ThornBush Cyber Basics for Solopreneurs
Practical Cybersecurity for One-Person Businesses
You run the business. You shouldn’t have to become its security department. Direct access to senior cybersecurity guidance, without enterprise consulting overhead.
Senior-led. Guided. Fixed-scope. Built for one-person businesses.
Final NIST guidance · November 2, 2026
A cybersecurity guide built for the smallest businesses.
NIST CSWP 50, Small Business Cybersecurity: Non-Employer Firms, uses NIST CSF 2.0 to introduce practical risk management for businesses with no employees other than the owner. Cyber Basics for Solopreneurs translates those foundations into a guided, scoped service. This is guidance, not a new legal requirement.
Read the final NIST publicationWho it is for
One person. Many responsibilities.
Sole proprietors, freelancers, independent consultants, coaches, travel advisors, creators, single-member LLCs and gig professionals. Also a fit conversation for very small firms with minimal IT.
Why the basics matter
Your accounts are your business.
A lost email account can interrupt client work. A phishing message can put payments or personal data at risk. Shared devices, forgotten integrations and untested backups make recovery harder when you are also the entire IT team.
Start with sensible priorities, not an enterprise tool stack.
Six protection foundations
A plan you can actually work with.
01 / Govern
Set your priorities
Decide what matters to your business, what risk you can tolerate, and who to call for specialist help.
02 / Identify
Know what you rely on
List accounts, devices, data, vendors and AI integrations. Know where important information lives.
03 / Protect
Strengthen the basics
Use MFA, unique passwords, updates and sensible access controls. Limit unnecessary data collection.
04 / Detect
Notice changes early
Review account alerts, sign-in activity and unexpected changes in your business tools.
05 / Respond
Have a first-response plan
Know how to report a suspicious message, secure an account and reach qualified incident specialists.
06 / Recover
Practice getting back to work
Review backups, recovery access and a practical continuity plan before you need them.
Your Cyber Basics for Solopreneurs lane
Start clear. Set up well. Stay current.
Defined service fees. Scope confirmed together. Third-party subscriptions are separate.
Your starting point
Cyber Snapshot
$495
one time
- 60-minute guided discovery
- Business accounts, devices, data and vendor inventory
- NIST CSF 2.0-aligned baseline
- Prioritized top-10 action plan
- Executive-friendly risk summary
- One 30-minute results review
Most Popular
Cyber Setup
$1,250
one time
- Everything in Snapshot
- Guided MFA and password-manager rollout
- Backup and recovery configuration review
- Device, router, email and cloud-security checklist
- Privacy and data-handling review
- AI-tool and integration inventory
- Phishing and incident-response mini-playbook
- 30-day follow-up review
After Setup
Cyber Care
$149
per month
- Available after Cyber Setup
- Quarterly 45-minute security check-in
- Account, MFA, backup, software-update and vendor-change review
- Annual Cyber Basics plan refresh
- Curated small-business security alerts
- Email support for routine security questions
Setup is guided implementation and configuration review, not administration of every third-party platform. Care email replies are handled during business hours, generally within two business days, subject to availability and agreed scope; no guaranteed response SLA or emergency coverage.
Tangible deliverables
Less uncertainty.
A useful next step.
- A baseline account, device, data and vendor inventory
- An executive-friendly risk summary
- Your prioritized top-10 action plan
- With Setup: configuration checklists and a mini-playbook
- With Care: periodic reviews and an annual plan refresh
The senior-led advantage
A conversation.
Not another ticket queue.
Boutique, senior-led guidance means your business context comes first. Work directly on priorities, trade-offs and achievable actions, with fixed-scope guidance and configuration review tailored to your capacity.
You keep ownership of your accounts and decisions. When a need exceeds the agreed scope, specialist work is scoped separately or referred, rather than hidden inside a promise we cannot keep.
A clear starting point
Cyber Basics Checkup
Eight everyday questions. A self-reported starting point, not an audit, certification or guarantee. Answers stay in this page; only the result goes into your inquiry if you continue.
Clear expectations
Cyber Basics for Solopreneurs questions, answered.
Cyber Basics for Solopreneurs is an independent ThornBush service, not endorsed by NIST. CSWP 50 is final guidance based on NIST CSF 2.0 for non-employer firms, not a ruling, regulation, mandate, certification or legal requirement. No guaranteed prevention or cyber-insurance outcome. No 24/7 monitoring, SOC, emergency incident response, forensics or legal advice. Specialist work is separately scoped or referred.
A practical first step
Build confidence in your everyday foundations.
Start with your checkup or a focused Snapshot. Keep running your business, with a clearer security plan.