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    <title>DEV Community: ComplianceLayer</title>
    <description>The latest articles on DEV Community by ComplianceLayer (@compliancelayer).</description>
    <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer</link>
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    <item>
      <title>Show HN Post — ComplianceLayer</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:00:01 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/show-hn-post-compliancelayer-2d9k</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/show-hn-post-compliancelayer-2d9k</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  Show HN Post — ComplianceLayer
&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Target:&lt;/strong&gt; news.ycombinator.com&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Timing:&lt;/strong&gt; Tuesday-Thursday, 9-11 AM EST (peak HN traffic)&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Goal:&lt;/strong&gt; Early adopters, API developers, security-minded engineers who will try it and share it&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Post
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; Show HN: ComplianceLayer – External security scoring API for any domain (DNS, SSL, ports, headers)&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;Hey HN,&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I built ComplianceLayer after getting frustrated with two things:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Enterprise security scoring tools (SecurityScorecard, BitSight) that cost $20K+/year and are built for procurement teams, not engineers&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Security audits that live in PDFs nobody reads&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;ComplianceLayer is an API that scans any domain and returns a structured security score across four categories:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;DNS/Email&lt;/strong&gt; — SPF, DMARC, DKIM, CAA, DNSSEC&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;SSL/TLS&lt;/strong&gt; — cert validity, chain issues, expiry, protocol versions&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Open ports&lt;/strong&gt; — TCP scan for exposed services (RDP, SSH, SMB, common web ports)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;HTTP headers&lt;/strong&gt; — HSTS, CSP, X-Frame-Options, CORS, referrer policy&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Each check returns a score (0-100), grade (A-F), and specific findings with remediation steps.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use cases so far:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;MSPs running automated security checks across their client base&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;SaaS companies checking vendor/supplier posture before onboarding&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Security consultants generating client-facing reports programmatically&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Developers building security dashboards&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quick example:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight shell"&gt;&lt;code&gt;curl &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-H&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s2"&gt;"Authorization: Bearer sk_..."&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="se"&gt;\&lt;/span&gt;
  https://api.compliancelayer.net/v1/scan &lt;span class="se"&gt;\&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-d&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s1"&gt;'{"domain": "example.com"}'&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;p&gt;Returns:&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight json"&gt;&lt;code&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"domain"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"example.com"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"overall_score"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="mi"&gt;74&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"grade"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"C"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"categories"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
    &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"dns_email"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"score"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="mi"&gt;65&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"grade"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"D"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"issues"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"No DMARC policy"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"No DKIM"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;]},&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
    &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"ssl_tls"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"score"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="mi"&gt;98&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"grade"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"A"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"issues"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[]},&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
    &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"open_ports"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"score"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="mi"&gt;80&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"grade"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"B"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"issues"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"Port 22 open"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;]},&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
    &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"http_headers"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"score"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="mi"&gt;55&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"grade"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"F"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"issues"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"No HSTS"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"No CSP"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"No X-Frame-Options"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;]}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What I found scanning 200 random SMB domains:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;59% have no DMARC policy (fully spoofable)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;29% serve HTTP without redirect&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;18% have SSH exposed directly to internet&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;7% have RDP exposed to internet (the scariest one)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Only 23% have HSTS enabled&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pricing:&lt;/strong&gt; Free tier (10 scans/day), then $99/mo for 250 scans. API key in 30 seconds, no sales call.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Happy to answer questions about the tech stack, scanning methodology, or how I handle rate limiting / false positives on the port scanning side.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;compliancelayer.net&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Anticipated HN Questions &amp;amp; Answers
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"How do you handle false positives on port scanning?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;TCP SYN scan with 3-attempt verification before flagging. We also check against common CDN/proxy IP ranges and flag those differently. Still imperfect — external port scanning has inherent limitations. We're clear about that in the docs.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"What's the legal situation with scanning domains you don't own?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;We scan only publicly accessible services — same as what any internet-connected system can observe. No exploitation, no intrusion. We follow responsible disclosure norms and have a clear AUP. Scanning a domain you don't own for malicious purposes violates our ToS.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"How does this compare to Shodan?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Shodan is a search engine for internet-connected devices — it indexes what it finds. ComplianceLayer is a scoring/reporting layer that combines multiple data sources (DNS lookups, SSL checks, port scans, header analysis) and gives you a structured grade optimized for reporting and monitoring, not raw discovery.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"What's the tech stack?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Python/FastAPI backend, PostgreSQL, Redis for rate limiting and caching. Port scanning via asyncio with custom TCP implementation (not nmap — too heavy for API use). Hosted on Hetzner.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"Can I self-host this?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Not currently. It's SaaS. The port scanning infrastructure in particular is complex to self-host correctly (IP reputation, rate limiting, legal compliance per jurisdiction).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"What's the scan speed?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Full scan (all 4 categories) typically completes in 8-15 seconds. DNS/SSL/Headers are fast; port scanning is the bottleneck. We scan ~100 common ports.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Launch Day Plan
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Post at 9 AM Tuesday (best HN traffic window)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Monitor comments — respond to everything within 30 min for first 2 hours&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Don't be defensive about criticism — thank them, take notes&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Have the API actually working flawlessly before posting (non-negotiable)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Free tier must be no-friction (email + instant key, no credit card)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Success Metrics
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Good:&lt;/strong&gt; 50 points, 20 comments, top 30 of the day&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Great:&lt;/strong&gt; 100+ points, 50+ comments, front page&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Home run:&lt;/strong&gt; Front page + feature in "Best of HN" digest&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Last updated: 2026-03-07&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>ComplianceLayer — 90-Day SEO Content Calendar</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/compliancelayer-90-day-seo-content-calendar-5c68</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/compliancelayer-90-day-seo-content-calendar-5c68</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  ComplianceLayer — 90-Day SEO Content Calendar
&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Produced:&lt;/strong&gt; March 2026&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Domain:&lt;/strong&gt; compliancelayer.net&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Strategy:&lt;/strong&gt; Low-competition, buyer-intent keywords. Attack underserved gaps in the security scoring market. Win with specificity where enterprise tools are too broad and too expensive.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Strategic Notes Before You Publish
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why these 12 articles specifically:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Competitor comparison articles (Articles 1-3) have the highest buyer intent of any content category. Someone googling "SecurityScorecard alternative" is &lt;em&gt;actively shopping&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The compliance deadline content (Articles 7-9) rides a regulation wave — HIPAA update Dec 2024, CMMC 2.0 enforcement Nov 2025, SOC 2 demand still growing. These get shared heavily in MSP Slack groups and Reddit.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Technical explainers (Articles 10-12) are the long tail. Lower volume but very low competition. You'll rank fast and they serve as the foundation for internal links.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Original data post (Article 6) is your wild card — this is the content that gets picked up by MSP newsletters and shared on r/msp. It builds domain authority.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal linking strategy:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Every article should link to /pricing page and /api-docs (or /get-started)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Build clusters: Comparison articles link to each other → to technical explainers → back to compliance articles&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The data post (Article 6) should be linked from EVERY other article as your authority piece&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SEO Quick Reference — Estimated KD (Keyword Difficulty) Scale:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;KD 0-20: Will rank in 30-60 days with minimal backlinks&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;KD 21-40: Rank in 90-120 days, needs some links&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;KD 41+: Long game, 6+ months&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Month 1 (Days 1-30): Alternative/Comparison Cluster
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Goal: Capture buyers already shopping. These are the fastest-converting articles you'll write.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 1 — Week 1
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "SecurityScorecard Alternative for MSPs: 5 Cheaper Options That Actually Work in 2025"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;securityscorecard alternative&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 600-900/mo (US)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~35 (competitive but winnable — most ranking pages are generic G2-style roundups, not MSP-specific)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;securityscorecard pricing too expensive&lt;/code&gt; (~150/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;securityscorecard MSP&lt;/code&gt; (~100/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;security rating tool for small business&lt;/code&gt; (~200/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;cyber risk scoring API&lt;/code&gt; (~80/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;affordable vendor risk management&lt;/code&gt; (~150/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Commercial (comparison/evaluation)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 2,800 words&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The real pain point from Reddit r/msp: &lt;em&gt;"SSC is too expensive for us because our average seat count is 20 and SSC is per customer"&lt;/em&gt; — this is the hook. Frame the whole article around MSPs managing 10-50 clients who need per-client security visibility but can't justify $26,000+/year (Vendr avg transaction data). &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Lead with actual MSP use cases: "You need to run a quick security check before onboarding a new client. You need a talking point for your QBR. You need to justify your $500/mo security retainer." Then evaluate 5 alternatives on: price, API availability, ease of use for MSPs, white-label potential.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Make ComplianceLayer #1 on the list. Be honest about what the tool does and doesn't do — readers see through shills. Position it as "purpose-built for MSPs who need external posture, not enterprise vendor risk management."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking Opportunities:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Link to Article 3 (UpGuard alternative)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Link to Article 4 (MSP security assessment guide)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Link to Article 10 (what are HTTP security headers)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Link to /pricing page&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "ComplianceLayer starts at $99/mo with API access included. No per-domain pricing — scan all your clients. [Start free trial →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 2 — Week 2
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "BitSight vs SecurityScorecard vs ComplianceLayer: Which Security Scoring Tool Is Right for Your SMB?"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;bitsight alternative&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 400-600/mo&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~28 (BitSight skews enterprise — their content doesn't speak to SMBs)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;bitsight pricing&lt;/code&gt; (~300/mo — most people searching this get sticker shock)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;security scorecard comparison&lt;/code&gt; (~250/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;vendor risk management SMB&lt;/code&gt; (~200/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;external security assessment tool&lt;/code&gt; (~150/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;security rating service cost&lt;/code&gt; (~100/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Commercial&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 2,500 words&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
BitSight starts at $20K+/year. SecurityScorecard averages $26K/year (Vendr data). For an SMB or MSP, these aren't options — they're a different conversation entirely. This article doesn't pretend to do an enterprise feature comparison. It explicitly says: "If you're under 250 employees or managing clients under 100 employees, these tools weren't built for you. Here's what was."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Include a price comparison table (nothing drives shares on LinkedIn like a brutally honest pricing table). Show the math: BitSight at $20K vs. ComplianceLayer Pro at $249/mo ($2,988/yr) for unlimited domains.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 1 (SecurityScorecard alternative)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 5 (QBR security reporting)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Link to /api-docs&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "See our full pricing — and why MSPs with 20+ clients choose the flat-rate Business plan. [Compare plans →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 3 — Week 3
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "UpGuard Alternative: 4 Tools That Don't Cost $20,000 a Year"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;upguard alternative&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 500-700/mo&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~30 (UpGuard's own blog ranks for this — beatable with specificity)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;upguard pricing&lt;/code&gt; (~400/mo — high buying intent, people get quotes and flee)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;upguard for small business&lt;/code&gt; (~100/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;third party risk management affordable&lt;/code&gt; (~200/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;vendor security assessment tool&lt;/code&gt; (~180/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;risk ledger alternative&lt;/code&gt; (~50/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Commercial / Transactional&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 2,200 words&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
UpGuard's own website says they make "scaling vendor management extremely expensive" (Risk Ledger competitor's words — but UpGuard's pricing bears this out). The hook: "UpGuard is excellent if you have a dedicated vendor risk team and $30K+ budget. Most SMBs have neither."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Focus on the gap: UpGuard is designed for enterprises that need to assess &lt;em&gt;hundreds of vendors&lt;/em&gt;. ComplianceLayer is for businesses that need to assess &lt;em&gt;their own external posture&lt;/em&gt; plus a handful of key vendors/clients. Different use case, radically different price.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 1, Article 2&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 9 (SOC 2 for SMBs — vendor assessment is a SOC 2 requirement)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 11 (DNS security explainer)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "Start monitoring your external attack surface for $99/mo. No contract required. [Get API access →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 4 — Week 4
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "The Affordable Security Scoring API: What MSPs Need to Know About External Risk Intelligence in 2025"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;security scoring API&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 200-350/mo&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~18 (low competition, technical audience — perfect fit for ComplianceLayer)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;external attack surface API&lt;/code&gt; (~100/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;security rating API developers&lt;/code&gt; (~80/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;DNS SSL security check API&lt;/code&gt; (~60/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;cyber risk API SMB&lt;/code&gt; (~50/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;security posture API integration&lt;/code&gt; (~80/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Commercial / Transactional (developers and technical buyers)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 2,000 words&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
This article is for the technical buyer — the IT director or MSP owner who wants to &lt;em&gt;build something&lt;/em&gt; with security data, not just look at a dashboard. Show actual API response examples (redacted). Explain what you can do with the data: auto-generate client security reports, trigger alerts in your RMM, feed data into your QBR slides.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This is also your SEO anchor for the API positioning — critical for when developers search for security APIs to integrate.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 5 (QBR reporting)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 6 (domain scan data post)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;/api-docs&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "Read the API docs — full access starts at $99/mo. [View documentation →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Month 2 (Days 31-60): MSP How-To + Original Data Cluster
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Goal: Become the definitive resource for MSP security workflows. These get shared in MSP communities.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 5 — Week 5
