About Flagship Cyber Defense Advisors

We Are Flagship
Cyber
Defense.

We built Flagship Cyber Defense Advisors to do one thing: help San Diego's defense contractors meet U.S. Department of War CMMC and NIST 800-171 requirements without the guesswork. We bring the technical skills to fix the problems, not just point them out on a clipboard.

Who We Are

Real IT Engineers Doing Real Compliance.

Flagship Cyber Defense Advisors is the CMMC compliance and technical implementation division of AvanteTec Corporation, a San Diego managed IT and cybersecurity firm with over twenty years of operational history. While Flagship is a new name, our foundation is anything but. Our team draws on over two decades of hands-on experience managing IT infrastructure, cybersecurity programs, and compliance frameworks for businesses across Southern California and the Pacific.

We built Flagship to offer an alternative to remote compliance mills and clipboard consultants who schedule a video call, paste your name into a batch of cookie-cutter documents, send you a checklist, and call it a day. We bridge the gap between complex DoD policies and actual IT infrastructure. As qualified engineers and implementers, we don't just tell you what's broken. We configure, secure, and defend your network from the ground up.

Our Mission

To protect San Diego's defense supply chain by providing honest, highly technical compliance support that keeps local contractors winning bids and securing their livelihoods.

Our Foundation

Backed by over twenty years of managed IT and cybersecurity experience through AvanteTec Corporation, we bridge the gap between complex DoD rules and the practical reality of running a business.

Our Standard

Principal-led, specialist-backed. When you engage Flagship, you work directly with the firm's leadership — not a junior associate learning the framework on your dime. We stand next to you on assessment day and defend our work.

What We Do

We Don't Just Find the Gaps. We Fix Them.

Advisory & Planning

We review your current posture, find the security gaps, and author the System Security Plan (SSP) required by the DoD. We explain exactly what needs to change in plain English, with zero unnecessary upselling.

Technical Remediation

Unlike firms that deliver a massive to-do list and offer to 'advise' you, we are actually able to do the work. We configure your firewalls, lock down your endpoints, and set up the physical security controls you need to pass.

Assessment Day Support

We do not disappear when the auditors arrive. We sit with you during your C3PAO assessment to confidently answer technical questions and defend the architecture we helped you build.

Who We Help

Keeping San Diego's Contractors Competitive.

Prime Contractors
Protecting established San Diego defense partners by securing their infrastructure, managing vendor risk, and ensuring compliance across complex prime-contractor environments.
Subcontractors & Suppliers
Working hand-in-hand with the local manufacturers, ship repair firms, engineers, and service providers who need CMMC certification to keep their subcontracts active.
Small & Emerging Contractors
Supporting San Diego's growing defense technology sector with the enterprise-grade cybersecurity and compliance frameworks they need to safely scale and take on federal work.
Our Credentials

We Hold the Same Certifications as Your Auditors.

RP
Advisory Level
CMMC Registered Practitioner

Authorizes our team to provide foundational CMMC consulting services, gap assessments, and compliance program design.

CCP
Implementation Level
CMMC Certified Professional

Demonstrates advanced, tested knowledge of CMMC assessment methodology and control implementation for Defense Industrial Base entities.

CCA
Assessment Level
Certified CMMC Assessor

The highest practitioner credential. We are trained to the exact same standard as the C3PAO assessors who will evaluate your network.

Our Heritage

Twenty Years of IT. Built for This Moment.

Flagship Cyber Defense Advisors is a division of AvanteTec Corporation, a San Diego managed IT and cybersecurity firm founded in 2003. For over two decades, AvanteTec has designed, built, and maintained IT infrastructure for businesses across Southern California, including defense contractors who needed their environments hardened long before CMMC existed.

When CMMC became law, we did not pivot into compliance consulting from an unrelated field. We had already been implementing NIST 800-171 controls since 2016. Flagship is the formalization of work we were already doing — with dedicated focus, deeper specialization, and the credentials to prove it.

Founded 2003
AvanteTec Corporation has served San Diego businesses for over two decades. Our compliance practice is backed by real operational history, not a recent market entry.
NIST 800-171 since 2016
We began implementing the framework the year it was introduced. Our clients were protected before most firms knew what NIST 800-171 was.
Principal-led engagements
Every Flagship engagement is led by the firm's principal. You will not be handed off to a junior consultant. The person who sells the work does the work.
Sister division: Pono Defense Advisors
Our Hawaii and Indo-Pacific CMMC practice operates under the Pono Defense Advisors brand. Same credentials, same standards, same team — serving defense contractors across the Pacific.
The First Step

Know Exactly What It Takes to Get
CMMC Certified.

We'll review your contracts, your current IT setup, and your timeline to give you an honest picture of what it will take to get certified. The first conversation is always free, with no obligations.

Schedule a Readiness Assessment