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Run Your Business Solo? NIST Just Published a Cybersecurity Checklist Written for You

On November 2, NIST released a plain-language cybersecurity guide for one-person businesses. If you are the owner, the bookkeeper and the IT department, a single stolen password or dead laptop can stop your income. Here are the first steps the guide recommends and how to start this week.

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If you are the only person on your payroll, you are also your own IT department, and one stolen password or one dead laptop can stop the money coming in. On November 2, 2026, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published Small Business Cybersecurity: Non-Employer Firms (NIST Cybersecurity White Paper 50), a free guide written in plain language for business owners who have no paid employees besides themselves.

Why it matters

NIST says more than 28 million U.S. small businesses are run by a single person. According to the SBA Office of Advocacy figures cited by EconoTimes, businesses with no employees made up 82.3% of U.S. small businesses in 2022. Solo contractors, consultants, agents and shops still hold client files, payment details and logins to bank and tax accounts, but they rarely have anyone checking backups or updates for them.

The guide replaces NIST's older Small Business Information Security: The Fundamentals and pulls its advice from the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF 2.0). It assumes you know nothing about cybersecurity. For each step it explains why it matters, how to start, and what to add as the business grows, and it includes worksheets for listing your devices and tracking what you have done.

What to do this week

NIST highlights a short list of first steps. Here is how to start on each one:

  1. Back up your data and test a restore. Keep a copy of your business files somewhere separate from your laptop, such as a cloud backup or an external drive you unplug, and try restoring one file so you know it works.
  2. Keep software up to date. Turn on automatic updates for Windows or macOS, your phone, your browser and your router.
  3. Change default passwords on your devices. Wi-Fi routers, cameras and printers often ship with passwords that criminals can look up. Give each one a unique, strong passphrase. NIST's password guidance calls for at least 15 characters.
  4. Turn on phishing-resistant sign-in. Where your email, bank and accounting apps offer passkeys or a security key, use them. Otherwise turn on an authenticator app instead of text-message codes.
  5. Write down what you depend on. List your devices, accounts and the services you can't work without, so you know what to protect and what to recover first.

You can read the full guide on NIST's announcement page.

Nice2GeekYou is based in San Antonio and serves all of Texas on site, and our managed IT plans cover remote clients across the U.S. We set up tested backups, automatic patching, secure router and Wi-Fi settings, and stronger sign-ins for one-person and small offices, so you can stay focused on your clients. Request a quote, see our monthly plans, or text us at (210) 504-8969.

Sources: NIST — Self-Employed? Solopreneur? NIST Has a Cybersecurity Guide Just for You (Nov 2, 2026); EconoTimes — NIST Issues Cybersecurity Guide for Businesses Without Paid Staff (Nov 2, 2026).