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "How to Add External Security Scoring to Your MSP QBR (With a Free Report Template)"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;MSP security QBR template&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 250-400/mo&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~15 (barely any competition — vCIOToolbox and Humanize IT are there but leaving tons of space)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;MSP quarterly business review security&lt;/code&gt; (~200/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;QBR cybersecurity slide template&lt;/code&gt; (~150/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;MSP client security report&lt;/code&gt; (~180/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;how to report security posture to clients&lt;/code&gt; (~100/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;MSP security upsell QBR&lt;/code&gt; (~80/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Informational / Commercial (MSP operators looking for tools and workflows)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 3,000 words&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The real value here is the &lt;strong&gt;free downloadable template&lt;/strong&gt; (even a Google Slides link). MSPs share useful templates obsessively — this article will get bookmarked and shared on r/msp, MSP subreddits, and ConnectWise/Autotask communities.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The hook: "Your QBR used to be a license renewal conversation. Now it's your best security upsell. Here's exactly how to present external risk data to a non-technical SMB owner in a way that leads to a 'yes'."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Include: what metrics to pull (open ports, DNS health, SSL expiry, header scores), how to contextualize them for a non-technical audience, sample language to use, and how ComplianceLayer's API can pull this data automatically before each QBR.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 1 (SecurityScorecard alternative)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 4 (security API)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 7 (CMMC compliance)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 8 (HIPAA requirements)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "Pull real-time external security scores for all your clients with one API call. [See MSP pricing →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 6 — Week 6
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "We Scanned 10,000 SMB Domains: Here's What We Found (2025 External Security Report)"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;SMB cybersecurity statistics 2025&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 300-500/mo&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~20 (original data with this specificity is very rare — you'll own it)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;small business SSL certificate expired&lt;/code&gt; (~100/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;SMB open ports security risk&lt;/code&gt; (~120/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;DMARC adoption rate small business&lt;/code&gt; (~150/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;HTTP security headers missing statistics&lt;/code&gt; (~80/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;external attack surface SMB report&lt;/code&gt; (~60/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Informational (researchers, journalists, MSPs building cases for clients)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 3,500 words (this is your flagship data post)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
This is your "we did original research" article — the type that gets linked from cybersecurity newsletters, Hacker News, and MSP blogs. &lt;strong&gt;This one article can generate more backlinks than your entire other 11 articles combined.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Findings to highlight (based on publicly known patterns you can surface with your own data):&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;X% of SMB domains had expired or misconfigured SSL&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;X% had no DMARC record configured&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;X% exposed unnecessary open ports (22, 3389, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;X% had critical HTTP security headers missing (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Most common vulnerable port by industry&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Structure: executive summary (shareable as standalone), methodology, findings by category, implications for MSPs, recommendations.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;⚠️ Action Required:&lt;/strong&gt; Run this scan before publishing. Pull real data from ComplianceLayer's own API. Even 1,000 domains is enough for statistical validity.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Every other article — this is your anchor&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Link to /api-docs&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Link to /pricing&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "Want to know if your clients are in this data? Run a free scan at compliancelayer.net. [Scan a domain free →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 7 — Week 7
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "How MSPs Run External Security Assessments for New Clients (Step-by-Step)"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;MSP security assessment for clients&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 200-350/mo&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~18 (very little good how-to content here — most is generic)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;MSP onboarding security checklist&lt;/code&gt; (~180/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;external vulnerability assessment MSP&lt;/code&gt; (~120/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;security posture baseline client&lt;/code&gt; (~80/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;MSP cybersecurity service offering&lt;/code&gt; (~200/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;how to offer security assessments MSP&lt;/code&gt; (~100/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Informational / Commercial&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 2,500 words&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The practical workflow article. Step 1 through Step 8 with real commands/API calls. Frame it as: "This is the exact process to run before you sign a new MSP client — or at any QBR. Takes 15 minutes. Gives you a defensible external risk baseline."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Include the actual domains of checks: DNS (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), SSL (cert validity, cipher strength), open ports (what's exposed, why it matters), HTTP headers (missing security controls). Give real examples of what "bad" looks like vs. "good."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 5 (QBR template)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 6 (data report — "clients in your industry look like this")&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Articles 10, 11, 12 (technical explainers for each check type)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "Automate this entire assessment in one API call. [Read the docs →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Month 3 (Days 61-90): Compliance Deadlines + Technical Explainers
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Goal: Capture organic search from compliance-driven buyers. These convert slower but the buyers have budget.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 8 — Week 9
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "CMMC 2.0 External Attack Surface Requirements: What Defense Contractors Must Check Before the 2025 Deadline"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;CMMC 2.0 external attack surface&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 300-500/mo&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~22 (CMMC content is saturated but this specific angle — external attack surface — is underserved)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;CMMC 2.0 compliance deadline&lt;/code&gt; (~800/mo — high volume, more competitive)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;CMMC 2.0 network assessment requirements&lt;/code&gt; (~200/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;CMMC DNS SSL compliance&lt;/code&gt; (~80/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;defense contractor cybersecurity requirements&lt;/code&gt; (~300/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;CMMC 2.0 small business&lt;/code&gt; (~250/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Informational / Commercial (contractors with real compliance urgency)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 2,800 words&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
CMMC 2.0 final rule effective November 10, 2025 — enforcement is real. The hook: "You've read about CMMC's 110 controls. But most contractors overlook the external-facing infrastructure that assessors check first. If your DNS, SSL, or open ports are misconfigured, you'll fail before the auditor even reviews your policies."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Map specific CMMC controls (AC.1.001, IA.1.001, SC.1.001) to the external checks ComplianceLayer runs. Be specific about what assessors look for in the external scan phase.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 10 (HTTP security headers)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 11 (DNS security)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 7 (MSP assessment process)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;/pricing page (position as CMMC prep tool)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "Run your CMMC external check in 5 minutes. [Free domain scan →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 9 — Week 10
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "HIPAA 2025 Update: New Vulnerability Scanning Requirements and What Healthcare SMBs Must Do Now"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;HIPAA vulnerability scanning requirements 2025&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 400-600/mo&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~25 (HHS Dec 2024 update created a wave of searches — still early)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;HIPAA security rule 2025 changes&lt;/code&gt; (~500/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;HIPAA external vulnerability scan&lt;/code&gt; (~150/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;HIPAA penetration testing requirements&lt;/code&gt; (~200/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;healthcare SMB cybersecurity compliance&lt;/code&gt; (~180/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;covered entity security assessment tool&lt;/code&gt; (~100/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Informational / Commercial (healthcare IT buyers with compliance urgency)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 2,500 words&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
HHS published a HIPAA Security Rule update December 27, 2024 — now requiring vulnerability scanning at least every 6 months and penetration testing annually. This is a real deadline. Healthcare SMBs (dental offices, clinics, small hospitals) are just now figuring out what this means.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The hook: "HIPAA now requires what SecurityScorecard and Nessus used to cost $10,000+ to do. Here's how SMBs can meet the new scanning requirements affordably."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Position external security scanning (DNS, SSL, open ports, headers) as the continuous monitoring component between formal pen tests.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 6 (data report — healthcare domain findings)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 12 (open port risks — especially 3389/22 common in healthcare breaches)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Articles 8, 10 (compliance + technical)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "Set up automated external scanning for your practice in 10 minutes. [Start with Starter plan →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 10 — Week 11
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "SOC 2 for Small Businesses: The External Security Controls You Must Have Before Your Audit"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;SOC 2 small business&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 700-1,000/mo&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~35 (competitive but rankable with specific angle — "external controls before audit" is a gap)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;SOC 2 compliance SMB cost&lt;/code&gt; (~500/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;SOC 2 external security requirements&lt;/code&gt; (~150/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;SOC 2 type 1 small company&lt;/code&gt; (~300/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;SOC 2 vendor assessment requirements&lt;/code&gt; (~120/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;SOC 2 audit preparation checklist&lt;/code&gt; (~400/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Commercial / Informational&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 3,000 words&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
SOC 2 Type 1 costs $15,000-$50,000 for small businesses (auditor fees alone). Most SMBs waste months getting ready only to be surprised by remediations. This article covers what auditors check externally &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; they get to your policies — and how to fix those issues in days, not months.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Specific focus: availability controls (uptime, SSL cert validity), security controls (open ports, headers, TLS configuration), and vendor management (third-party security scores). All things ComplianceLayer checks.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Articles 3, 8, 9 (compliance cluster)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 7 (MSP assessment process)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 6 (data report)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "Check every SOC 2 external control in one scan. [Run free assessment →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 11 — Week 12
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "What Is DMARC? A Plain-English Guide for Business Owners and MSPs"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;what is DMARC&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 5,000-8,000/mo&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~38 (high volume, moderately competitive — you won't rank #1 but can grab position 5-15 with good content and get meaningful traffic)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;DMARC setup for small business&lt;/code&gt; (~600/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;DMARC SPF DKIM explained&lt;/code&gt; (~800/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;DMARC MSP email security&lt;/code&gt; (~200/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;why is DMARC important&lt;/code&gt; (~400/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;check DMARC record&lt;/code&gt; (~1,200/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Informational (with commercial overlap — many searching this are evaluating email security solutions)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 2,500 words&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
This is your organic traffic volume play. "What is DMARC" gets searched thousands of times per month by business owners who just got told their email isn't configured correctly. The hook: "Your email provider told you to set up DMARC. Your IT guy sent you a 20-page guide. Here's what it actually means in 5 minutes."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Structure: What DMARC does (in one sentence), the BEC attack it prevents, how to check if you have it, what a failing DMARC score means in a security assessment, how to fix it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Unique angle: Most DMARC guides are written for email admins. This one is written for MSPs explaining it to clients or business owners Googling it at 11pm in a panic.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 6 (data — DMARC adoption rates)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 7 (MSP assessment process)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 12 (DNS security explainer)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "Check your DMARC, SPF, and DKIM status in 30 seconds. [Free domain scan →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Article 12 — Week 13 (bonus/buffer week)
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; "Open Port Risks: The 7 Ports That Keep Getting SMBs Hacked (And How to Find Them)"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary Keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;open port security risk business&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Est. Monthly Search Volume:&lt;/strong&gt; 300-500/mo&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Keyword Difficulty:&lt;/strong&gt; ~15 (very low competition — most open port content is written for sysadmins, not SMBs/MSPs)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondary Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;dangerous open ports list&lt;/code&gt; (~400/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;port 3389 RDP exposed internet risk&lt;/code&gt; (~200/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;how to check open ports business&lt;/code&gt; (~150/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;SMB attack surface open ports&lt;/code&gt; (~80/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;code&gt;exposed RDP port hack risk&lt;/code&gt; (~250/mo)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search Intent:&lt;/strong&gt; Informational (but high urgency — often searched after reading about an RDP ransomware attack)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Word Count Target:&lt;/strong&gt; 2,000 words&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Angle / Hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
RDP (port 3389) is responsible for the majority of ransomware entry points in SMB environments. SMB owners are searching for this after reading a breach story. The hook: "The FBI reported 3389 and 445 are the top entry points for ransomware. Here's how to check if your business is exposed — right now, in 2 minutes."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;List the 7 worst offenders: 3389 (RDP), 22 (SSH), 23 (Telnet), 445 (SMB/Windows fileshare), 21 (FTP), 8080/8443 (alternative HTTP), 5900 (VNC). For each: what it is, why it's dangerous if exposed, what an attacker can do with it, how to check if you're exposed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This article has legs in cyber insurance conversations — insurers increasingly require no exposed RDP.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal Linking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 6 (data — open port findings in our scan)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 7 (MSP assessment)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 9 (HIPAA — breaches via exposed ports)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;/pricing (continuous monitoring pitch)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA:&lt;/strong&gt; "Scan your network's exposed ports in 60 seconds — no install required. [Free scan →]"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Publishing Schedule Summary
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"&gt;&lt;table&gt;
&lt;thead&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Week&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Article&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Cluster&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Est. KD&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Target KW Volume&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;SecurityScorecard Alternative for MSPs&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Comparison&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;35&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;600-900/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;BitSight vs SecurityScorecard vs ComplianceLayer&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Comparison&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;28&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;400-600/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;UpGuard Alternative&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Comparison&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;30&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;500-700/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;The Affordable Security Scoring API&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Comparison/Technical&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;18&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;200-350/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;MSP QBR Security Template&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;MSP How-To&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;15&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;250-400/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;We Scanned 10,000 SMB Domains&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Original Data&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;20&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;300-500/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;How MSPs Run External Security Assessments&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;MSP How-To&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;18&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;200-350/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;CMMC 2.0 External Attack Surface&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Compliance&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;22&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;300-500/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;HIPAA 2025 Vulnerability Scanning&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Compliance&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;25&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;400-600/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;11&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;SOC 2 for Small Businesses&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Compliance&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;35&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;700-1,000/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;What Is DMARC&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Technical Explainer&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;38&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5,000-8,000/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;13&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Open Port Risks&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Technical Explainer&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;15&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;300-500/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Total target reach at 90 days (conservative, positions 5-15):&lt;/strong&gt; ~3,000-8,000 organic visits/month&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Conversion target (2-3% free trial signup rate):&lt;/strong&gt; 60-240 free trial signups/month&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Content Production Notes
