# Bright Defense, LLC - **Type:** Advisory firm - **Website:** https://www.brightdefense.com - **Assessed by:** The Assurance Desk (Add-Venture Advisory Ltd) A California firm that prepares companies for SOC 2, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 audits, from $1,000 a month. It also sells penetration testing and managed security. ## Bright Defense scores Scored 1 to 5 on six criteria. There is no overall score. ### Help when things go wrong: 2/5 No published case of defending a client through a regulatory investigation or a named breach-response outcome appears on the site or Trust Center. ### Qualifications of the people who do the work: 4/5 Discloses CISSP- and CISA-certified staff plus an ISO 27001 Certified Lead Auditor, and holds its own ISO/IEC 27001 certificate via Consilium Labs. ### What it publishes about fees: 3/5 Publishes a starting price of $1,000/month and a $500/month per-added-framework rate, but full tiered pricing detail is not published. ### Knowledge of your sector: 3/5 Names three vertical pages (startups/SMB, SaaS & AI, defense contractors) but shows no sector-specific case study beyond generic testimonials. ### Independence from what it sells: 2/5 Bundles a 'Managed Compliance Automation' platform into its advisory work, creating an incentive to recommend its own tooling over independent alternatives. ### Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong: 2/5 Terms disclaim all warranties, cap total liability at six months' fees, and disclose no professional indemnity or errors-and-omissions insurance. ## Sources for Bright Defense Every line carries the page it was read on and the date it was checked. - Bright Defense, LLC is registered as a California LLC, status Active, at 9415 Culver Blvd #2, Culver City, CA 90232 - Source: https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/202359019936 - Checked: 2026-09-20 - Bright Defense's compliance service covers SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, CMMC and NIST, sold as a monthly engagement starting at $1,000/month - Source: https://www.brightdefense.com/iso-42001/ - Checked: 2026-09-20 - Bright Defense states its team includes CISSP- and CISA-certified staff and an ISO 27001 Certified Lead Auditor, and the firm holds its own ISO/IEC 27001 certification via Consilium Labs - Source: https://www.brightdefense.com/iso-27001/ - Checked: 2026-09-20 - Bright Defense's Trust Center lists five subprocessors (Zoho, Slack, AWS, Microsoft 365, JumpCloud) and carries a dedicated AI disclosure section (AI Overview, AI Security, AI Monitoring) - Source: https://trust.brightdefense.com/ - Checked: 2026-09-20 - Bright Defense's Terms and Conditions cap total liability at fees paid in the preceding six months, disclaim all warranties, and state services are 'advisory and supportive in nature' and not legal or regulatory advice - Source: https://www.brightdefense.com/terms - Checked: 2026-09-20 - Bright Defense names co-founders Tim Mektrakarn and John Minnix, and a client testimonial from Marcus Bergendahl, COO at Linxa, describes a completed certification audit - Source: https://www.brightdefense.com/vciso/ - Checked: 2026-09-20 ## What this provider publishes Not published means we did not find it on the firm's own pages. - Price: Published - Indemnity cover: Not published - Credentials: Published - Independent accreditation: Not published - Client results: Published - How it uses AI: Published ## Strengths - Holds its own ISO/IEC 27001 certification (via Consilium Labs) while selling ISO 27001 readiness, so it practices what it advises. - Discloses staff certifications by name of credential: CISSP, CISA and an ISO 27001 Certified Lead Auditor. - Confirmed as an Active California LLC in good standing on the state business register (via OpenCorporates). - Publishes a named client outcome: a COO-level testimonial describing a completed certification audit. - Publishes a starting price ($1,000/month) and a flat per-added-framework rate ($500/month), which is more fee transparency than most competitors in this space show. - Runs a public Trust Center with a named subprocessor list and a dedicated AI-use disclosure section. ## Things to check Each one carries the factual basis it rests on. - Sells penetration testing and managed security services (vulnerability scanning, managed security-awareness training) as core, equally-weighted service lines alongside its SOC 2/ISO 27001 readiness and vCISO advisory work. - Basis: Its own site menu lists Penetration Testing, Vulnerability Management and Managed Security Awareness Training as core services next to Continuous Cybersecurity Compliance and vCISO. - Total liability is capped at only six months' fees, all warranties are disclaimed, and no professional indemnity or errors-and-omissions insurance is disclosed anywhere on the site. - Basis: Terms and Conditions Section 11 caps liability at fees paid in the preceding six months; the Trust Center and Terms make no mention of PI or E&O cover. - No individually named consultant or client case study is tied to the ISO 42001 AI-governance practice specifically, only company-level claims. - Basis: The ISO 42001 page shows ten five-star testimonials, but none reference ISO 42001 work; they cite only SOC 2, PCI DSS and ISO 27001 engagements. ## Where this firm appears - [Can the firm that prepares you also certify you?](https://theassurancedesk.com/best/certification-seeking) - [Your sector adds its own rules to UK data protection law](https://theassurancedesk.com/best/sector-regulated) - [Which data protection, AI governance and cyber security providers publish a price?](https://theassurancedesk.com/lists/providers-that-publish-a-price) - [Compare providers](https://theassurancedesk.com/compare) --- **Scope.** The Assurance Desk covers data protection, AI governance and cyber security in the United Kingdom and the United States. It scores providers in both: UK-facing firms, and firms based in the United States. Every provider scored so far was selected for data-protection, AI-governance or security-assurance work. Where a page describes law, it names the country that law applies in. **Who publishes this.** The Assurance Desk is published by Add-Venture Advisory Ltd, company number 11854524, registered in England and Wales. The same owner runs Avouch, a marketing agency that sells AI visibility services to firms of the kind this site covers. That is a conflict of interest, and it is disclosed here. **Corrections.** If you represent this firm and something here is wrong or out of date, email hello@theassurancedesk.com with the evidence.