governance, covering how client agreements are issued and how deviations are reviewed and approved
- staff qualifications
- the operating practices behind our 24/7 managed detection and response service
Buyers of managed security have very little way to check what they are told before they sign. Shadowbear put its governance, incident response, contracts, and service operations in front of an independent review built around what cyber insurers underwrite, and met the Level 1 standard. That is something its clients, and their insurers, can rely on.
Edouard von Herberstein, founder and CEO of SPECTRA
Where it fits
The certified service is the 24/7 managed detection and response at the center of our Cyber Defense Suite, which also brings security monitoring, endpoint protection, employee phishing training, vulnerability scanning, and patching together in a single per-user subscription. We work mainly with businesses that handle sensitive information and have no dedicated security staff: defense subcontractors meeting NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC obligations, accounting and financial services firms, and other regulated small businesses in Northern Virginia and beyond. Clients working toward a framework such as CMMC or SOC 2 can add Vanta compliance automation through Shadowbear.
The certification follows our No. 35 ranking on the Washington Business Journal’s 2026 list of the Largest Cybersecurity Companies in Greater Washington, published in August.
Frequently asked questions
What is SPECTRA?
SPECTRA is an independent cyber risk management firm that certifies managed service providers against technical, operational, and financial standards and backs certified services with the SpectraCare performance warranty. It launched its managed service provider resilience certification in June 2025 as a company-level standard, not an individual credential or a self-reported checklist, and its cyber risk advisory board is chaired by Dr. Michael Sulmeyer, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy. The program certifies providers at four levels: Approved, Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. Shadowbear is certified at Level 1.
What did Level 1 require?
Documented evidence against technical, operational, and financial standards: written information security governance, a standard incident response playbook, contract governance covering how client agreements are issued and how deviations are approved, staff qualifications, and the operating practices behind our 24/7 managed detection and response service. Shadowbear met the standard and was issued a SPECTRA Certificate of Resilience.
Does this change anything about my cyber insurance?
It can help, but it is not a guaranteed discount. Certification gives an underwriter or broker independent evidence of how your environment is protected, and SPECTRA-certified environments can qualify for preferred pricing through SPECTRA’s carrier partners. Whether it changes your premium or terms is up to your carrier. The SpectraCare warranty complements your policy rather than replacing it. If you have a renewal coming up, ask your broker how they treat a SPECTRA-certified provider.
Sources and further reading
- Shadowbear Earns SPECTRA Level 1 Certification, an Insurer-Recognized Standard for Managed Security Providers, the full press release on EIN Presswire.
- What SPECTRA certification means for your business, SPECTRA’s explainer for business owners.
- How to Choose an MSP: A Buyer’s Guide for SMBs in 2026, from SPECTRA.
- How to answer cyber insurance renewal questions without voiding your policy, from our blog.
Thank you to the SPECTRA team for a thorough review, and to our clients for trusting us with work that is rarely glamorous and always important. If you want a second opinion on where your own security stands, book a free 30-minute Cyber Defense checkup. We will review what you already pay for, flag overlapping or unused tools, and point out the gaps an insurer, auditor, or customer questionnaire would surface.