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quick wins to prioritize first:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 1 (SecurityScorecard alternative) — highest buyer intent, start here&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 6 (data post) — highest link-building potential, run your scans ASAP&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Article 11 (DMARC explainer) — highest search volume, easiest to write&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Outsource or deprioritize:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Articles 8 and 9 (compliance) require specific knowledge — good use for a ghostwriter with compliance background, or write them at month 2 after you've built content momentum&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What you need before publishing:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] ComplianceLayer blog live on compliancelayer.net&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Free domain scan tool on the site (key conversion mechanism — every CTA sends here)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] API documentation page (Articles 4 and 7 reference it)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Pricing page with MSP-specific language&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] For Article 6: raw scan data from 1,000+ real domains&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Distribution strategy (per article):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Submit to r/msp, r/sysadmin, r/cybersecurity with authentic discussion framing (not spam)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Post on LinkedIn with 1-paragraph hook + article link&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Submit to MSP-focused newsletters: Channel Futures, MSP Mentors, Channelnomics&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Reach out to 3-5 MSP bloggers for link exchanges&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Last updated: March 2026 | ComplianceLayer Marketing&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SEO Comparison Pages — ComplianceLayer</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jun 2026 14:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/seo-comparison-pages-compliancelayer-52pg</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/seo-comparison-pages-compliancelayer-52pg</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  SEO Comparison Pages — ComplianceLayer
&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Strategy:&lt;/strong&gt; Capture comparison-stage buyers searching for "[competitor] alternative for MSPs"&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Priority:&lt;/strong&gt; HIGH — low competition, high buyer intent&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Page 1: ComplianceLayer vs SecurityScorecard
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Target keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; "SecurityScorecard alternative for MSPs" / "affordable SecurityScorecard alternative"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  URL
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;/compare/securityscorecard&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Title Tag (under 60 chars)
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;ComplianceLayer vs SecurityScorecard — MSP-Friendly Alternative&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Meta Description (under 160 chars)
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;SecurityScorecard starts at $1,500/year. ComplianceLayer offers the same external security scoring for $99/month. Built for MSPs, not enterprises.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  H1
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;SecurityScorecard Alternative for MSPs&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Page Content Outline
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Section 1: The Problem&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;SecurityScorecard is built for enterprise vendor risk management&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Pricing starts at ~$130/month for VERY limited features, scales to $20K+/year&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Sales process takes weeks, requires demos and calls&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Overkill for MSPs doing client security assessments&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Section 2: What You Actually Need&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;External security posture checks: DNS, SSL, ports, headers&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Per-client scanning that scales with your business&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;API access for PSA/RMM integration&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Reports you can white-label for clients&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Section 3: Head-to-Head Comparison&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"&gt;&lt;table&gt;
&lt;thead&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Feature&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;SecurityScorecard&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Starting price&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$99/month&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;~$1,500/year&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;API access&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Included&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Enterprise tier only&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Self-serve signup&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Yes&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;No (sales call required)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Multi-client scanning&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Included&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Extra cost&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Contract&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Monthly&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Annual&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Time to first scan&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5 minutes&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2-4 weeks (sales cycle)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Section 4: What SecurityScorecard Does Better&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Be honest: they have vendor questionnaire automation, supply chain risk scoring, breach correlation&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;If you need full TPRM for enterprise vendors, they're the better choice&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;If you need external posture checks for SMB clients, ComplianceLayer is purpose-built&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Section 5: CTA&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Try ComplianceLayer free — 10 scans, no credit card"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Button to signup&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Page 2: ComplianceLayer vs UpGuard
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Target keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; "UpGuard alternative" / "UpGuard pricing alternative"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  URL
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;/compare/upguard&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Title Tag
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;ComplianceLayer vs UpGuard — Simpler Security Scoring for MSPs&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Meta Description
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;UpGuard requires sales calls and enterprise contracts. ComplianceLayer is $99/month, self-serve, and built for MSPs. Same external checks, fraction of the price.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  H1
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;UpGuard Alternative for MSPs and SMBs&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Page Content Outline
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Section 1: UpGuard Overview&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Strong SEO presence (100K+ monthly visits)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Enterprise-focused pricing and sales process&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Good product, wrong market fit for MSPs&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Section 2: What's Different&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"&gt;&lt;table&gt;
&lt;thead&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Feature&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;UpGuard&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Pricing&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$99/month&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Contact sales&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Signup&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Self-serve&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Demo required&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Target market&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;MSPs, SMBs&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Enterprises&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;API&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Core feature&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Paid add-on&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Time to value&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Minutes&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Weeks&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Section 3: When to Choose UpGuard&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;You need continuous monitoring of 1,000+ vendors&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;You're doing enterprise supply chain risk&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Budget isn't a constraint&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Section 4: When to Choose ComplianceLayer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;You manage 10-200 client domains&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;You need API integration with PSA/RMM&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;You want transparent pricing without sales calls&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Section 5: CTA&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Same as above&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Page 3: ComplianceLayer vs BitSight
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Target keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; "BitSight alternative" / "BitSight for small business"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  URL
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;/compare/bitsight&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Title Tag
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;ComplianceLayer vs BitSight — Security Ratings Without Enterprise Pricing&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Meta Description
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;BitSight costs $20K+/year and requires enterprise sales. ComplianceLayer delivers external security scoring for $99/month. Built for MSPs.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  H1
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;BitSight Alternative for SMBs and MSPs&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Content follows same pattern as above
&lt;/h3&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Page 4: General Comparison Hub
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Target keyword:&lt;/strong&gt; "security scorecard tools comparison" / "security rating tools for MSPs"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  URL
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;/compare&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Title Tag
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Security Scoring Tools Compared — ComplianceLayer&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Meta Description
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Compare SecurityScorecard, UpGuard, BitSight, and ComplianceLayer. Find the right security scoring tool for your MSP or small business.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Content
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Overview of the market&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Quick comparison table of all 4&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Who should use what" decision tree&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Links to individual comparison pages&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Implementation Notes
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Each page should have:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Unique, specific content (not just template swaps)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Schema markup for comparison content&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Internal links to pricing, features, signup&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] FAQ section with schema (good for featured snippets)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FAQ ideas for each page:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Is ComplianceLayer as accurate as [competitor]?"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Can I switch from [competitor] to ComplianceLayer?"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"What does ComplianceLayer check that [competitor] doesn't?"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Content length:&lt;/strong&gt; 1,500-2,000 words per page minimum for SEO value&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Timeline
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Write SecurityScorecard comparison page (Week 1)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Write UpGuard comparison page (Week 2)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Write BitSight comparison page (Week 2)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Write comparison hub page (Week 3)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Submit to Google Search Console&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Build 2-3 backlinks to comparison pages (guest posts, Reddit references)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Last updated: 2026-03-07&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>r/msp Scan Data Post — Draft</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/rmsp-scan-data-post-draft-59ip</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/rmsp-scan-data-post-draft-59ip</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  r/msp Scan Data Post — Draft
&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Target:&lt;/strong&gt; r/msp (Tuesday posting for peak traffic)&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Goal:&lt;/strong&gt; Value-first data drop. No mention of ComplianceLayer in post. Let people ask.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Format:&lt;/strong&gt; "We scanned X domains and here's what we found"&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Post Title Options (A/B test mentally):
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"We scanned 200 random SMB domains from r/msp client bases — the results are rough"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"External security posture of 200 random small businesses — data dump inside"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"I built a security scanner and ran it against 200 SMB domains. Here's what's actually exposed."&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Free data: DNS, SSL, and open port analysis of 200 random SMB sites"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recommendation:&lt;/strong&gt; Option 3 — "I built" is personal, HN-style, implies founder not vendor.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Post Body Draft:
&lt;/h2&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; I built a security scanner and ran it against 200 SMB domains. Here's what's actually exposed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Hey r/msp,&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I've been building an external security scanning tool (DNS health, SSL config, open ports, HTTP headers) and wanted to validate it against real-world SMB infrastructure.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I grabbed 200 random .com domains from small businesses (10-100 employees, various industries) and ran full scans. No client data, no PII — just external posture checks anyone could run.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Here's the summary:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"&gt;&lt;table&gt;
&lt;thead&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Check&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Pass Rate&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Notes&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Valid SSL cert&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;87%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;13% expired or misconfigured&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;HTTPS redirect&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;71%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;29% still serving HTTP&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;HSTS enabled&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;23%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Most sites vulnerable to downgrade attacks&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;SPF record&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;68%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;32% spoofable&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;DMARC record&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;41%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;59% have no email auth policy&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;DKIM&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;52%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;48% missing&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Open SSH (22)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;18%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Direct SSH exposure to internet&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Open RDP (3389)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;7%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Yikes&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;DNS CAA record&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;12%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;88% allow any CA to issue certs&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Worst finding:&lt;/strong&gt; 7 domains had RDP exposed to the internet with no apparent VPN or bastion. 3 of those also had expired SSL certs — basically broadcasting "we don't have IT."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Best finding:&lt;/strong&gt; The businesses with proper DNS hygiene (SPF + DMARC + DKIM) almost always had better scores across the board. Email security config is a leading indicator of overall posture.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Takeaways for MSPs:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;External posture checks are low-hanging fruit for QBRs — most clients don't know what's exposed&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;DMARC is still embarrassingly underdeployed&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;If you're not checking for open RDP/SSH, you might have clients with attack surfaces they don't know about&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Happy to share the raw methodology or answer questions about the scanner. Built it for my own use but curious if others find this kind of data useful.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Comment Strategy:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If someone asks "what tool is this?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Still in beta, building it out. DM me if you want early access — looking for MSPs to test it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If someone asks for the raw data:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Can share anonymized aggregate stats but not individual domains (don't want to put targets on backs). Happy to run a scan on a domain you control if you want to see the output.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If someone asks about pricing:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Haven't figured that out yet — still validating if this is useful. What would you pay for something like this?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Pre-Post Checklist:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Actually run 200 scans to have real data (use ComplianceLayer API)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Build the table with real numbers (not placeholder)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Have 2-3 interesting outlier stories ready ("one domain had X")&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Prepare DM response template for interested MSPs&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Set up simple landing page or typeform for beta signups&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Timing:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Best days:&lt;/strong&gt; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Best time:&lt;/strong&gt; 9-11 AM EST (MSP owners checking Reddit with morning coffee)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Avoid:&lt;/strong&gt; Friday afternoon, weekends (low engagement)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Success Metrics:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Good:&lt;/strong&gt; 50+ upvotes, 20+ comments, 5+ DMs&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Great:&lt;/strong&gt; 100+ upvotes, 50+ comments, 15+ DMs, crossposted to r/sysadmin&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Home run:&lt;/strong&gt; Featured in MSP newsletter, podcast invite, 30+ beta signups&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Last updated: 2026-03-07&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>r/msp Launch Post — DRAFT v1</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/rmsp-launch-post-draft-v1-af</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/rmsp-launch-post-draft-v1-af</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  r/msp Launch Post — DRAFT v1
&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Last updated: 2026-03-09&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Post Title Options (pick one):
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Option A (problem-focused):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I built a tool that generates external security reports for client cyber insurance audits — looking for feedback from MSPs&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Option B (show-don't-tell):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Scanned 50 MSP client domains to test external attack surface — here's what I found (and the tool I built)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Option C (direct value):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Free tool: Generate a client-ready external security report in 60 seconds — no agent, no install&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recommendation:&lt;/strong&gt; Option A or B. Option C feels too salesy for r/msp's culture.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Post Body — Draft
&lt;/h2&gt;




