How does a military-born cybersecurity solution empower MSPs and SMBs in today’s compliance-driven world? Here’s the Beachhead Solutions story.
🎙️✨ From Military-Grade Security to Everyday Protection: A Beachhead Solutions Brand Story
How does a military-born cybersecurity solution empower MSPs and SMBs in today’s compliance-driven world? Here’s the Beachhead Solutions story.
When it comes to cybersecurity, one thing is clear: the Wild West may have lost a “wild,” but it’s still lawless out there. In this ITSPmagazine Brand Story, Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli sit down with Cam Roberson of Beachhead Solutions—a company with deep roots in military-grade data protection and a forward-thinking approach to endpoint security.
Cam shares how Beachhead Solutions began two decades ago, solving a very real problem for the military: how to instantly and securely destroy sensitive data on compromised devices like laptops in Humvees. Today, that same secure mindset powers a solution designed not just for high-risk environments, but also for businesses of all sizes that need to manage device security and compliance without locking down operations.
What sets Beachhead apart? Their philosophy of “trust but verify.” Unlike rigid zero trust models that can frustrate users and slow productivity, Beachhead enables granular access control based on real-time risk conditions—automated and scalable. Their “Risk Responder” technology evaluates behavior and environment to enforce adaptive policies, ensuring protection without constant human oversight.
Whether you’re a small business or an enterprise MSP, compliance is no longer optional. Cam discusses the increasing pressure from frameworks like NIST, HIPAA, CMMC, and the FTC Safeguards Rule—regulations that apply across industries and sizes. Beachhead’s cloud-native platform helps companies prepare, adapt, and prove compliance through detailed reporting and control over data access.
What’s more, their MSP-first model isn’t just a reseller program. Partners get concierge onboarding, flexible monthly billing, and free internal use of the platform—because they’re part of the supply chain too. With Beachhead, MSPs aren’t just meeting regulatory checkboxes; they’re showing value to clients and securing new business opportunities in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.
From USB-stolen “startup kits” to porch-tossed medical laptops, Cam’s anecdotes highlight the real-world chaos that their solution brings order to.
Ready to move from wild to wise? Beachhead Solutions has your back.
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Keywords:
endpoint security, data protection, zero trust, risk responder, MSP, SMB security, device control, cybersecurity, compliance, NIST, HIPAA, FTC safeguards, CMMC, supply chain security, secure data wipe, remote access control, encryption, managed services, cloud-native security, Beachhead Solutions, adaptive security
Learn more about BeachHead Solutions : https://itspm.ag/beachhead-solutions-r49e
Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.
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Guest: Cam Roberson
🔗 Cam Roberson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camroberson/
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Learn more and catch more stories from Beachhead Solutions: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/beach-head-solutions
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Sean Martin: [00:00:00] Marco
Marco Ciappelli: Sean,
Sean Martin: it's my favorite time,
Marco Ciappelli: Christmas. Yeah. Halloween, Easter.
Sean Martin: Those are, those are all great. Those are great events. But, uh, story time yeah. Uh, has a little more meaning for me and, uh, a little longer than longer life shelf life than a day of the year.
Marco Ciappelli: Yeah. And I'll tell you more On top of being a favorite thing to do, a brand story, it's also my favorite thing to do, the first brand story with a new.
Uh, a company because we can tap into the origin story, which is what I really, really enjoy. Why a company start doing what they do and what, what kind of problem or, topic they, they, they focusing on resolving And, uh, how, how that started. So,
Sean Martin: yeah, it's easy how, that, it's easy to get caught up in the tech and forget that there are people mm-hmm.
Doing things for a reason. Uh, typically they want to [00:01:00] help. Somebody solve a problem. Yep. Or, or a company solve a problem. And that's, that's what we're gonna talk about today. And, uh, I'm thrilled to have Kim Robertson on from, uh, beachhead Solutions. Kim, how are you?
Cam Roberson: I'm terrific. Thanks for asking.
Sean Martin: It's, uh, it's great to have you on the show and we're excited to, uh, to hear all about the how and the why and the when and, and for what reasons, uh, beachhead solutions exist.
And, and, and we're gonna get into that be Before we do that, maybe a few words from you on. Who you are, maybe some of the things you've worked on leading up to your role and, and what your is role at, uh, beachhead Solutions.
Cam Roberson: Happy to. And then just a moment ago, Marco said we were new. Uh, we've not, we've been around for about 20 years now.
