Guides

The briefings we hand our clients. Free.

Download the executive guides MALA's advisors share with clients, no forms required. They cover the risks boards are asking about: shadow AI, machine identities, and IT operational risk in banking, manufacturing and the non-profit sector.

6guides
160+pages of analysis
0forms to fill in
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The MALA guide library: Blind Spots briefings, IT operational risk guides and the Rewire field guide
The library

Pick the risk on your desk.

Series · Blind Spots

C-suite threat briefings.

What your board doesn't know is already costing you. Each volume sizes one emerging risk, then gives leadership a governance playbook, a 90-day sprint and the metrics to report upward.

Blind Spots · Vol. 1 · March 2026

The Rise of Shadow AI

The invisible risk reshaping enterprise security, compliance and competitive advantage.

More than 80% of workers already use AI tools IT never approved. This briefing sizes the exposure across five risk domains and gives leadership a governance playbook, a 90-day sprint and a board reporting framework.

80%+of workers use unapproved AI
$4.63Maverage shadow AI breach cost
86%of orgs blind to AI data flows
  • Five risk domains
  • Governance playbook
  • 90-day sprint
  • Board metrics
25 pagesCEO · CFO · CIO · CISO · CTO · General Counsel · Board
Download PDFPDF · 4.2 MB
Blind Spots · Vol. 2 · April 2026

The Keys to the Kingdom

You now have more AI agents than employees. None of them have a manager.

Autonomous AI agents need credentials to act, and those machine identities now outnumber people many times over. This briefing maps six agentic AI threat vectors, why legacy IAM is failing, and a security playbook with a 90-day and 12-month plan.

79%of enterprises already run AI agents
144:1machine identities per employee
29%are prepared to secure them
  • Six threat vectors
  • Machine identity
  • Security playbook
  • Ten C-suite takeaways
31 pagesCEO · CFO · CIO · CISO · CTO · General Counsel · Board
Download PDFPDF · 2.7 MB
Series · Enterprise Risk & Compliance

IT operational risk, by industry.

Practical, sector-specific guides to the threats, regulations and decisions that decide how an IT incident ends. Each one closes with a roadmap and a KRI dashboard.

IT Operational Risk · US Banking Edition

Before the Call Comes

IT operational risk and executive accountability in banking.

The outcome of a ransomware event is decided months before anyone picks up the phone. Built around real cases, this brief lays out who is accountable, what regulators expect, and the nine decisions bank leadership should make now.

$6.08Maverage financial services breach cost
9decisions that cannot wait
4 hrs vs 4 wksthe recovery gap tested backups close
  • What can happen
  • Regulatory stakes
  • CIO accountability
  • The nine decisions
35 pagesCEO · CFO · COO · CRO · CIO · CISO · Board Risk & Audit
Download PDFPDF · 7.3 MB
IT Operational Risk · Manufacturing

Operational Resilience in Modern Manufacturing

Mastering enterprise risk across OT, IT and the factory floor.

When a thread in the MES, SCADA, PLC and ERP web breaks, the damage reaches production in minutes. A practitioner guide to OT/IT convergence, supply chain and IP risk, compliance, continuity, KRIs and a strategic roadmap.

$100K–$250Kper hour of downtime at a $2M/day plant
12self-contained chapters
OT + ITone risk picture
  • OT/IT convergence
  • Supply chain risk
  • IP protection
  • KRI dashboards
25 pagesCIO · CISO · CRO · Internal Audit · OT Security
Download PDFPDF · 8.6 MB
IT Operational Risk · Non-profit · May 2026

IT Operational Risk in the Non-profit Sector

A practical guide for leaders who protect mission, donors and the people you serve.

Non-profits hold sensitive donor and beneficiary data on some of the thinnest IT budgets anywhere, and attackers know it. A mission-grounded framework for ransomware, wire fraud, donor privacy, grant compliance and board governance, without a big budget.

60%+of non-profits hit by a cyber incident
$130Kaverage BEC loss per non-profit
43%have no formal security policy
  • Ransomware defense
  • BEC & wire fraud
  • Donor privacy
  • KRI dashboard
47 pagesExecutive Directors · Board · CFO · IT · Development · Programs
Download PDFPDF · 8.3 MB
Field guides

Hands-on modernization.

Shorter, practical guides for owners and operators planning a specific project.

Field guide · Network & Connectivity

Rewire

Modernize your network without betting the business.

For owners and operators whose WAN links, VPNs and branch connections are aging out. Five warning signals and a staged Stabilize, Unify, Scale framework that avoids a rip-and-replace budget.

5warning signals
3steps: Stabilize, Unify, Scale
$0rip-and-replace required
  • Five signals
  • Sequencing model
  • Industry views
  • Roles guide
6 pagesOwner / CEO · IT lead · CFO · COO
Download PDFPDF · 0.1 MB
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