&lt;p&gt;Hey r/msp,&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I've been lurking here for a while and noticed the same pain point coming up over and over: &lt;strong&gt;cyber insurance audits are getting brutal&lt;/strong&gt;, and clients expect you to produce evidence of their external security posture — not just check boxes on a questionnaire.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The enterprise tools (BitSight, SecurityScorecard, UpGuard) cost $20K+/year. The internal scanners (ConnectSecure, Galactic) require agents or a sales call. And manually checking DNS, SSL, headers, email auth for every client? Nobody has time for that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So I built something.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  What it does:
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;You enter a domain. It scans:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;DNS health&lt;/strong&gt; — DNSSEC, nameserver config, zone issues&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;SSL/TLS&lt;/strong&gt; — cert validity, chain issues, weak ciphers&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;HTTP security headers&lt;/strong&gt; — CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, etc.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Email security&lt;/strong&gt; — SPF, DKIM, DMARC configuration&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Open ports&lt;/strong&gt; — what's exposed to the internet&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Subdomain discovery&lt;/strong&gt; — forgotten assets, shadow IT&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;60 seconds later, you get a &lt;strong&gt;PDF report&lt;/strong&gt; with a security score and specific remediation steps — written in plain English your client (or their insurance auditor) can understand.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;No agent install. No sales call. No per-seat licensing. Just pay per scan.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Why I built it:
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I kept hearing from MSP friends that the insurance conversation was getting harder. Insurers want &lt;em&gt;proof&lt;/em&gt; — screenshots, reports, evidence. Not "trust me, we've got it covered."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;But every tool that does external scanning is either:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Enterprise-priced (UpGuard = $79/vendor/month, BitSight = "call us")&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Internal-only (ConnectSecure is great but it's looking at the inside, not what's exposed externally)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Requires a sales call (Galactic Advisors)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I wanted something I could point at a domain and get a professional report in under a minute.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Pricing:
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;5 free scans&lt;/strong&gt; — no credit card, just try it&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;$99/month&lt;/strong&gt; for 100 scans (~$0.99/scan)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Scales from there if you need more&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;For context: scanning 50 clients once costs you $49.50 with us. UpGuard would charge ~$3,950/month for the same coverage.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  What I'm looking for:
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Honest feedback. I'm not here to pitch — I want to know:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Is the report actually useful?&lt;/strong&gt; Does it surface things you didn't already know? Is it clear enough to hand to a client?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;What's missing?&lt;/strong&gt; Any scans you wish it did that it doesn't?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Would you actually use this?&lt;/strong&gt; For onboarding? QBRs? Insurance prep?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Drop a comment if you want to try it — I'll DM you a link to run 5 free scans on your clients' domains.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Screenshots:
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[INSERT: Screenshot of sample report cover page]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[INSERT: Screenshot of DNS findings section]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[INSERT: Screenshot of email security (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) section]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[INSERT: Screenshot of overall score breakdown]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;Thanks for reading. Happy to answer any questions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;— [Your name / handle]&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Post Notes:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Tone:
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Humble, not salesy&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"I built this" not "we're launching"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Asking for feedback, not announcing a product&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Show real value (screenshots) before asking for anything&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  What to prepare before posting:
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Screenshots&lt;/strong&gt; — Scan a real domain (maybe a well-known company or your own test domain), capture the report sections&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Landing page&lt;/strong&gt; — Make sure it's polished, loads fast, explains value in 5 seconds&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Free scan flow&lt;/strong&gt; — Must work flawlessly. No credit card. No friction.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Be ready to reply&lt;/strong&gt; — First 2 hours are critical. Respond to every comment personally.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Timing:
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Best days:&lt;/strong&gt; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Best time:&lt;/strong&gt; 9–11 AM EST (MSPs checking Reddit before client calls)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Avoid:&lt;/strong&gt; Monday (too busy), Friday (checked out), weekends (dead)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Expected responses to prepare for:
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"How is this different from [X]?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Great question. [X] focuses on [internal/requires agents/enterprise pricing]. We're specifically built for external attack surface at MSP-friendly pricing. No agents, no install, pay per scan.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"What about false positives?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;We tune for signal over noise. The report shows what's actually exposed and why it matters — not a panic list of everything that could theoretically be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"Can I white-label this?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Yes — you can add your MSP branding to the PDF reports. [If not ready yet: "Coming in the next few weeks."]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"Is there an API?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Yes, fully API-first. You can integrate scans into your own workflows or PSA.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"$99/month seems cheap, what's the catch?"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;No catch. We charge per scan, not per seat or per vendor. If you only scan 50 clients once a month, you're paying for 50 scans. Simple.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Alternate Angle: "I scanned 50 domains, here's what I found"
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This version leads with data, not product:&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; I scanned 50 random SMB domains for external security issues — here's what I found&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Body:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Ran an external attack surface scan on 50 SMB domains (mix of clients, prospects, random companies) to see what's actually exposed. Some findings:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;72%&lt;/strong&gt; had SPF records but no DMARC enforcement (p=none or missing entirely)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;34%&lt;/strong&gt; had SSL cert issues (expiring &amp;lt;30 days, weak ciphers, chain problems)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;28%&lt;/strong&gt; were missing basic security headers (no HSTS, no CSP)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;18%&lt;/strong&gt; had unexpected open ports (RDP, old SSH, random high ports)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;12%&lt;/strong&gt; had DNSSEC disabled on domains that should have it&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The scariest part? Most of these companies would pass a checkbox insurance questionnaire.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I built the scanner myself — happy to share it if anyone wants to run their own clients through it. Takes about 60 seconds per domain, outputs a PDF you can hand to a client or use for insurance documentation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Anyone else seeing similar patterns in their client base?&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why this works:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Leads with interesting data, not a pitch&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Positions you as someone who &lt;em&gt;discovered&lt;/em&gt; something, not someone &lt;em&gt;selling&lt;/em&gt; something&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Invites discussion before revealing the tool&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Happy to share" is softer than "check out my product"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Final Checklist Before Posting:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Screenshots prepared (4–5 key report sections)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Landing page live and polished&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Free scan flow tested end-to-end&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] White-label option working (or clear "coming soon")&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] API docs live (for the devs who ask)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Responses drafted for common questions&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Block 2 hours post-launch to reply to every comment&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Have 3–5 friends upvote early (but don't overdo it — r/msp mods are sharp)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This draft is ready to refine once we have real scan screenshots and the product is live.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Reddit Post Drafts — ComplianceLayer Launch</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2026 14:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/reddit-post-drafts-compliancelayer-launch-3bnl</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/reddit-post-drafts-compliancelayer-launch-3bnl</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  Reddit Post Drafts — ComplianceLayer Launch
&lt;/h1&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  POST #1: r/msp — Pre-launch reputation builder
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; I scanned 100 MSP websites for basic security issues. The results were rough.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;Out of curiosity, I wrote a script that scans websites for common security misconfigurations — SSL, DMARC, SPF, HTTP security headers, and open ports. Ran it against a random sample of MSP company websites (pulled from public directories).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Here's what I found across 100 sites:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SSL/TLS:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;23% had certificates expiring within 30 days&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;11% were still accepting TLS 1.1 connections&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;4% had no HSTS header&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Email security (DNS):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;41% had no DMARC record at all&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;28% had SPF with &lt;code&gt;~all&lt;/code&gt; (softfail) instead of &lt;code&gt;-all&lt;/code&gt; (reject)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;67% had no DKIM selectors detectable via common selector names&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HTTP Headers:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;78% were missing Content-Security-Policy&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;52% were missing X-Content-Type-Options&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;31% were missing X-Frame-Options&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Open ports:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;8% had RDP (3389) publicly accessible&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;14% had non-standard management ports open&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The irony: a lot of these are MSPs who are selling security services to their clients, and their own sites have basic misconfigs.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Not trying to name and shame — just thought the data was interesting. Happy to scan anyone's domain in the comments if you want to see your own results.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(This is an organic data post. Do NOT mention ComplianceLayer here. Let people ask what tool you used.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  POST #2: r/msp — Soft launch
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; Built a free security scanner for client domains — feedback welcome&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;I've been building internal tools for client security reporting for a while, and kept running into the same problem: security ratings tools like BitSight and SecurityScorecard are overkill (and overpriced) for checking whether a client's basic hygiene is in order.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So I built my own. It checks:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;SSL/TLS (expiry, cipher suites, HSTS)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;DNS/email security (SPF, DMARC, DKIM, MX)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;HTTP security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Open ports&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Results come back as a scored report (A-F grade per category) with specific remediation steps.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;You can use it free here: [compliancelayer.net]&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;First 10 people to post their domain get a free full scan report as a PDF.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;It's API-first so you can automate it — script your client reviews, set up alerting when certs are about to expire, that sort of thing.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;What would make this actually useful for your workflow? Trying to understand how MSPs currently handle this kind of check.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  POST #3: r/msp — Full launch
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; ComplianceLayer — security scoring API for MSPs. $0.99/scan. No BitSight contract required.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;After a few weeks of beta testing with people from this community, I'm ready to officially launch.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What it is:&lt;/strong&gt; An API that runs a full infrastructure security assessment on any domain — SSL, DNS/email, HTTP headers, open ports — and returns a scored report (A-F per category, overall letter grade) with actionable remediation steps.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why I built it:&lt;/strong&gt; BitSight costs $30K+/year. SecurityScorecard isn't much better. For MSPs who want to run security checks on client domains at scale, there's nothing in the $50-500/month range. ComplianceLayer fills that gap.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pricing:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Free: 10 scans/month&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Starter: $99/month → 100 scans&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Pro: $249/month → 500 scans&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Agency: $499/month → 1,500 scans&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;API example:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight shell"&gt;&lt;code&gt;curl &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-X&lt;/span&gt; POST https://api.compliancelayer.net/v1/scan/full &lt;span class="se"&gt;\&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-H&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s2"&gt;"X-API-Key: your_key"&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="se"&gt;\&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-H&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s2"&gt;"Content-Type: application/json"&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="se"&gt;\&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-d&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s1"&gt;'{"domain": "clientdomain.com"}'&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;p&gt;Returns: scored JSON report in ~15 seconds.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use cases I've seen from beta users:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Pre-sales security audits for prospects&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Monthly automated client reports&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Insurance pre-qualification scans&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Onboarding new clients (baseline security score)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Live:&lt;/strong&gt; compliancelayer.net — free tier, no credit card required.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Happy to answer any questions.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  POST #4: r/sysadmin — Technical angle
