Protect your organisation from common cyber security threats by achieving the Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus certification.
Prevent cyber incidents and achieve the Cyber Essentials certification with CYFOR Secure. As an accredited Cyber Essentials certification authority, we can offer a range of services to guide your business through this government-backed scheme and help you to ensure that your business is protected against cyber threats and attacks by improving your knowledge and understanding.
What Is A Cyber Essentials Certification?
A Cyber Essentials certification is an effective scheme which can help you to protect your organisation, no matter your business size, against a number of the most common cyber threats and attacks. Cyber threats come in many different forms, but actually, the majority of them are basic in nature and are carried out by criminals who aren’t skilled in technology.
There are 5 different areas of a Cyber Essentials certification, which are:
- Secure Configuration
- Firewalls
- User Access Controls
- Malware Management
- Patch Management
These 5 areas target the most common cyber attacks you may face, helping you keep your business protected. In order to pass the Cyber Essentials certification, you need to ensure that these 5 areas are covered.
What is Cyber Essentials?
- Cyber Essentials is a UK Government assurance scheme, based on its 10 Steps to Cyber Security and administered by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). The Cyber Essentials scheme is designed to serve two primary functions. These are:
- To set out the five basic cyber security controls that organisations should implement to protect themselves from “around 80% of common cyber-attacks”.
- To provide a simple and cost-effective mechanism through the Assurance Framework’s two levels of independent certification, for organisations to demonstrate that they have implemented essential cyber security measures.
Benefits of Achieving A Cyber Essentials Certification
Implementing the Cyber Essentials certification controls is recognised by the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) as one of the many ways of demonstrating that organisations are taking action to mitigate the risks they face, especially if those risks are of a low level. These benefits include:
Contact us for more information- Mitigate common and preventable cyber threats
- Improve overall defences against advanced cyber-threats
- Set your business apart from competitors
- Lower your cyber insurance premiums
- A Cyber Essentials badge helps win and maintain contracts
- Protect your commercially sensitive data from cyber attacks
- Demonstrate to stakeholders, regulators and suppliers that you take cyber security seriously
- Expand business opportunities by tendering for contracts that require Cyber Essentials
The UK Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2022 found that 56% of businesses hold personal data electronically. Of these, 47% experienced breaches or attacks in the last 12 months.
Why You Should Consider A Cyber Essentials Certification
By getting a Cyber Essentials certification, you can then reassure your customer or clients that you have taken the essential precautions needed in order to keep their organisation safe against cyber threats and attacks. It is believed that by gaining the Cyber Essentials certification and implementing just one of the controls required, businesses can be protected against 80% of cyber attacks and threats.
Cyber Essentials
Cyber Essentials is an independently verified self-assessment. You complete an online assessment questionnaire which is then approved by a cyber security expert. Upon submission, CYFOR Secure will independently review and verify your responses. If successful, we will award you with the relevant certificate and badge to display on your company website.
Cyber Essentials Plus
In addition, CYFOR Secure also offers the Cyber Essentials Plus certification. This certification stage offers a more thorough, in-person analysis and certification process, involving both independent internal and external scans of your network and computers to test your security. You must already have the basic certification before you can achieve Cyber Essential Plus. Successful accreditation provides a higher level of assurance that your organisation has a strong cyber security posture with correctly implemented controls to defend against cyber-attacks.
- On-site assessment by a consultant (Plus only)
- Vulnerability scan (Plus only)
- Assessment questionnaire
- Cyber Essentials Results report
- Cyber Security Insurance
- Certification logos for use on your website
- 12-month certification
- 1 free retest
Contact CYFOR Secure For Your Cyber Essentials Accreditation
In order to protect your business against cyber attacks and threats, you need to ensure your cyber security knowledge is up to date. With the Cyber Essentials accreditation and a vulnerability assessment, you can better protect your business and ensure that all cyber security measures are up to date.
Once you have your Cyber Essentials certification in place, you can then work up to gaining the more complex cyber security certifications if desired. For more information on our Cyber Essentials certification, contact the CYFOR Secure team today.
FAQs
Why Is A Cyber Essentials Certification Important?
No matter the size of your business, there is a large possibility that your business, or even one that you are connected to, is the target of a cyber attack. The impact of a cyber security breach is one which can be felt in a number of different areas, so businesses need to ensure that there are no particular weaknesses where they can be vulnerable to attacks. This is where earning a Cyber Essentials certification is important, as you can use this to evaluate your business’s threat profile and implement any strategies which you identify as a result. It is never a bad idea to invest in cyber security training for employees and your business.
How Easy Is It To Get A Cyber Essentials Certification?
Gaining your Cyber Essentials certification requires you to complete a self-assessment questionnaire about your IT infrastructure. So long as you know your IT infrastructure, then it should be fairly easy to pass! It is important to remember that passing your Cyber Essentials certification is an annual process in order to ensure your cyber security defences are in place and up to date. Some business contracts or schemes you later apply for may require you to have a valid Cyber Essentials certification in place, so it is important to ensure it is kept up to date.
Is A Cyber Essentials Certification Mandatory For Businesses?
For standard businesses, obtaining a Cyber Essentials certification isn’t a mandatory requirement. However, if your business is looking to secure specific government contracts, then it is required. The government requires all of its suppliers that are bidding for contracts which may involve the handling of sensitive information to have an up-to-date Cyber Essentials certification.
Whilst not mandatory for businesses, a Cyber Essentials certification does help you to learn and understand more about the processes behind cyber security and how to keep your business protected.