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Free Scoping Call

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Fixed Price With No Hidden Costs

Friendly One-To-One Support with Expert Assessors

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99.9% Pass Rate

Why does my organisation need Cyber Essentials?

 

Cyber Essentials offers Certified cyber security which will reassure your customers that you are focussed on managing and maintaining your own IT against cyber attacks. This proves attractive to current and new businesses that you are cybersecurity measures in place. The Cyber Essentials process gives you a clear picture of your organisation’s cyber security level and helps to keep this as an ever important part of your structure. Certain Government contracts require a Cyber Essentials certification for any work undertaken. Interested? Contact us today.

FAQs

How many devices do you need to assess for CE+?

It’s a little complicated but it essentials boils down to how many different operating systems you have. We need to have a sample size for each OS and release. This is different for every company and requires a scoping call with one of our consultants.

Please get in touch and we would be happy to scope out the assessment and provide you with a fixed price quote

What happens if we run out of consultancy support time?

The vast majority of our clients pass CE/CE+ with the bundled support time within our packages.

In the rare where a company can’t pass it is usually due to a major lack of security that can’t be resolved easily within their organisation.

If you are unsure if you are ready for cyber essential, why not use the Cyber Essentials readiness toolkit to see if you are ready. 

What’s the difference between CE and CE+?

The Cyber Essentials scheme offers two levels, 1) self-assessed and independently verified, 2) ‘Plus’ level which includes an independent technical audit.

Cyber Essentials

The ‘basic’ level is self-assessed and independently verified. It works in the format of a questionnaire which has eight sections and a total of 70 questions.

Cyber Essentials Plus

This scheme includes the Cyber Essentials questionnaire but also involves an independent technical audit of your systems to verify that the Cyber Essentials controls are in place. The audit includes a representative set of user devices, all internet gateways and all servers with services accessible to unauthenticated internet users. Your assessor will test a suitable random sample of these systems (typically around 10 per cent) and then make a decision whether further testing is required.

Do I have to obtain the first level of Cyber Essentials before going on to Cyber Essentials Plus?

You need to complete the online Cyber Essentials assessment as part of the Cyber Essentials Plus certification, and this must be completed prior to the Cyber Essentials Plus assessment.  Alternatively, after completing your Cyber Essentials assessment, you have three months to complete the Cyber Essentials Plus assessment, even if it has been completed by a different provider.

Do certificates have an expiry date?

All new certificates issued by IASME will have a 12-month expiry date.

Do I need Cyber Essentials to bid for a Government contract?

Some Government contracts may require you to be Cyber Essentials certified or to be able to demonstrate that the technical controls are in place.

In the first instance please confirm with the Government department their expectations with regards to Cyber Essentials. Requirements and exemptions may vary between department, so it is important that you are able to seek clarification for each contract.

How are Cyber Essentials assessments verified?

Cyber Essential is a self-assessment. However, a board member from your organisation will have to signs a declaration to confirm that the assessment answers are true. A qualified assessor who works for a Certification Body then evaluates the responses. In the event that you pass you receive a certificate.

My organisation is not based in the UK. Can I still obtain a Cyber Essentials certification?

Yes, organisations overseas are able to get certificates, however the cyber insurance is only applicable to UK organisations.

Are Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) included in the CE/CE+ assessment?

Yes. You will need to have at least some sort of Mobile Application Management (MAM), like Intune, enabled on BYODs to demonstrate that you have control over the corporate data on those devices.

For CE+ a sample of each OS release will need to be assessed.

Resources

Cyber Essentials Readiness Toolkit

These questions are designed to help you think about cyber security within your organisation. Each question will prompt you to consider a different aspect of security which will protect your organisation against threats from the internet. Learn more >

NCSC Cyber Essentials Guide

A summary of low cost, simple techniques that can improve cyber security within your organisation. Learn more >

IASME

Some of the Cyber Essentials self-assessment questions can be difficult to understand if you do not have a technical IT background or you have a complex company structure. IASME has trained a number of qualified cyber security companies who will be able to help you understand. Learn more >

* All our Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus packages include the cost of Cyber Essentials certification, as set out by IASME. Additional charges are for additional services delivered.

** Free cyber insurance is available to UK organisations with a turnover of less than £20 million. Includes a 24-hour helpline to report a cyber incident, with a total liability limit of £25,000. Terms and conditions apply.

*** Our Cyber Essentials Plus packages include an external vulnerability scan that covers up to 16 IP addresses and testing at one location, of one type of user account, on up to 10 sample devices. Additional workstations, server devices, mobile devices and build types may need to be tested to meet the sampling requirements of the scheme. For further information, please see our FAQ.