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; Show r/sysadmin: Security scoring API that checks SSL, DMARC, headers, and ports in one call&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;Built a REST API that runs a full external security assessment on any domain in one call. Returns scored JSON:&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight json"&gt;&lt;code&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"domain"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"example.com"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"overall_score"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="mi"&gt;92&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"overall_grade"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"A"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"modules"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
    &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"ssl_tls"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"score"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="mi"&gt;90&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"grade"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"A"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"issues"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="err"&gt;...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;},&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
    &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"dns_email"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"score"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="mi"&gt;100&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"grade"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"A"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"issues"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;},&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
    &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"http_headers"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"score"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="mi"&gt;85&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"grade"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"B"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"issues"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="err"&gt;...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;},&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
    &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"open_ports"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"score"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="mi"&gt;100&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"grade"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"A"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"issues"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;},&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nl"&gt;"recommendations"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="err"&gt;...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="w"&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;p&gt;Use it for automated security monitoring, CI/CD security checks, client reporting, whatever.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Free tier: 10 scans/month, no card required.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;API docs: api.compliancelayer.net/docs&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  COMMENT TEMPLATES (for when people ask "what tool?" under Post #1)
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If they ask in comments:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;"It's something I've been building — compliancelayer.net. Still pretty early but the API works well. Happy to share access if you want to try it."&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If they ask via DM:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;"Yeah it's at compliancelayer.net — free tier gets you 10 scans/month. Would love feedback from someone actually using it in an MSP context."&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  TIMING
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Post #1: 2 weeks before launch, Tuesday 9 AM EST&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Post #2: 1 week before launch, Wednesday 10 AM EST&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Post #3: Launch day, 9 AM EST&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Post #4: Launch day, 11 AM EST (different audience, different post)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>r/msp Launch Post — READY TO POST</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/rmsp-launch-post-ready-to-post-51na</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/rmsp-launch-post-ready-to-post-51na</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  r/msp Launch Post — READY TO POST
&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Subreddit:&lt;/strong&gt; r/msp&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Best time:&lt;/strong&gt; Tuesday 9-11 AM ET&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Tone:&lt;/strong&gt; Data-first, genuinely helpful, tool mention is casual at the end&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Title Options (pick one)
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"I scanned 100 MSP client domains for security issues — here's what I found"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"PSA: Most of your clients probably have F-grade security headers"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Ran external security scans on 100 small business domains. The results were rough."&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Post Body
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I built a tool to scan external infrastructure (SSL, DNS security, HTTP headers, open ports) and give each domain an A-F grade. Figured I'd run it against a sample of small business domains to see what the landscape looks like.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Scanned 100 domains. Here's the breakdown:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"&gt;&lt;table&gt;
&lt;thead&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Grade&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Count&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;%&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;A&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;3%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;B&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;12%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;C&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;31&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;31%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;D&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;38&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;38%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;F&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;16&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;16%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Most common issues:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Missing Content-Security-Policy header&lt;/strong&gt; — 89% of domains&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;No DNSSEC&lt;/strong&gt; — 84% of domains
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Missing X-Frame-Options or weak config&lt;/strong&gt; — 71%&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;TLS 1.0/1.1 still enabled&lt;/strong&gt; — 23%&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Open ports that shouldn't be exposed&lt;/strong&gt; — 18%&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The A grades were all tech companies with dedicated security teams. Most SMBs had never touched their security headers.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The takeaway:&lt;/strong&gt; There's a gap here. Most businesses have no idea their external posture is this exposed. For MSPs, this is either a risk (clients getting breached) or an opportunity (upsell security services with real data).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The tool:&lt;/strong&gt; I've been using this internally, but figured others might find it useful. It's at &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;compliancelayer.net&lt;/a&gt; — free tier gives you 10 scans/month, enough to audit a few client domains and see what turns up. No sales pitch, just built it because I needed it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Happy to answer questions about the methodology or findings.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Comment Strategy
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Be ready to respond to:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"What scanners are you using under the hood?" → Be transparent (Shodan, custom TLS checks, header analysis, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"How is this different from Nessus/Qualys?" → "This is external posture only, not agent-based vuln scanning. Different use case — think of it as what an attacker sees from the outside."&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Can I white-label this for clients?" → "Working on that. DM me if you're interested."&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Pricing?" → "$99/mo for 100 scans, scales from there. Free tier for testing."&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Cross-Post Schedule
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Tuesday 9 AM:&lt;/strong&gt; r/msp (main post)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Tuesday 11 AM:&lt;/strong&gt; r/sysadmin (slightly different angle — "external security posture for small orgs")&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Wednesday:&lt;/strong&gt; r/MSSP, r/netsec&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Pre-Post Checklist
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Run 100 real scans on SMB domains (need actual data, not made up)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Screenshot a few anonymized reports for comments&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Make sure compliancelayer.net loads fast and signup works&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Have Robert's Reddit account ready (aged account &amp;gt; new account)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Draft ready. Robert approves → post Tuesday.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>r/msp Launch Post — DRAFT v1</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/rmsp-launch-post-draft-v1-45i9</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/rmsp-launch-post-draft-v1-45i9</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  r/msp Launch Post — DRAFT v1
&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Last updated: March 9, 2026&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Post Title Options (pick one):
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Option A (Direct value):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I built a tool that generates external security reports for client QBRs and insurance audits — looking for feedback&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Option B (Problem-first):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Cyber insurance auditors are asking for external security documentation — here's what I built to solve it&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Option C (Show don't tell):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I scanned 50 random SMB domains to see what's actually exposed — the results were rough&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recommended: Option A or C&lt;/strong&gt; — Option B sounds too salesy. A is honest, C is intriguing.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Post Body — DRAFT
&lt;/h2&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[If using Option A title]&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Hey r/msp,&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I've been lurking here for a while and kept seeing the same pain come up:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Clients need external security posture documentation for cyber insurance renewals&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;QBR security sections are either manual spreadsheets or enterprise tools that cost $20K+/year&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Galactic Advisors requires a sales call, ConnectSecure only does internal scanning&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So I built something.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What it does:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
You enter a domain. It scans DNS health, SSL configuration, email security (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), exposed ports, HTTP security headers, and a few other things. Takes about 60 seconds. Outputs a scored report with specific findings and remediation steps — PDF you can hand to a client or an insurance auditor.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What it doesn't do:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;No agent install&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;No access to client infrastructure&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;No internal network scanning (that's what ConnectSecure is for)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;It's purely external attack surface — what anyone on the internet can see about your client's domain.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pricing:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
$99/month for 100 scans (~$0.99/scan). I know UpGuard charges $79/vendor/month and BitSight is enterprise-only pricing, so I wanted something that actually makes sense for MSPs managing 20-100 clients.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why I'm posting:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
I'm not here to sell you anything today. I'm offering &lt;strong&gt;5 free scans&lt;/strong&gt; to anyone who wants to try it and tell me what sucks. Brutal feedback welcome — I'd rather fix problems now than after launch.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;If you want to try it, drop a comment or DM me and I'll send you a link.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What I'm specifically looking for feedback on:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Is the report output actually useful, or is it just noise?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;What's missing that would make this a no-brainer for QBRs?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Would you actually pay $99/month for this, or is that too high/low?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Thanks for reading. Happy to answer any questions about how it works under the hood.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[If using Option C title]&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Hey r/msp,&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I've been building an external security scanning tool and needed to test it on real domains. So I grabbed 50 random SMB websites from Google Maps (plumbers, dentists, law firms, accountants — the kinds of businesses you manage) and scanned them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The results were... not great.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;72%&lt;/strong&gt; had SPF records but no DMARC enforcement (spoofable email)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;18%&lt;/strong&gt; had SSL certs expiring within 30 days&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;41%&lt;/strong&gt; were missing basic HTTP security headers (X-Frame-Options, CSP, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;8%&lt;/strong&gt; had open ports that shouldn't be exposed (RDP, SMB, database ports)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;23%&lt;/strong&gt; had DNS misconfigurations that could cause delivery issues&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The scary part: most of these businesses probably think they're "secure" because they have antivirus and a firewall.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What I built:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
A tool that scans a domain's external attack surface in about 60 seconds and generates a report with findings + remediation steps. No agent, no install, no access to internal infrastructure. Just what's visible from the internet.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I built it because I kept seeing MSPs here talk about needing documentation for:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Cyber insurance audits (which are getting stricter)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;QBR security sections&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;New client onboarding assessments&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;And the existing options are either enterprise-priced (BitSight, SecurityScorecard, UpGuard) or require a sales call (Galactic Advisors).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pricing:&lt;/strong&gt; $99/month for 100 scans. Works out to about $1/client if you're scanning monthly.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Looking for feedback:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
I'm offering &lt;strong&gt;5 free scans&lt;/strong&gt; to anyone here who wants to test it on their own clients and tell me what's useful vs. what's noise.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Drop a comment or DM if you want access. Roast me if it sucks — I'd rather know now.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Key Elements (don't forget):
