NIS2

15/09/2025

Author: Stuart Barker | ISO 27001 Expert and Thought Leader

The NIS2 Directive is a new European Union law that aims to improve cybersecurity across the EU. It’s a follow-up to the original NIS Directive. NIS2 expands the types of businesses and organizations that must follow strict security rules. The main goal is to make Europe more resilient to cyber threats by requiring key services to have strong security measures in place.

Examples

  • Hospitals and healthcare providers: They must protect patient data and keep their systems running smoothly.
  • Energy companies: They need to secure power grids to prevent blackouts.
  • Digital service providers: Companies like online marketplaces or cloud computing services must secure their platforms.

Context

The NIS2 Directive was created because cyber threats are growing. The old NIS law was not enough. NIS2 makes the rules tougher and adds more businesses. This ensures that a cyberattack on one key service won’t cause a domino effect across Europe. It works with other laws, like the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), to protect data and services.


Relevant ISO 27001 Controls

NIS2 does not directly map to ISO 27001 controls. However, many of the security measures required by NIS2 align with the principles and controls found in ISO 27001. Some relevant controls include:

About the author

Stuart Barker is an information security practitioner of over 30 years. He holds an MSc in Software and Systems Security and an undergraduate degree in Software Engineering. He is an ISO 27001 expert and thought leader holding both ISO 27001 Lead Implementer and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor qualifications. In 2010 he started his first cyber security consulting business that he sold in 2018. He worked for over a decade for GE, leading a data governance team across Europe and since then has gone on to deliver hundreds of client engagements and audits.

He regularly mentors and trains professionals on information security and runs a successful ISO 27001 YouTube channel where he shows people how they can implement ISO 27001 themselves. He is passionate that knowledge should not be hoarded and brought to market the first of its kind online ISO 27001 store for all the tools and templates people need when they want to do it themselves.

In his personal life he is an active and a hobbyist kickboxer.

His specialisms are ISO 27001 and SOC 2 and his niche is start up and early stage business.