Um, beachhead was, uh, uh, originally born of military applications. Um, a branch of our military was looking for a way in which to. Figuratively blow up data that was [00:02:00] attached to Humvees and other vehicles that were on PCs. And if those, uh, vehicles became compromised, they didn't want the data to be also compromised.
So, uh, talking get,
Sean Martin: get smart type stuff here,
Cam Roberson: it kind of gets smart type stuff. And we'd looked at several different approaches including. You know, amping up the, uh, the, the cycle times to actually cause an, uh, incendiary, uh, event. Uh, we didn't go that route ultimately. And by the way, this is a, a function that is still available in the product today.
Uh, it data can be overwritten to a DOD seven X overwrite standard. The product, and sometimes that's the appropriate approach. Most often though, today people are looking for a recoverable, a more granular approach to access control. And so we, we have the notion of quarantine, which is essentially to [00:03:00] remove access to the data.
And there are a variety of different ways of doing that. But, uh, we, we built, uh, this originally for those applications, but commercial applications. Became a particularly, you know, in the early days of, of laptops where there was, you know, it was the wild, wild west and data was out there all over the place and.
Uh, organizations finally realized they needed to control that data and be sure that it didn't get in the wrong hands. Uh, and so we started selling through a variety of different resellers, um, and direct. Uh, although our, our primary focus today is, is in the channel, um, but. Uh, you know, and I personally started, you know, building the marketing presence for the firm at first before I even became an employee.
Uh, they were a client of mine. I had an ad agency that I sold in 2005. Uh, I was already helping them with their [00:04:00] collateral, with their messaging, with their website and various other things my organization was, and I sold the firm. And, uh, they, you know, just. They asked, uh, if I'd be interested in coming on board, and I said, yep, I already got a head start.
Kind of know what you're trying to do here. And, uh, joined the firm, oh boy, quite a, quite a long time ago when we were still in our infancy, I'll say.
Marco Ciappelli: That's very cool. And when I say new company, I knew you were being around for a while. I meant new company. In ITSP magazine for us, because I know you were going way back.
And
Sean Martin: overnight success.
Marco Ciappelli: An overnight success. That usually takes a very long time as, as we all know. So you said something that kind of make me laugh because you said it was the wild, wild west and now I feel like maybe we just take one wild out and it's just wild west for the data. What do you think about that?[00:05:00]
Cam Roberson: It ain't getting any better. It's still wild. Wild.
Marco Ciappelli: Well, you know, you cut one wild, it's, it's already something.
Cam Roberson: There you go. Uh, yeah. You know, these events continue to happen. Data breach, data exposure. You know, it's no matter how high we build the castle walls and the perimeter around our stuff, our data, they breach it.
They get it. And so it's, it's just a, it's a cat and mouse game in many respects. And so, uh, you know, our approach is a little bit different, you know, in terms of, we almost make the assumption you are going to get infiltrated, somebody's gonna get to your stuff. Then what? Do you have a protection after that?
And, uh, you know, we think we have a pretty good story. Uh, you know, we've been providing a lot of this for quite a while. Um, and you know, I think [00:06:00] finally, you know, well, maybe not finally, but it, it's sort of developing compliance. You know, people are, we're once upon a time left to their own devices to determine what good security was.
We continue to have breaches. So clearly, you know, these organizations', definition of what good security is, was insufficient. So, you know, finally, now I. These organizations are telling us exactly what they want and, uh, we, we were in a good place because exactly what they want is very much what we provide.
Um, we don't believe we are a replacement for stuff we're we are. And augmentation of stuff and provide controls that, that many of the other quote unquote, security tools don't provide.
Sean Martin: Well, let's talk about some of that. I mean, for doing this for so long, certainly the, the network looks different, [00:07:00] the endpoints look different.
There's those all connect to a cloud, which is. Not new, but still, still growing in, in many ways and, and on premises, uh, services, uh, and, and a lot of stuff driven by, by big providers like Microsoft and Google and the like. Um, how do, how do you, how do you foresee some of those changes and what do you think is coming that you are already prepared for?
To help organizations?
Cam Roberson: Yeah, that's a good question. That's a good question. You know, the, I think the, the, the big recognition, the big realization, and in my mind anyway is, is that, you know, stuff is moving to the cloud for good reason. Uh, and, and if, if you haven't noticed, we're being forced to move stuff to the cloud.
I get frustrated with some of that big company up in the. North E or Northwest, excuse me. Well, [00:08:00] forcing me to do stuff I don't wanna do. But in any event, I, I, it's, uh, you know, so, so the, the premise of course, or the, I think the wishful thinking is, well, there's no data on these devices. You know, the data's all up in the cloud.