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Lead with value/problem, not product&lt;/strong&gt; ✓&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Show real data/findings&lt;/strong&gt; — need to actually run these scans before posting&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Acknowledge existing tools&lt;/strong&gt; — ConnectSecure, Galactic, etc. (shows you know the space)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Free offer with no strings&lt;/strong&gt; — 5 free scans, no CC required&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Ask for specific feedback&lt;/strong&gt; — gives people a reason to engage&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Don't link to the product in the post&lt;/strong&gt; — let people ask for it (Reddit algorithm likes engagement)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Be in the comments&lt;/strong&gt; — respond to every comment within the first 2 hours&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  What NOT to do:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;❌ Don't say "we" — you're a solo builder, say "I"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;❌ Don't link the URL in the post body — looks like an ad, gets downvoted&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;❌ Don't post and disappear — engagement in first 2 hours is critical&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;❌ Don't get defensive about criticism — thank people for feedback&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;❌ Don't compare to competitors negatively — just state facts&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;❌ Don't post on Monday morning or Friday afternoon — worst engagement times&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Best time to post:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tuesday or Wednesday, 10am-12pm ET&lt;/strong&gt; — MSPs are at their desks, not slammed with Monday fires or checked out for the weekend.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Follow-up comment to post immediately after:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For anyone curious about the technical side: it runs 17 different checks including DNS record validation, SSL certificate chain analysis, email authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC policy parsing), port scanning for common exposed services, and HTTP header analysis. All non-intrusive — nothing that would trigger any security alerts on the target domain.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Happy to go deeper on any of these if you're interested in what we're actually checking for.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Before posting — must have ready:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] 5 free scan codes or signup link ready to DM&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Landing page live and tested&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Scan at least 10 real domains to verify report quality&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Have 2-3 example report PDFs ready to share if asked&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;[ ] Clear your calendar for 2 hours after posting to respond to comments&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Engagement strategy:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;First 30 min:&lt;/strong&gt; Respond to every comment, even just "thanks for the feedback"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Ask follow-up questions:&lt;/strong&gt; "What would make the report more useful for you specifically?"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;If someone says "I use X instead":&lt;/strong&gt; "How's that working for you? What do you like about it?" (learn, don't sell)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;If someone roasts the pricing:&lt;/strong&gt; "What would you pay for this? Genuinely curious about where the value threshold is."&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;If someone asks for a feature:&lt;/strong&gt; "That's a good idea — adding it to the list. Would that be a dealbreaker or nice-to-have?"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Success metrics:
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Good:&lt;/strong&gt; 20+ comments, 50+ upvotes, 10+ DMs asking for access&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Great:&lt;/strong&gt; 50+ comments, 100+ upvotes, 25+ DMs, follow-up post requested&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Home run:&lt;/strong&gt; Makes r/msp front page, gets crossposted, people share screenshots of reports&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This is a draft. Refine based on actual scan data before posting.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Quora Answer Drafts</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/quora-answer-drafts-e73</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/quora-answer-drafts-e73</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  Quora Answer Drafts
&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Q: "What are alternatives to BitSight for small businesses?"
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Answer:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;BitSight is great if you have $20K+/year to spend. For small businesses and MSPs, that's a non-starter.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A few options worth knowing:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;https://compliancelayer.net&lt;/a&gt;) — This is the one I'd recommend for most SMBs. It's an API that scans domains for SSL, DNS health, HTTP security headers, open ports, DNSSEC, blacklists, and more, then gives you an A-F grade with specific remediation steps. Free tier gives you 10 scans/month. Paid starts at $99/month. Designed specifically for MSPs who need to run these checks on multiple client domains without enterprise pricing.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UpGuard CyberRisk&lt;/strong&gt; — Better than BitSight on pricing but still runs several hundred dollars/month and is oriented toward vendor/third-party risk. More complex than most SMBs need.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SecurityScorecard&lt;/strong&gt; — Similar enterprise positioning to BitSight, pricing isn't transparent but it's significant. Has a free tier with limited functionality.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;For pure external scanning (what can an attacker see right now), ComplianceLayer is what I'd use. It's developer-friendly with a REST API, scans complete in under a minute, and the remediation guidance is actually actionable.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Q: "How do I check my domain's security posture?"
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Answer:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The simplest approach is to use an external scanner that checks what's actually visible from the internet — because that's what attackers see.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What to check:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SSL/TLS&lt;/strong&gt; — Is your cert valid, not expiring soon, and configured properly? Is HSTS enabled? Are you still accepting old TLS 1.0/1.1?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DNS health&lt;/strong&gt; — Do you have SPF, DMARC, and DKIM configured? Without DMARC, anyone can spoof email from your domain. Missing DNSSEC makes you vulnerable to DNS poisoning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HTTP security headers&lt;/strong&gt; — These are one-liners in your server config that prevent clickjacking, MIME sniffing, etc.: &lt;code&gt;Strict-Transport-Security&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;Content-Security-Policy&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;X-Frame-Options&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;X-Content-Type-Options&lt;/code&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Open ports&lt;/strong&gt; — What services are exposed publicly? SSH on port 22? Admin panels?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Free tools:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;securityheaders.com&lt;/strong&gt; — Headers only&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;dnschecker.org&lt;/strong&gt; — DNS propagation&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;MXToolbox&lt;/strong&gt; — Email and DNS diagnostics&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;https://compliancelayer.net&lt;/a&gt;) — Runs ALL of the above in one scan, gives you a grade (A-F), and tells you specifically what to fix. Free for 10 scans/month.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;For developers/MSPs who want to automate this, ComplianceLayer has a REST API so you can run scheduled checks on all your domains and get alerts when something changes.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Q: "SecurityScorecard alternatives for MSPs"
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Answer:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;SecurityScorecard's free tier is extremely limited, and their paid plans start around $1,500+/year — which is hard to justify for an MSP billing $99-199/month per client.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;What actually works for MSPs:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;https://compliancelayer.net&lt;/a&gt;) — Built specifically for MSPs who want to scan client domains for external security issues. API-first, so you can integrate it into your client portal or PSA. Checks SSL, DNS (SPF/DMARC/DNSSEC), HTTP headers, open ports, blacklists, and more. Grades A-F with remediation steps. Starter is $99/month for 100 scans — that's about $1/client if you have 100 clients.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The key difference from SecurityScorecard: it's not trying to be an enterprise GRC platform. It's a focused tool that tells you "here's what's wrong with this domain from the outside, here's how to fix it." That's what MSPs actually need for client reporting.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Use it to:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Scan new clients before onboarding (show them their grade, then show improvement after you fix things)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Monthly automated reports for all clients&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Pre-sales: build a free tool on your website that shows prospects their score&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Q: "Free domain security scanner recommendations"
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Answer:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;For a comprehensive external scan in one shot, I use &lt;strong&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;https://compliancelayer.net&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Free tier: 10 scans/month, no credit card required. It checks SSL/TLS configuration, DNS (SPF, DMARC, DKIM, DNSSEC), HTTP security headers, open ports, blacklists, WAF detection, and more. Returns an A-F grade with specific issues and how to fix them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Alternative free tools if you want to go piece by piece:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;SSL Labs&lt;/strong&gt; (ssllabs.com) — Deep SSL analysis only&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;securityheaders.com&lt;/strong&gt; — HTTP headers only
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;MXToolbox&lt;/strong&gt; — DNS/email focus&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Shodan&lt;/strong&gt; — Open ports (limited free searches)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The advantage of ComplianceLayer is it runs all these checks in a single API call and gives you a unified score. If you're managing multiple domains (or client domains as an MSP), it's the most efficient option.&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>MSP Vendor Security Scan Data</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 14:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/msp-vendor-security-scan-data-677</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/msp-vendor-security-scan-data-677</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  MSP Vendor Security Scan Data
&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Generated: March 19, 2026&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Summary
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Scanned 10 major MSP/RMM vendor websites using ComplianceLayer.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"&gt;&lt;table&gt;
&lt;thead&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Domain&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Grade&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Score&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Total Issues&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Critical&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;High&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;dattobackup.com&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;B&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;78&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;21&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;connectwise.com&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;B&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;81&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;25&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;kaseya.com&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;B&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;84&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;28&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;ninjarmm.com&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;B&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;87&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;26&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;atera.com&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;B&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;81&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;23&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;rewst.io&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;B&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;75&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;26&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;?&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;pulseway.com&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;B&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;86&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;28&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;?&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;action1.com&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;B&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;78&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;28&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;?&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;huntress.com&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;B&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;78&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;27&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;?&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;todyl.com&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;B&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;82&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;25&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;?&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Key Findings
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;All 10 vendors scored B&lt;/strong&gt; (75-87 range)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Average score:&lt;/strong&gt; 81/100&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Average issues:&lt;/strong&gt; 25.7 per domain&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;3 had critical issues&lt;/strong&gt; (blacklist-related)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Interpretation
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Even major MSP vendors have room for improvement on basic security hygiene. This validates the ComplianceLayer value prop — if the vendors themselves score B, imagine what their clients look like.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Use in Marketing
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This data can be used for:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Reddit Post #1 ("I scanned 100 MSP websites")&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Blog post on MSP security posture&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Social proof that even big players have issues&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>ComplianceLayer — Marketplace Submission Assets</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2026 14:00:03 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/compliancelayer-marketplace-submission-assets-2f8o</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/compliancelayer-marketplace-submission-assets-2f8o</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  ComplianceLayer — Marketplace Submission Assets
&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Created: 2026-03-25 | Use for all API marketplace listings&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Status
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"&gt;&lt;table&gt;
&lt;thead&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Marketplace&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Status&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Notes&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;RapidAPI&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;✅ Live&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Since March 21&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Postman API Network&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;🔲 Ready to publish&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Collection file ready&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;APILayer&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;🔲 Ready to submit&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Apply at marketplace.apilayer.com&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Zyla API Hub&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;🔲 Ready to submit&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;zylalabs.com/publish&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;ApyHub&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;🔲 Ready to submit&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;apyhub.com/submit&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;DigitalAPI Marketplace&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;🔲 Ready to submit&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;digitalapi.io&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Core Submission Assets (Reuse Across All)
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  API Name
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight plaintext"&gt;&lt;code&gt;ComplianceLayer Security Scoring API
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Tagline (short — 100 chars)
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight plaintext"&gt;&lt;code&gt;External security scanning for MSPs — DNS, SSL, ports, headers, blacklists in one API call
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Short Description (250 chars)
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight plaintext"&gt;&lt;code&gt;Scan any domain and get a complete external security posture report in under 60 seconds. Covers DNS, SSL/TLS, HTTP headers, open ports, email authentication (SPF/DMARC/DKIM), blacklists, and WAF detection. API-first. JSON output. No install required.
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Long Description (for marketplace pages)
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight plaintext"&gt;&lt;code&gt;ComplianceLayer is an external security scanning API built for MSPs, developers, and security teams who need to assess domain security posture at scale.

