The Cyber Essentials Scheme is a self-assessment application designed to aid your organisation in the prevention of a wide variety of the most common cyber-attacks. By becoming certified and Cyber Essentials compliant, not only could your organisation apply for some Government contracts, but also prevent yourselves from being vulnerable to the simplest of attacks, which could mark your organisation as a candidate for more in-depth and specific forms of attacks. Certification lasts 12 months with your organisation having to renew annually to ensure ongoing compliance.
Gaining Cyber Essentials through Bruce & Butler will provide you with industry leading support and an opportunity to not only purchase a supported package, but also a managed service, ensuring your organisation stays Cyber Essentials certified year upon year.
The application consists of 8 sections covering a total of 5 technical controls: Office Firewalls and Gateways, Secure Configuration, Security Update Management, Access Control, and Malware Protection. The other sections cover some general organisational information questions alongside the scope of the assessment, and whether your organisation qualifies for the Cyber Security insurance package.
There is a wide array of benefits associated with gaining Cyber Essentials Certification, the first being the reassurance it gives to your existing customers, by showing you as an organisation take information security seriously and have the necessary controls in place to protect their data. Secondly, by allowing your organisation to show its certification against the Cyber Essentials Scheme via the Cyber Essentials branding agreement, new businesses will be attracted by seeing you have information security measures in place. Growth of your organisation does not stop there, many Government contracts require your organisation to be Cyber Essentials certified, allowing your organisation to attract even more business. Finally, Cyber Essentials yearly renewal will allow for your organisation to gain a clear picture of what your organisation’s information security stance is, and potentially where needs improving, allowing you to always stay ahead of the threats and vulnerabilities and keep your organisation’s and client’s data safe.
Want to find out more information about the 5 technical controls? Keep an eye out for more specific articles coming soon.
Luke Green
Cyber Security Advisor
