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Cyber Essentials: Get certified to be on the guard at all times

Consider some numbers

  • 50% of UK businesses experienced cyber attacks in the year 2023.
  • Ransomware attacks in the year 2021 were around 236.1 million.
  • Around 53.35 million US citizens were affected by cybercrime only in the first half of 2022.
  • The financial losses incurred by UK businesses due to cybercrime in 2022 was a mammoth £4200.
  • Phishing is the most common cyber threat faced by both companies and individuals.
These figures tell us that cybercrime is a matter of concern. With the rapid adoption of technology, the threat of cyber attacks looms large over every organisation-large or small.

Cyber Essentials is a UK government-backed simple yet effective scheme to protect organisations from online threats and cyber-attacks.

What is Cyber Essentials?

Cyber Essential is a UK government-backed and industry-supported scheme that protects organisations from some of the most common cyber threats. Developed by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), it defends organisations from around 80% of common cyber crimes.

The certification process is administered and managed by the IASME Consortium (IASME), which works with a network of more than 300 security organisations across the UK.

Cyber Essentials is suitable for organisations of all sizes across the industry. By implementing cyber security, you can prove to your customers your commitment to security and stay ahead of cyber attackers by evaluating your systems against a recognised framework.

Cyber Essentials certifications

The Cyber Essentials offers two levels of certifications, namely:

Cyber Essentials Basic

Cyber Essentials is the base level of certification within the Cyber Essentials framework. It follows a self-assessment approach where organisations complete a questionnaire. Organisations answer questions that address their scope of assessment, employees, devices and work locations. The questions assess five basic security controls of an organisation, namely user access control, secure configuration, patch management, firewalls and routers, and malware protection. A qualified assessor will evaluate and verify the answers provided. The organisation's physical IT infrastructure is not checked for this level of certification. This certification assures customers that your organisation is poised to counter the most common cyber threats and endorses a government-mandated standard.

Cyber Essentials Plus

This is the advanced level of certification involving technical evaluation and vulnerability assessment to determine if the systems are functioning as intended. One of the prerequisites for this certification is that your organisation should be Cyber Essentials certified. This certification adds an extra layer of protection to your organisation's security posture. It also assures the customers and stakeholders that the security controls are implemented effectively and functioning optimally to provide security against common threats.

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How to get Cyber Essentials certified

To get Cyber Essentials certification, organisations should follow the following steps:

Importance of Cyber Essentials

Cyberattacks are increasing in volume with every passing day. Many organisations, particularly SMEs, may not have the requisite resources to invest in cyber security.

Cyber Essentials is a low-cost, effective, and government-approved certification that provides a uniform approach to protect against cyber threats.

It helps organisations revamp their security infrastructure by identifying the loopholes and vulnerabilities in the system, thereby enhancing security and business reputation amongst the customers.

Cyber Essentials also helps companies comply with legal and regulatory requirements. It also opens the door for your organisation to work with the UK government, as Cyber Essentials certification is mandatory for bidding on government contracts.

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Five key controls of Cyber Essentials

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Firewalls & internet gateways

Firewalls act as a barrier between the internal network and the wider internet. Cyber Essential requires that organisations use firewalls to secure internal networks from unauthorised traffic.

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Secure configuration

Most cyber-attacks happen because of poorly configured systems. Cyber Essentials ensures that secure settings are used for devices and software by implementing strong passwords and disabling unused accounts.

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User access control

The Cyber Essentials scheme ensures the management of administrator accounts by installing strict user access control. It ensures that only authorised persons have access to sensitive data and information.

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Malware protection

Cyber Essentials mandates that proper malware protection measures are in place to protect against malicious software or ransomware which could attack and cripple your system.

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Patch management

The primary step to avoid vulnerabilities is to keep the system upgraded. The Cyber Essentials scheme stresses on applying security patches to fill the gaps and loopholes in the system.

Get Cyber Essentials certified

Protecting the business from the ill effects of cyber-crime has never been more important. Cyber Essentials not only protects your business from these criminal activities but also signals to your customers that security is a matter of priority for you, which translates to goodwill towards the business.

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Let us help you with this certification process so that you can achieve the Cyber Essentials certificate easily and rapidly.