**What it scans:**
- DNS configuration (MX, SPF, DMARC, DKIM, DNSSEC, CAA)
- SSL/TLS certificate health, expiry date, chain validation, cipher suite
- Open port exposure (~100 ports including RDP/3389, SSH/22, FTP/21, SMB/445)
- HTTP security headers (HSTS, X-Frame-Options, CSP, CORS, Referrer-Policy)
- Email authentication completeness (SPF, DKIM, DMARC policy strength)
- Blacklist/blocklist status (35+ lists)
- Subdomain exposure
- WAF detection
- Breach indicator monitoring

**Output:** Structured JSON with overall A–F grade, per-category scores, individual findings with severity (critical/high/medium/low), and remediation steps. Client-ready PDF reports available.

**Use cases:**
- MSPs scanning client domains for cyber insurance audits
- Security teams monitoring external attack surface
- Developers building security dashboards and automation
- vCISOs generating client reports
- DevOps pipelines checking new deployments

**Why ComplianceLayer:**
Enterprise tools like BitSight ($30K+/year) and SecurityScorecard ($26K+/year) require demo calls and annual contracts. ComplianceLayer is $0.99/scan, self-serve, API-first, with no sales call required. Same external checks. 15-20x cheaper.

**Getting started:**
1. Get a free API key at compliancelayer.net (no credit card, 10 free scans)
2. POST your domain to /v1/scan/ — get a job_id back in &amp;lt; 1 second
3. Poll /v1/scan/jobs/{job_id} until status = "complete" (typically 15–60 seconds)
4. Full JSON results + PDF report available immediately

Free tier: 10 scans/month, no credit card required.
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Categories (pick what applies per platform)
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight plaintext"&gt;&lt;code&gt;Primary: Security / Cybersecurity
Secondary: Developer Tools, Business Intelligence, Infrastructure, Monitoring
Tags: security, dns, ssl, api, msp, compliance, cyber-insurance, domain, scanning, headers, dmarc, spf, ports
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Website
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight plaintext"&gt;&lt;code&gt;https://compliancelayer.net
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  API Base URL
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight plaintext"&gt;&lt;code&gt;https://compliancelayer.net/api
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Documentation URL
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight plaintext"&gt;&lt;code&gt;https://compliancelayer.net/docs
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  OpenAPI Spec URL
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight plaintext"&gt;&lt;code&gt;https://compliancelayer.net/api/openapi.json
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Support Email
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight plaintext"&gt;&lt;code&gt;robert@compliancelayer.net
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Public Test API Key (rate limited — 5 scans/hr per IP)
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight plaintext"&gt;&lt;code&gt;cl_pub_YeiV6xHoTcBlOFrgCrIfVYlUoeYBSEyVl65d8bCQIlo
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;






&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Pricing Tiers (adjust per platform's fee structure)
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Direct pricing (compliancelayer.net)
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"&gt;&lt;table&gt;
&lt;thead&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Tier&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Price&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Scans/month&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Free&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Starter&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$99/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;100&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Professional&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$249/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;500&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Enterprise&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$599/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1,500&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  APILayer pricing (you keep 85%)
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"&gt;&lt;table&gt;
&lt;thead&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Tier&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;List Price&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Scans/month&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Free&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Basic&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$49/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;100&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Pro&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$149/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;500&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Business&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$399/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1,500&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Zyla / ApyHub / others (adjust as needed)
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"&gt;&lt;table&gt;
&lt;thead&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Tier&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Price&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Scans/month&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Free&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Basic&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$29/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;50&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Pro&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$99/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;200&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Ultra&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$249/mo&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;750&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Code Examples
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Python
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight python"&gt;&lt;code&gt;&lt;span class="kn"&gt;import&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="n"&gt;requests&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;span class="kn"&gt;import&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="n"&gt;time&lt;/span&gt;

&lt;span class="n"&gt;API_KEY&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;your_api_key_here&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;span class="n"&gt;BASE_URL&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;https://compliancelayer.net/api&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;

&lt;span class="n"&gt;headers&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;Authorization&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="sa"&gt;f&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;Bearer &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="n"&gt;API_KEY&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;

&lt;span class="c1"&gt;# Submit scan
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="n"&gt;response&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="n"&gt;requests&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;post&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="sa"&gt;f&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="n"&gt;BASE_URL&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;/v1/scan/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="n"&gt;json&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;domain&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;example.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;},&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="n"&gt;headers&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="n"&gt;headers&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;span class="p"&gt;)&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;span class="n"&gt;job_id&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="n"&gt;response&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;json&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;()[&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;job_id&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;span class="nf"&gt;print&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sa"&gt;f&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;Scan submitted: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="n"&gt;job_id&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;)&lt;/span&gt;

&lt;span class="c1"&gt;# Poll for results
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="k"&gt;while&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="bp"&gt;True&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="n"&gt;result&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="n"&gt;requests&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;get&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sa"&gt;f&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="n"&gt;BASE_URL&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;/v1/scan/jobs/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="n"&gt;job_id&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="n"&gt;headers&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="n"&gt;headers&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;json&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;()&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="k"&gt;if&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="n"&gt;result&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;status&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;]&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;==&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;complete&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;
        &lt;span class="nf"&gt;print&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sa"&gt;f&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;Grade: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="n"&gt;result&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;grade&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt; (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="n"&gt;result&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;score&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;/100)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;)&lt;/span&gt;
        &lt;span class="nf"&gt;print&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sa"&gt;f&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;Findings: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;len&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="n"&gt;result&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;get&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s"&gt;findings&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;[]))&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="sh"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;)&lt;/span&gt;
        &lt;span class="k"&gt;break&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="n"&gt;time&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;sleep&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="mi"&gt;3&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;)&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  JavaScript / Node.js
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight javascript"&gt;&lt;code&gt;&lt;span class="kd"&gt;const&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;API_KEY&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s1"&gt;your_api_key_here&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;span class="kd"&gt;const&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;BASE_URL&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s1"&gt;https://compliancelayer.net/api&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;;&lt;/span&gt;

&lt;span class="k"&gt;async&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="kd"&gt;function&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nf"&gt;scanDomain&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;domain&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;)&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="kd"&gt;const&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;headers&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s1"&gt;Authorization&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s2"&gt;`Bearer &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;${&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;API_KEY&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;`&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s1"&gt;Content-Type&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s1"&gt;application/json&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;};&lt;/span&gt;

  &lt;span class="c1"&gt;// Submit scan&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="kd"&gt;const&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;submit&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="k"&gt;await&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nf"&gt;fetch&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;`&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;${&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;BASE_URL&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;/v1/scan/`&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="na"&gt;method&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s1"&gt;POST&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="nx"&gt;headers&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="na"&gt;body&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;JSON&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;stringify&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;({&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;domain&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;})&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="p"&gt;});&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="kd"&gt;const&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;job_id&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="k"&gt;await&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;submit&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;json&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;();&lt;/span&gt;

  &lt;span class="c1"&gt;// Poll for results&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="k"&gt;while &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="kc"&gt;true&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;)&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="k"&gt;await&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="k"&gt;new&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nc"&gt;Promise&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;r&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nf"&gt;setTimeout&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;r&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="mi"&gt;3000&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;));&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="kd"&gt;const&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;result&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="k"&gt;await&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nf"&gt;fetch&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;`&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;${&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;BASE_URL&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;/v1/scan/jobs/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;${&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;job_id&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;`&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;headers&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;}).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;then&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;r&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;=&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;r&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;json&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;());&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="k"&gt;if &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;result&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;status&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="o"&gt;===&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s1"&gt;complete&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;)&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="p"&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;
      &lt;span class="nx"&gt;console&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;log&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;`Grade: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;${&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;result&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;grade&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt; (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;${&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;result&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;score&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;/100)`&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;);&lt;/span&gt;
      &lt;span class="k"&gt;return&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nx"&gt;result&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;;&lt;/span&gt;
    &lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;span class="p"&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;

