Your quick guide to Cyber Essentials
Guides|by Leanne Bevan|26 September 2022
What is Cyber Essentials?
Cyber Essentials is an effective, UK government-backed scheme that will help you to protect your organisation, whatever its size, against a whole range of the most common cyber attacks.
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.
There are two levels of Cyber Essentials certification:
Cyber Essentials
This is the National Cyber Security Centre's (NCSC) self-assessment option that gives you protection against a wide variety of the most common cyber attacks. This is important because vulnerability to basic attacks can mark you out as a target for more in-depth unwanted attention from cyber criminals and others.
Certification gives you peace of mind that your defences will protect against the vast majority of common cyber attacks simply because these attacks are looking for targets which do not have the Cyber Essentials technical controls in place.
Cyber Essentials shows you how to address those basics and prevent the most common attacks.
Cyber Essentials Plus
Cyber Essentials Plus still has the Cyber Essentials trademark simplicity of approach, and the protection you need to put in place is the same, but for Cyber Essentials Plus a hands-on technical verification is carried out.
Alternatively, you can familiarise yourself with cyber security terminology, gaining enough knowledge to begin securing your IT.
What are the benefits of Cyber Essentials?
By achieving the Cyber Essentials accreditation, you benefit from...
- Preventing around 80% of cyber threats thanks to the security controls in place.
- A boosted company reputation as it gives your customers and prospects peace of mind that their data is protected in your hands.
- Permission to bid for central government contracts (UK government and MOD) which involve handling sensitive and personal information or the provision of certain technical products and services.
What is required for Cyber Essentials?
In order to be eligible for Cyber Essentials certification, you need these five security controls in place.
- Use a firewall to secure your internet connection
- Choose the most secure settings for your devices and software
- Control who has access to your data and services
- Protect yourself from viruses and other malware
- Keep your devices and software up to date
View the NCSC's FAQ page for more details.
How can Grey Matter help with Cyber Essentials?
Here are just some of the reasons why and how Grey Matter can help you with achieving Cyber Essentials accreditation:
- We partner with CyberSmart which has a Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus certification platform. Use CyberSmart to get your accreditation and seek expert advice throughout the whole process.
- We have accredited cyber security licensing and technical experts with vast knowledge who can provide cyber security advice and best practices. Book a demo or consultation.
- We work with several leading and niche cyber security partners. We can source everything you need to meet the five security controls to protect your business in one place, saving you the procurement and renewal hassle. From firewalls, multi-factor authentication and patch management, to patch management, access management, and more. View our Cyber Security Solutions.
- We have Microsoft and ManageEngine technical specialists who can help to implement and monitor Azure, Microsoft 365 and other tools. View our Technical Services.
Fill in the form below to book a consultation with one of our cyber security experts.
Alternatively, contact us via:
Email: info@greymatter.com
Phone: +44 (0) 1364 654 100
Here are some of our cyber security partners...
Blog updated 16 April 2024
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