About
Navy submarine vet. Solo engineer.
I'm Albert LaScola. I run Bulwark Black LLC, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business registered in Spokane, WA, working remotely with clients across the United States. Bulwark Black is two things under one roof: a daily cyber threat intelligence practice, and a shop that builds custom software and handles tech and security for small businesses.
I help people who got tired of being overlooked, oversold, or handed a ticket portal instead of a phone number. I do the work myself. I document it. I leave you stronger than I found you.
Background
How I got here.
I spent over a decade in the U.S. Navy submarine force, starting as a Sonar Technician and ending as a Senior Mission Systems Analyst running undersea-warfare operations. Submarines teach you to think in terms of redundancy, telemetry, and quiet competence. That's the bar I hold my own work to.
After the Navy I worked on VMware's Detection and Response Team (DART), primary triage, incident response, and continuous-monitoring work against FedRAMP, CMMC, and DFARS controls. Two years of watching real attacks against real environments changes how you think about "the basics."
I hold an MS in Cyber/Electronic Operations and Warfare, a BS in Cyber and Network Security, and the usual stack of certs (Sec+, Net+, CEH, Certified Blockchain Practitioner). My TS/SCI went inactive in 2025 when I left cleared work. I also teach at Western Washington University, database systems and information governance, policy, and compliance. Teaching keeps me honest about explaining complex systems to people learning them for the first time.
What I've Built
I ship the things I'd want to use.
Most of what I build comes from being frustrated with the existing options. If a tool is brutal to use or priced for enterprises only, I build a version that isn't.
SAMscout.ai
Multi-agent AI platform that writes federal contracting proposals. Built to give SDVOSBs and small primes the BD firepower of the bigger shops.
samscout.ai →Contractor Codex
Branded client portal for service businesses. Time tracking, invoicing, Stripe, client approvals, all under your own brand, $10/mo.
contractorcodex.com →VA Disability Calc & Track
iOS app for vets working VA claims. BVA-accurate math, 900+ diagnostic codes, encrypted document vault, fully offline. Built because the existing tools are bad.
Download on the App Store →
Mission
What I'm here to do.
Give small businesses the same caliber of threat intelligence, custom software, and security that big organizations pay a fortune for, delivered directly by the person who does the work, remotely, anywhere in the country.
Approach
Fundamentals first. AI where it earns it.
I patch the basics, automate the boring, and use AI only where it actually helps. I say "no" when AI is the wrong tool. I document everything I touch. The work I ship for you is the work I'd ship for my own family.
What I will not do
Honest constraints.
- · I will not sell you AI you don't need.
- · I will not take a job I can't do well.
- · I will not bypass safety checks to hit a deadline.
- · I will not call a backup "done" without a real restore test.
- · I will not lock you into anything you can't take with you.
For Agencies & Primes
The boring-but-important stuff.
If you're a contracting officer or a prime, here's everything you need to validate fit.
Identifiers
- CAGE
- 17UL6
- UEI
- DVNTWBJ2HMP8
- Status
- SDVOSB · SAM Registered
- State of Org
- Washington
- Clearance
- TS/SCI (inactive, last held 2025)
NAICS Codes
- 541512
- 541511
- 541519
- 541330
- 541690
- 541990
- 811210
- 334516
- 561612
- 425120
- 336611