&lt;span class="nf"&gt;scanDomain&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s1"&gt;example.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="dl"&gt;'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nf"&gt;then&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;console&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nx"&gt;log&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="p"&gt;);&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  cURL
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight shell"&gt;&lt;code&gt;&lt;span class="c"&gt;# Submit scan&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;span class="nv"&gt;JOB_ID&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="o"&gt;=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;$(&lt;/span&gt;curl &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-s&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-X&lt;/span&gt; POST https://compliancelayer.net/api/v1/scan/ &lt;span class="se"&gt;\&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-H&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s2"&gt;"Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="se"&gt;\&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-H&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s2"&gt;"Content-Type: application/json"&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="se"&gt;\&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-d&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s1"&gt;'{"domain": "example.com"}'&lt;/span&gt; | jq &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-r&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s1"&gt;'.job_id'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="si"&gt;)&lt;/span&gt;

&lt;span class="nb"&gt;echo&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s2"&gt;"Job: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nv"&gt;$JOB_ID&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;

&lt;span class="c"&gt;# Poll for result&lt;/span&gt;
curl &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-s&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s2"&gt;"https://compliancelayer.net/api/v1/scan/jobs/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="nv"&gt;$JOB_ID&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="s2"&gt;"&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="se"&gt;\&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-H&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s2"&gt;"Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"&lt;/span&gt; | jq &lt;span class="s1"&gt;'{grade, score, findings: [.findings[].title]}'&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;



&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  No-Auth Free Scan (no API key needed)
&lt;/h3&gt;



&lt;div class="highlight js-code-highlight"&gt;
&lt;pre class="highlight shell"&gt;&lt;code&gt;curl &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-s&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-X&lt;/span&gt; POST https://compliancelayer.net/api/v1/scan/free &lt;span class="se"&gt;\&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-H&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s2"&gt;"Content-Type: application/json"&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="se"&gt;\&lt;/span&gt;
  &lt;span class="nt"&gt;-d&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="s1"&gt;'{"domain": "example.com"}'&lt;/span&gt; | jq &lt;span class="s1"&gt;'{grade, score, top_findings: [.top_findings[].title]}'&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;






&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  APILayer Specific — Application Notes
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Apply at:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="https://marketplace.apilayer.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;https://marketplace.apilayer.com&lt;/a&gt; → "Submit Your API"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What they check:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Live endpoint responding in &amp;lt; 2s ✅&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;OpenAPI/Swagger spec available ✅ (&lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net/api/openapi.json" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;https://compliancelayer.net/api/openapi.json&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Proper error responses ✅&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Stable uptime ✅ (Vultr Miami, 3 worker replicas)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Application pitch (their intake form):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;ComplianceLayer is an external security scanning API for MSPs and developers. One API call returns a complete domain security posture: DNS, SSL, open ports, HTTP headers, email authentication, and blacklist status — everything cyber insurance carriers check during renewal. 13 scanner categories, structured JSON output, PDF reports. Free tier included. We're positioned as the affordable alternative to enterprise TPRM tools (BitSight: $30K+/yr, SecurityScorecard: $26K+/yr). $0.99/scan, no sales call, API-first.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Zyla API Hub Specific
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Submit at:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="https://zylalabs.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;https://zylalabs.com&lt;/a&gt; → "Publish your API"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Category:&lt;/strong&gt; Security &amp;amp; Cybersecurity&lt;br&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Subcategory:&lt;/strong&gt; Domain Security / Infrastructure Monitoring&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  ApyHub Specific
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Submit at:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="https://apyhub.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;https://apyhub.com&lt;/a&gt; → "Submit API"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Focus for their audience:&lt;/strong&gt; Utility/automation angle — MSP technicians building workflows&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;"Replace 4 manual security tools (MXToolbox, SSL Labs, Shodan, SecurityHeaders.com) with one API call. Automates domain security checks for PSA integrations, client onboarding workflows, and compliance reporting."&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Postman API Network
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Steps:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Import &lt;code&gt;/tmp/compliancelayer-postman-collection.json&lt;/code&gt; into Postman&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Create public workspace: "ComplianceLayer"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Publish collection to workspace&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Share to Postman API Network with tags: security, dns, ssl, msp, compliance&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Add link to compliancelayer.net/docs&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Collection file location:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;/tmp/compliancelayer-postman-collection.json&lt;/code&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;em&gt;(Also copy to: &lt;code&gt;/Users/gigabob/clawd/compliancelayer/docs/postman-collection.json&lt;/code&gt;)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Updated: 2026-03-25&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>ComplianceLayer — Marketplace Listing Copy</title>
      <dc:creator>ComplianceLayer</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2026 14:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/compliancelayer-marketplace-listing-copy-g14</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/compliancelayer/compliancelayer-marketplace-listing-copy-g14</guid>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;
  
  
  ComplianceLayer — Marketplace Listing Copy
&lt;/h1&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  RapidAPI Listing
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;API Name:&lt;/strong&gt; ComplianceLayer Security Scanner&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Short Description (160 chars):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Full infrastructure security scoring for any domain. SSL, DNS/email, HTTP headers, open ports. One API call. JSON report. $0.99/scan.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long Description:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
ComplianceLayer is a comprehensive security scoring API that analyzes the external security posture of any domain and returns a detailed, scored report in seconds.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  What It Checks
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SSL/TLS Security&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Certificate validity and expiry&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;TLS version support (flags TLS 1.0/1.1)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;HSTS configuration&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Cipher suite strength&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DNS &amp;amp; Email Security&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;SPF record (detects softfail ~all vs strict -all)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;DMARC policy and enforcement level&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;DKIM selectors (checks common selectors)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;MX record configuration&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HTTP Security Headers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Content-Security-Policy&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;X-Content-Type-Options&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;X-Frame-Options&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Referrer-Policy&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Permissions-Policy&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Open Ports&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Checks for exposed management ports (RDP, SSH, admin panels)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Identifies non-standard open ports&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Risk rating per port&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Response Format
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;JSON report with:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Overall score (0-100) and letter grade (A-F)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Per-module scores and grades&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;List of issues with severity (Critical/High/Medium/Low)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Specific remediation steps for each issue&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Who Uses This
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;MSPs&lt;/strong&gt; — Automated client security reporting and pre-sales audits&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Cyber insurers&lt;/strong&gt; — Domain pre-qualification before underwriting&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Security teams&lt;/strong&gt; — Continuous external posture monitoring&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Developers&lt;/strong&gt; — Security checks in CI/CD pipelines&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;
  
  
  Why Not BitSight or SecurityScorecard?
&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Enterprise security rating platforms start at $30,000/year with mandatory sales cycles. ComplianceLayer is API-first and self-serve. Pay per scan, no contracts, no meetings.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keywords:&lt;/strong&gt; security scanner, SSL checker, DMARC checker, DNS security, HTTP headers, security scoring, domain security, security rating, infrastructure security, port scanner&lt;/p&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  APILayer Listing
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Category:&lt;/strong&gt; Security &amp;amp; Identity&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;API Name:&lt;/strong&gt; ComplianceLayer — Infrastructure Security Score&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tagline:&lt;/strong&gt; Enterprise-grade security scoring at API prices. SSL, DNS, headers, ports — one call.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Description:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;ComplianceLayer delivers comprehensive security posture scores for any internet-facing domain. Built for MSPs, security teams, and developers who need actionable security data without enterprise contracts.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Core Capabilities:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Full SSL/TLS analysis with cipher suite inspection&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Email security validation (SPF, DMARC, DKIM)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;HTTP security header scoring (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and more)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Open port detection and risk classification&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Unified A-F letter grade with per-module breakdown&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Specific remediation recommendations for every issue&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Technical specs:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Response time: ~10-15 seconds (full scan)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Output: JSON&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Authentication: API key (X-API-Key header)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Rate limiting: per-key, configurable&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Uptime SLA: 99.9%&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ideal for:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;MSP client security reporting pipelines&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Cyber insurance pre-qualification workflows&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Security-as-code in DevOps pipelines&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Automated external attack surface monitoring&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Product Hunt Listing
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Name:&lt;/strong&gt; ComplianceLayer&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tagline:&lt;/strong&gt; BitSight-grade security scoring for $0.99/scan&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Description:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
We built a security scoring API that MSPs and developers actually afford. One API call returns a full external security posture score — SSL/TLS, DNS/email security, HTTP headers, and open ports — with A-F grades and specific fix recommendations.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Enterprise tools like BitSight charge $30K+/year. ComplianceLayer starts at $0.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Free: 10 scans/month&lt;br&gt;
Starter: $99/month → 100 scans&lt;br&gt;
Pro: $249/month → 500 scans&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;No sales calls. No contracts. Just an API key.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First comment (pin this):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Hey PH! 👋&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I'm Robert, the founder. I built ComplianceLayer after getting frustrated with security tooling that's either free-but-useless or $30K/year-but-overkill.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The target user: MSPs who want to automate client security reports, developers who want to add security checks to their pipelines, and anyone who wants to know if a domain's security hygiene is actually good or just looks good.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Try the free tier — no credit card. Run a scan on your own domain and see what it finds.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;What would make this actually useful for your workflow? Drop it in the comments.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gallery screenshots needed:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Example JSON response (clean, formatted)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Score breakdown (A-F per category)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Remediation recommendations list&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;curl example command&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Dev.to Article #1 (Tutorial)
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; How to check any domain's security posture in 5 lines of Python&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Opening hook:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Before you sign a new client, run this script on their domain. It'll tell you more in 15 seconds than a 2-hour security interview.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Body:&lt;/strong&gt; [Tutorial using ComplianceLayer API in Python]&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CTA at bottom:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;ComplianceLayer API — free tier, 10 scans/month, no credit card.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;code&gt;pip install requests&lt;/code&gt; and you're good to go.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;




&lt;h2&gt;
  
  
  Twitter/X Launch Thread
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Tweet 1:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I built a security scoring API because BitSight costs $30K/year and I couldn't justify it for checking client domains.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;ComplianceLayer: SSL, DNS/email, HTTP headers, open ports. One API call. $0.99/scan.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;🧵 Here's what it finds (real data):&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Tweet 2:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Scanned 100 random domains this week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;41% had no DMARC record&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;23% had certs expiring in &amp;lt; 30 days
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;78% were missing Content-Security-Policy&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;8% had RDP publicly accessible&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Basic stuff. Most of it fixable in an afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Tweet 3:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The API response looks like this:&lt;br&gt;
[screenshot of clean JSON with grades]&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A-F per category, overall score, specific fixes for each issue.&lt;br&gt;
Takes about 15 seconds per scan.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Tweet 4:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Who's it for:&lt;br&gt;
→ MSPs automating client security reports&lt;br&gt;
→ DevOps teams adding security to pipelines&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
→ Cyber insurers pre-qualifying domains&lt;br&gt;
→ Anyone who wants to know if their security hygiene is real or just vibes&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;compliancelayer.net — free tier, no card.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Tweet 5:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also on RapidAPI if you prefer that workflow.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;[link]&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Would love feedback from anyone who runs it on their domain. Drop your score in the replies 👇&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;




&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Built by &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;ComplianceLayer&lt;/a&gt; — scan any domain for security compliance in seconds. &lt;a href="https://compliancelayer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Get your free API key&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>security</category>
      <category>python</category>
      <category>msp</category>
      <category>cybersecurity</category>
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