Uh, and in fact, that is not the case. There is data all over the place, and if somebody can do their job easier, better, faster, they'll have the data locally. And so making the assumption that all of this new technology or this cloud-based infrastructure is going to eliminate risk is, is flat, you know, incorrect.
Uh, and so, you know, good security is still good security. Now we've just have more definition and we have that definition around the compliance mandates. You know, they're, they're becoming more. Uh, you know, more enforced, more specific. You know, we're using, a lot of the mandates are [00:09:00] pointing to, you know, NIST frameworks, for instance.
So this, you know, as, as I said, once upon a time left to the devices of the organization to determine what good security is, is no longer the case. We are going to tell you what is good security and what's required. It's certainly more comprehensive and more involved than simply building the, the walls higher, having a, a terrific E-D-R-X-D-R or next gen antivirus in place.
We are going to specify how we want to handle, uh, you know, expired data. We're gonna, we want to talk about the threat surfaces that every single employee is and, and what we want. To do to, to address that issue. Um, you know, access controls, automatic access controls, all of those things are going to be defined, and they are, and I, and so it's common, be prepared, and it at some extent, every [00:10:00] organization, I don't care how small you will be affected.
So, uh, you know, the time is now, in my opinion to sort of get prepared. Understand what's necessary and, and get those things in place and be able to document it. I guess that's, you know, you're not compliant until you can prove you are compliant. So that's also very important.
Marco Ciappelli: So, Cam uh, it, it's hard, I think, lately to talk about cybersecurity and the things you just said. You know, the assumption that something is going to happen, somebody's gonna come in the perimeter. You're not, you're not behind a wall and it doesn't matter how. Tall it is. Somebody's gonna probably drop in with a parachute anyway. Uh, but the point is, I, it's hard to talk about this without thinking about the, the Concept of zero trust.
Right? And, and I know that some body thinks zero trust is like, oh, now bodies allow it. You can't do your job, it's right. But there is, you know, a [00:11:00] concept of zero trust that I, I think it needs to be applied cyber secure. What, what's your view on that?
Cam Roberson: Yeah, that's a really good question. And zero trust is certainly the phrase of the day.
Uh, but you know, we, as we always look at, at things on top, security on one end of the spectrum and usability and, you know, employee happiness at the other end of the spectrum. Uh, you know, zero trust is oftentimes, you know, going to provide terrific security, uh, at the expense of maybe productivity or, or customer satisfaction, if you will, or excuse me, not customer satisfaction, but employee satisfaction.
Uh, our thinking on this topic is that we provide a, a, a sort of a trust but verify approach, uh, which is to say. Allow the user to access the data, allow the user to do their job, uh, you know, as best possible. [00:12:00] But if we see behavior or conditions or environmental factors that don't look right, uh, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna control access based on that escalation of risk as we define it.
And it, it's, it's a, it's a. It's a function that, and I don't wanna make this a, a pitch about beachhead, but we have a, a, a tool that we call the risk responder. The risk responder looks at these events and takes automatic defensive action against them in an appropriate way. So, you know, we can't be looking at every device 24 7, 365 from a SOC or anywhere else.
But our product will look at stuff and say, is this reasonable? Let's, let's, let's take some measures automatically because it doesn't look right. [00:13:00] So, um, that's sort of our approach. Zero trust, you know, is, is getting sometimes a little too onerous, I think my perspective.
Sean Martin: So, so you said, I mean, and it's obvious right, that it's.
A buzz phrase. Um, I think we've had many conversations on this topic, and it's a mindset that I feel needs to be applied based on an organization's risk appetite, right? In line with, in line with what they're trying to achieve as a, as an organization, right? Whether their business outcomes mapped to the risk, how do we, how do we get there safely?
Right? So I guess my, my question is you, to you is what, what are some of the interactions you have or what are some of the drivers you encounter? Uh, compliance is certainly one. Uh, having a, having an incident that is another, but other, other scenarios where [00:14:00] organizations say we really wanna get a handle on our mobile environment, or, we're.
Moving forward on this new business process, and therefore we we're gonna have data in these locations. We really need to figure out how we manage our data more effectively with, um, all these devices and whatnot. What, I guess, describe to me some, some cases use cases of how you engage with some of the, some of the clients you work with, either directly or through some of your partners as well.
Cam Roberson: Yeah. Uh, good question. We, we, you know, we're, we're ultimately around making sure that data, both, you know, proprietary PII and uh, and IP is, is secured, um, from a, from a competitive standpoint. And then of course, what's driving, you know. The compliance mandates is that data of which you are custodial for.
