# OSec and Faction Networks Announce Partnership to Deliver Continuous Cyber Assurance for Owner-Controlled Zero Trust Networks

2026-07-29 · 3 min read · News

Canonical: https://www.osec.com/resources/blog/osec-faction-networks-partnership

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The companies will combine owner-controlled Zero Trust networking with continuous, independent verification — helping organizations strengthen cyber resilience and earn better cyber-insurance coverage and premiums, while giving insurers greater visibility into cyber risk.

**ROME, N.Y. — July 29, 2026** — OSec, a leader in continuous offensive security and exposure management, and Faction Networks, developer of an owner-controlled Zero Trust networking platform, today announced a strategic partnership to integrate OSec's continuous monitoring and verification capabilities into the Faction platform. The joint solution will provide organizations with ongoing evidence that their Zero Trust protections remain effective while supporting more informed cyber insurance underwriting.

As cyber threats increase and cyber insurers demand stronger proof of security controls, organizations need more than annual assessments and self-attestations. They need continuous, independent validation that their security posture remains intact. The Faction and OSec partnership addresses that need by combining owner-controlled Zero Trust networking with continuous monitoring and verification.

Faction's architecture is built on a simple principle: the customer owns and controls trust. Rather than relying on vendor-controlled cloud infrastructure, cryptographic trust remains under the owner's control. Every action on the network is tied to a verified identity, creating an auditable foundation for continuous independent verification.

Under the partnership, OSec will continuously monitor the Faction platform and its underlying components for validated, exploitable vulnerabilities and provide secure alerts with recommended remediation. OSec's Incenter platform will also continuously test Faction Virtual Private Circuits to verify that protected users, devices, and networks remain inaccessible from the public internet. Results will be delivered through secure dashboards available to customers and, where authorized, their cyber insurers.

For customers, the combined solution turns Zero Trust from a security architecture into measurable cyber assurance — with tangible benefits. Continuous, independent evidence that protections remain effective can help organizations qualify for coverage more easily, secure broader coverage and more favorable premiums, and reduce the questionnaire and audit burden at renewal. And because that evidence is continuous and timestamped, it can protect customers at the moment that matters most — a claim — by showing that required controls were in force and working when an incident occurred, reducing the risk of disputed or denied payouts. Insurers, in turn, gain ongoing visibility into the security posture of insured networks, enabling better-informed underwriting based on current conditions rather than point-in-time questionnaires — and a clearer, lower-risk book of business.

> "We built Faction on the belief that trust should belong to the customer, not the vendor," said Dave Rand, Chief Technology Officer of Faction Networks. "By integrating OSec's independent verification, customers can continuously validate that their protected environments remain secure while providing objective evidence of that protection."

> "Most organizations verify security once and assume it remains effective," said Mark Stamford, CEO of OSec. "Our role is to continuously validate those protections and provide organizations with actionable evidence they can use to reduce risk and improve resilience."

> "For the businesses we serve, this turns strong security into a tangible business advantage," said Geoff Halstead, Chief Product Officer of Faction Networks. "Continuous, independent proof of protection can help our customers secure better cyber-insurance coverage and premiums, and stand behind their claims when it matters most, while giving their insurers the visibility to price risk with confidence."

The partnership is active, with initial monitoring and verification capabilities expected to begin rolling out during the second half of 2026. The companies will continue expanding the joint offering with an initial focus on small and mid-sized organizations and the cyber insurance ecosystem that supports them.

## About Faction Networks

Faction Networks is building a vertically integrated, Made-in-America Zero Trust networking platform that gives organizations direct control over the trust relationships governing their networks, devices, data, and AI systems. Faction's owner-controlled architecture takes critical OT (Operational Technology) and IoT (Internet of Things) devices off the public internet and onto a private, encrypted, decentralized network — with no rip-and-replace of existing infrastructure. Its guiding promise: we provide the architecture; you retain control. For more information, visit [www.factionnetworks.com](https://www.factionnetworks.com).

## About OSec

Founded in 2010, OSec provides leading-edge offensive cybersecurity solutions across financial services, technology, manufacturing, and beyond, with clients that have included Walmart, Disney, the United Nations, Citibank, Morgan Stanley, and Smithfield. Launched in 2023, OSec's Incenter platform delivers continuous penetration testing and exposure management as a service, currently testing more than two million systems, applications, and API endpoints. Built by offensive-security consultants and continuously fed by OSec's consulting work and threat-intelligence team, Incenter reports only validated, exploitable vulnerabilities and places findings in business context so teams can focus resources where they matter most.

## Media contacts

OSec: Jinal Shah — Jinal.Shah@osec.com

Faction Networks: Amy Cunha, Big Picture PR — amy@bigpicpr.com, 415.350.3154