Following Government concern that organisations weren’t doing enough to protect themselves against low level, low sophistication cyber attacks, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills released a government-endorsed information security scheme called Cyber Essentials in June 2014.
Cyber Essentials
The scheme is operated by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). As of 1st April 2020, The IASME Consortium was awarded Cyber Essentials Partner status and will take over as the sole accreditation body from this date.
It is encouraged by regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority and recognised by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
Get Cyber Essentials
AN INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED SELF ASSESSMENT
Organisations assess themselves against five basic security controls and a qualified assessor verifies the information provided.
Cyber Essentials certification includes automatic cyber liability insurance for any UK organisation who certifies their whole organisation and have less than £20m annual turnover (terms apply).
All the self assessment questions are available to download for free in advance.
Get Cyber Essentials Plus
FOR A TECHNICAL AUDIT OF YOUR SYSTEMS
A qualified assessor examines the same five controls as in the standard Cyber Essentials certification, testing that they work through a technical audit.
Cyber Essentials certification includes automatic cyber liability insurance for any UK organisation who certifies their whole organisation and have less than £20m annual turnover (terms apply).
What is Cyber Essentials?
Cyber Essentials is a simple yet effective scheme that will help protect an organisation against some of the most common cyber threats. It lists five technical controls (access control; boundary firewalls and Internet gateways; malware protection; patch management and secure configuration) that organisations should have in place.
Organisations can earn two levels of certification, or badges: Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus. Both are valid for one year.
Why do I need Cyber Essentials?
Around 80% of cyber attacks could be prevented if businesses put simple security controls in place. The Cyber Essentials scheme provides a mechanism for you to reassure current and potential clients that you take cyber security seriously.
The scheme will also increase your opportunities as it is required the majority of government tenders and an increasing number of non-government tenders.
We're a Cyber Essentials Certification Body and IASME Governance Assessor
M-Tech are a Certification Body, one of the professional organisations trained and licensed to deliver the Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus and IASME Governance assessments by IAMSE, the NCSC’s Cyber Essentials Partner.
Some of the Cyber Essentials questions can be difficult to understand if you don’t have a technical IT background or you have a complex company infrastructure. As a Certification Body, we’re here to help you understand the assessment questions, how they relate to your company and what steps you need to take in order to achieve certification.
What are the Benefits of Cyber Essentials?
Enhanced security – Protect your organisation from the most common internet based cyber attacks such as phishing, malware, ransomware, password guessing and network attacks.
Simple and Cost Effective – The process is straightforward, with all self-assessment questions are available to download in advance. The cost of self-assessed certification is £300+VAT (support from a certification body, or achieving Plus level would be additional).
Gain and Retain Business – An increasing number of public, private and third sector contracts are either requiring or actively encouraging Cyber Essentials from their suppliers.
GDPR – recognised by the Information Commissioner’s Office as a scheme that can provide security assurances that help protect personal data.
Flexible Scheme – The scheme is suitable for all companies, regardless of sector or size, as it reviews the basic, yet effective technical controls the organisation has in place. It doesn’t discriminate against those without a dedicated IT department, or lack of in-depth cyber security knowledge.
Download and share our quick reference poster on The Benefits of Cyber Essentials
What am I Tested Against?
Cyber Essentials tests against 5 technical controls:
Access control –management of access to administrator accounts to control who has access to your data and services.
Secure configuration – choosing the most secure settings for your devices and software by changing passwords and removing unused accounts and software.
Software updates – protect against vulnerabilities by keeping your devices and applications up to date.
Malware protection – protect against viruses and other malware by using properly configured anti-malware software and only allowing trusted applications.
Firewalls and routers – to create a ‘buffer zone’ between your IT network and other, external networks so that incoming traffic can be analysed to find out whether or not it should be allowed onto your network.
Download and share our quick reference poster on Getting Cyber Essentials Certified
The IASME Governance Standard
The IASME Governance standard is an affordable and achievable alternative to the international standard, ISO 27001.
The IASME Governance standard allows the smaller companies to demonstrate their level of cyber security for a realistic cost and indicates that they are taking good steps to properly protect their customers’ information. The IASME Governance assessment includes a Cyber Essentials assessment and GDPR requirements and is available either as a self assessment or on-site audit.
Self-Assessment: This is a risk based question set which includes key aspects of security such as incident response, staff training, planning and operations. The cost (without external support) is £400+VAT.
Audited: This involves an on-site audit of your governance processes and procedures covered by the IASME Governance standard. £POA.