And so [00:15:00] ultimately it's about protecting that data, um, and frankly proving that you're protecting that data because if you can't prove you're compliant, you ain't compliant. And so, uh, our, our customers are using it, uh, just because. They need to protect data. I mean, that's ultimately, we, we like to think that's the altruistic reason for it.
Sadly. Uh, you know, some are altruistic, they want to protect data, but a lot of times it's, I must do it. Somebody's telling me I must do it. You know, that is where the compliance is coming into, into play right now. We have, you know, many instances of our partners who have made the decision just to have a better secure environment for their clients.
Where the, where the client is coming to the the MSP provider and saying, look, we just got a supply [00:16:00] chain questionnaire. What are we doing to address all of these requirements? We've just, you know, we, we supply, we're, we provide the nut for a, for a bolt on a device that ultimately ends up in something with military applications.
Now we have to be CMMC level one or, you know, level two. I need to show to my customer that we are doing so. And so help me understand this stuff. And so, uh, our, our older clients understand our older MSP partners understand that they're providing it. They have the answers already. Today, we are getting a lot more come to us because they need to be able to show this stuff and they need to be able to prove it.
And so, uh, we, we've got a, you know, we've got some anecdotal stories of [00:17:00] course, too, that are kind of interesting. We had, uh, we had one of our MSP partners show up at a, at a medical facility, and one of the laptops that they're managing was on the front lawn porch area of this particular medical facility.
Somebody got so frustrated, they just. Tossed it out the window. It was there for anybody to take. Wow. That's good. That's good. Security's crazy. Some of the stuff you hear. It really is. We had, we had another, you know, this happens quite frequently. Uh, USB storage devices, sort of one of the most, you know, off breached items.
Um, you know, employees. They hold a lot of data, even the hard drives and the flash sticks or whatever. Uh, many times we've seen, or it's been told to us that an employee has put data on their customer [00:18:00] lists, IP stuff that gives 'em sort of a, a starter kit with creating their own competitive business to their former employer and have just taken the stuff on there.
Huge files, you know. Thinking they're, you know, starter kit. Yeah, starter a business starter kit.
Marco Ciappelli: I was actually reading that the USB attacks are coming back in fashion. So be ready to collect something in the garage when you park the car, you know, right there on the ground. Listen up. Tell me a little bit about, um, your relationship and how , you guys work with the MSPs and, and your. Partner ecosystem that that you have in place and how. Everything works together, and it's not just depending on, on you being the one going around and telling you what to do, what not to do.
Cam Roberson: Right, right, right. Well, you know, it's, it's entirely cloud-based, you know, maybe o of interest to, to your [00:19:00] listeners is the product. And the protections are free for our MSP partners for their internal use. So maybe a little gimmick, but um, you know, obviously they should be using the product themselves, um, because they are also at risk and also part of the security and compliance chain. So we provide the product for their internal use free.
Don't look at this as an opportunity to make money off of our partners, but with our partners. And so we obviously would like them to resell it. It's very, uh, simple. You know, we, we, they're billed monthly based on their usage. So if they have 499 devices, uh, you know, in management, that's what they're billed for.
They lose a client, which unfortunately happens from time to time. And the next month it's 4 73. Then, uh, you know, that's what their invoice will be. We, we also take a very, [00:20:00] I'll say, hands-on approach with our partners. We, we, we want them to be successful. Uh, so we train them very well. We provide sort of concierge service, uh, in terms of, of training and so forth.
Uh, it's never been something we charge for either at the outset or, you know, 12 months down the line. And they bring in new team members. The, you know, from our perspective, um. We, we provide tools that allow an MSP to sort of demonstrate their value, to demonstrate that they're not a commodity service provider, but they have tools in place, demonstrable tools that really distinguish their practice from, from the others.
And so reporting and, and, uh, you know, this risk responder concept, which is not rocket science. It's what, what, what are we going to do when a device. Travels outside of an acceptable [00:21:00] area, or what are we gonna do when network borne attacks are hitting our system? What are we gonna do if software is tampered with or removed or, you know, whatever.
And so, you know, we, we try to provide a, a very, um, synergistic approach with our partners. We're we're there to help them be successful. And so we, we provide tools that they can demonstrate to their clients that showed them their value above and beyond what a ordinary service provider does.
Um, and so that's very important because if, if the client doesn't understand the value, then you know, you're not differentiating your offering from the others. And frankly, this happens often, you know, uh, many times the end client doesn't, doesn't understand this stuff to the level. That the MSP does.
