What is Cyber Essentials and should your business get the Cyber Essentials Certification? - Complete IT

Complete I.T. Blog

What is Cyber Essentials and should your business get the Cyber Essentials Certification?

by | Aug 8, 2017 | Archived Articles

Complete I.T. pride themselves in having a Cyber Essentials certification that allows us to protect our business and our clients against cyber threats, but what is Cyber Essentials?

The scheme was designed by the Government to make it easier for you to protect your business from cybercrime, Cyber Essentials helps to prevent a vast majority of cyber-attacks by showing you how to address your IT systems and software and protect your business from the inside.

How do you achieve a Cyber Essentials Certification?

It’s not just a click of a button and you’re in, there’s a lengthy process that the company must go through to ensure they are secure enough to be awarded the certification.

Your software and systems must be assessed by one of the accreditation bodies, such as IRM security or QG Management Standards, which involves addressing multiple requirements followed by a questionnaire, before performing any updates to your systems that come to light from the process.

Once the assessment and questionnaire are completed and your company have reached all the security standards put in place, the accredited body will verify your answers to ensure you’re compliant.

Then, finally, you will be awarded your Cyber Essentials Certification!

Why is a Cyber Essentials badge so important?

33% of small businesses and 65% of large businesses reported a cyber breach or attack in the past 12 months, most of those attacks being relatively basic.

The badge allows your organisation to advertise that it meets a Government-endorsed standard, meaning your partners or clients know that your business takes security seriously.

The certification was designed by the Government and is a trusted assessment of your company’s security and systems, having the cyber essentials certification gives you peace of mind that your infrastructure to up to scratch!

Will Cyber Essentials protect you against ALL cyber threats?

The unfortunate truth of the matter is, there is no complete solution for cyber-crime, it’s too diverse. But having a Cyber Essentials badge or working with a provider that implements the scheme will put your company in good stead against this global enemy.

To further protect your business from cybercrime there are more advanced Cyber Security solutions available to you. Contact your local CIT office to discuss your security with a member of our team.