Cyber Essentials

What is the solution to cyber threats?

Cybercrime has been happening for some time now and is still ongoing. Following the start of the pandemic in 2020 more than 15,000 coronavirus-related malicious campaigns were removed by the National Cybersecurity Centre. Cybercriminals look to exploit any vulnerability to generate income. Organisations have been talking about Cyber Essentials recently. With the ever-growing push from the government, clients, and suppliers, you’ve probably already heard about it too. Frankly, Cyber Essentials works.

UK organisations are now prioritising cybersecurity by implementing Cyber Essentials and that’s exactly why UK organisations have seen such a decrease in the number of breaches.

What is Cyber Essentials?

Cyber Essentials is the only UK Government cyber certification created for SME’s to reduce their risk to the most common cyber-attacks. Achieving the certification presents your alignment with the five main Technical Security Controls which show that your business is safe and secure. Cyber Essentials are the standard to compare the current condition of your cybersecurity against. The goal is to reach the standard Cyber Essentials and once this is done you achieve the Cyber Essentials certification. Then your organisation will have reduced its cyber threats more effectively.

How many certifications are there?

There are two certifications: one for Cyber Essentials and one for Cyber Essentials Plus. Both are achieved differently, and both respectively have their benefits for your organisation. To gain a better understanding of which certification you need for your organisation, it is important to understand the difference between the certifications.

What is the difference?

Cyber Essentials is a ‘DIY’ certification. It can be completed by your organisation’s own IT department or a certified, external third party if you do not have the capacity or technical expertise in-house. Your organisation completes a self-assessment questionnaire, and the responses are then independently reviewed by an external certifying body. This certification shows your clients and customers that you care immensely about your cybersecurity.

Cyber Essentials Plus requires the use of an external certifying body to pursue the system tests rather than the ‘DIY’ nature of Cyber Essentials. Cyber Essentials Plus shows you are doing absolutely everything in your power to protect their data and this is verified by an external ‘auditor’.

Reasons to get Cyber Essentials