What is it?
Cyber Essentials is a government-backed and industry-supported scheme that helps businesses protect themselves against the growing threat of cyber-attacks and provides a clear statement of the basic controls organisations should have in place to protect themselves.
Cyber-attacks come in many shapes and sizes, but the vast majority are very basic in nature, carried out by relatively unskilled individuals. They’re the digital equivalent of a thief trying your front door to see if it’s unlocked.
Is it useful for businesses?
No matter how small your organisation is, you are likely to be connected to a possible target of a cyber-attack. Suppliers, third-party vendors and larger organisations are all part of wider ecosystems which are interconnected with each other.
The impact of a cyber security breach will be felt all the way down the supply chain to SMEs and microbusinesses. Therefore, organisations need to ensure they are not the weakest link in the supply chain by evaluating their threat profile and implementing strategies and employee training in cyber security. This can be difficult for organisations that are just starting out.
Why have it?
Cyber Essentials certification indicates that your organisation takes a proactive stance against malicious cyber-attacks. In addition, it offers a mechanism to demonstrate to customers, investors, insurers and others that you have taken the minimum yet essential precautions to protect your organisation against cyber threats.
The National Cyber Security Centre states that undertaking the Cyber Essentials certification process and implementing even one of the five controls required by Cyber Essentials can protect businesses from around 80% of attacks.
What is the process?
Obtaining Cyber Essentials certification takes just three simple steps:
Purchase your chosen level of certification – Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus
Complete your Cyber Essentials self-assessment questionnaire and upload for review.
Once your self-assessment questionnaire submission is approved, the awarding body, IASME Consortium, will post out your certificate.
When you receive your Cyber Essentials certificate you will also receive the relevant Cyber Essentials branding to use on collateral such as tender bids for public contracts.
Is it worth it?
Cyber Essentials makes it easy to understand which areas of your Cyber Security require attention by setting the cyber security standards your organisation will be assessed against and it will tell you where you need to improve as well and ensure you have the ‘essentials’ to become a cyber safe company.
Put simply, you’d always want to protect data when possible, so yes, Cyber Essentials is worth it.
How can Computer Being help?
Computer Being can perform a thorough assessment of your cyber security posture and give you advise on how to improve it or even implement changes that protect you against cyber risks always in line with your budget. Cybersecurity does not need to be an expensive or cumbersome exercise as long as there is a clear understanding of where your priorities and weaknesses lie and this is something we can help with. A combination of technical measures and good work practises can go a long way.
Whether Cyber Essentials is a requirement for your sector, a prerequisite in order to be able to bid for certain jobs or something you want to be part of in order to inspire confidence to your clients and suppliers, we can assist you in reducing your exposure to risk and apply for the scheme using a step-by-step process following a discussion with you in order to understand your business needs and objectives as well as your most important digital assets.
We will make the process simple to understand and as cost-effective as possible, with minimal disruption to your business while changes are undertaken. However, if you have signed up as a managed IT Support client, we will integrate security to your business from the very beginning of taking you on and create a plan on how we will achieve this both technically but also by training your staff.