James Holloway
This article provides general educational information about NIS2 requirements. It is not legal advice. Businesses with specific compliance questions should consult a qualified legal adviser in the relevant EU member state. The Most Important Question: Does NIS2 Apply to Your Business? The EU NIS2 Directive (Directive 2022/2555 on the Security of Network and Information Systems) … Read more
This article provides general educational information about HIPAA requirements. It is not legal advice. Healthcare businesses with specific compliance questions should consult a qualified healthcare attorney or HIPAA compliance professional. The Most Important Thing to Know Before Reading This Article HHS published a proposed update to the HIPAA Security Rule in January 2025 — the … Read more
This article provides general educational information. It is not legal or compliance advice. Businesses pursuing either certification should engage qualified compliance professionals and accredited auditors. The One Question That Decides This Before any comparison of frameworks, controls, timelines, or costs: who is asking? ISO 27001 and SOC 2 are not interchangeable. They are different artefacts … Read more
What Cyber Essentials Is and Why It Matters More in 2026 Cyber Essentials is a UK government-backed certification scheme managed by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and delivered through IASME, a government-appointed delivery partner. It tests whether a business has implemented five core technical security controls — the baseline defences that protect against the … Read more
This article provides general educational information about CCPA requirements. It is not legal advice. Businesses with specific compliance questions should consult a qualified privacy attorney. The Thing Most CCPA Articles for Small Businesses Don’t Tell You Many small businesses are not directly covered by the CCPA at all. The California Consumer Privacy Act has explicit … Read more
This article provides general educational information about SOC 2. It is not legal or compliance advice. Businesses pursuing SOC 2 should work with a licensed CPA firm and qualified compliance professionals. Before the Steps: What This Process Actually Looks Like SOC 2 compliance for a small business typically takes 6–18 months from the decision to … Read more
This article provides general educational information about SOC 2. It is not legal or compliance advice. Businesses pursuing SOC 2 should work with a licensed CPA firm and qualified compliance professionals. You Didn’t Wake Up Wanting a SOC 2 Audit. A Prospect Did. Most small businesses don’t pursue SOC 2 compliance because they looked at … Read more
This article provides general educational information about GDPR requirements. It is not legal advice. Small businesses with specific compliance questions should consult a qualified data protection solicitor or an outsourced Data Protection Officer. GDPR Still Applies to Your Small Business. Here’s What That Means in 2026. GDPR does not have a small business exemption. If … Read more
The Most Expensive Security Mistake Most Small Businesses Make Is a Free One Your firewall costs $1,249 for three years. Your endpoint security costs $57/device/year. Your email security costs $3/user/month. The person who clicks the phishing link costs you nothing to train — and yet human error is involved in the majority of small business … Read more
The Most Important Number Is Not the Hardware Price Every firewall article for small businesses makes the same mistake: it leads with hardware cost. The FortiGate 40F is $400. The SonicWall TZ370 hardware is $600. The Meraki MX67 is $595. Those numbers are real — and almost completely useless for budgeting. The number that actually … Read more