Marco Ciappelli: And to be honest, cam, they, they [00:22:00] have to run their business, right? I mean, we always said that, um, they, they're not the cybersecurity expert. That's why they Right. They, they hire the experts and that could be you, your partners, the MSPs and, and all of that. So,
Sean Martin: well, and to that, to that point, I'm gonna jump in here 'cause I think, um.
Yeah, clearly you serve directly and through your partners, uh, a variety of organizations, small, large, different industries, different sectors, different needs. Mm-hmm. Are there, are there a few examples of some outcomes where, I mean, it's hard Yes. From a compliance perspective you can demonstrate, right? So that's an outcome, right?
Um, but from a business perspective, are there any story you can share where organizations. Yeah. Opened up new markets or new products and services or something? Something beyond just the compliance piece.
Cam Roberson: Yeah. Well that's, that's a good question. It's, uh, you know, as I said, it's, it's about data access control, who's got [00:23:00] access to your data.
That device that went out with the business starter kit for, for instance, was white and that, uh. Employee who was, had designs on creating a competitive business in that market, ultimately did and failed, uh, did not get their business starter kit because the data was essentially white. They, they had it, they had no access to it.
And so, uh, you know, there, that's, that's just an example. And as I mentioned before, that happens a lot. That happens quite a bit. Um. I, you know, the, the regulated industries, you know, finserv, certainly hipaa, sort of the bellwether to all of this. Now, you know, supply chain, government, supply chain, uh,
Sean Martin: it's a lot. Are you doing much with CMMC?
Cam Roberson: Uh, we do, um, you know, interestingly enough, we are seeing, you know, adoption [00:24:00] and many more requirements for CMMC. We've got a couple who are, uh, authorizing agencies for getting the compliance.
Um, interestingly enough as well, a lot of people are finding out that they're regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, FTC, and are subject to FTC safeguards rule. Uh, you know, we, we heard a couple, well, I guess it was early last summer of auto dealerships in particular who probably are pretty fast and loose with their security rules using, you know, personal emails and things of that nature.
Who the FTC went after quite hard. And so this, you know. They reluctantly had to follow the, the, the guidelines there. Some of 'em are pushing back just as HIPAA covered entities did seven years ago. But they're also [00:25:00] learning that they must follow good security practices. Right.
Marco Ciappelli: So I think we are Cam from what you said, going from the wild, wild west to where people realize that they need to, either because they're forced to by regulation or they are playing ahead. Uh, and, and avoid issues coming up. Um, I think at this point it's not news. Uh, well, it is news always in the in the newspaper about breaches and, and all of that. But I think of a good business, even a small mom and pop shop, they, they're aware of cybersecurity. They know what it is, and I think in the end, as you mentioned a few times, it's about.
Try to make it easy for them and, and give a solution that they can apply without having the need to have an IT team in their, in their small business. So. To close this, that if somebody now listening to this episode, they say, you know what, I, I think it's time for me to make a move or I wanna upgrade the situation. I mean, for cybersecurity, [00:26:00] think about the concept that you discussed, it services that you offer, what's the first step? , what can they do?
Cam Roberson: Well, it's, you know, if they're a direct client and get an evaluation in place, we do that routinely, takes about an hour to get at somebody. With an account with licenses trained.
Fully with that concierge sort of service. As I mentioned, uh, it's the same with an with a reseller, an IT service provider, though in their case, should they become a a partner, uh, those licenses will still be free. Actually, if they choose to become a partner, they're free. If they choose not to become a partner, they're free.
Um, we just give them access. To a higher level, you know, MSP Management console where they can create their own client accounts, add and subtract licenses and so forth. And so it's a matter of just getting in touch with, with me or my team. We'll set 'em up hours, time [00:27:00] invested, and uh, they'll be able to kick the tires at their, at their leisure and use the product as long as they'd like.
Sean Martin: That's awesome. That's awesome. Cam, thank you so much for, uh, taking the time to join us here for a brand story on ITSP magazine. Appreciate you sharing a little bit about the history of, uh, Beach Head Solutions and what you do for your customers and for your partners. I think it's an excellent point that. The, the, the partners are part of the supply chain, so having them be, be secure along with them and or along, along with you and their customers is yeah. Super important. So.
Cam Roberson: Well, it's been my pleasure and thank you.
Sean Martin: Yep. So thanks everybody for listening to this episode, uh, brand story with, uh, Sean and Marco and, uh. Many more are coming your way. So stay tuned and please do check out, uh, Beach Head Solutions and connect with Cam online and, uh, start your [00:28:00] journey.