What are Cyber Essentials?

The Cyber Essentials scheme is endorsed by the UK Government and is made mandatory to ensure data protection, and for organizations to comprehend how data could be used, secured, or compromised. It protects your organization against widely known cybercrimes.

Cyber Essential is an industry-backed scheme to help businesses protect and prevent themselves from cyber threats. The chances for cybercriminals and hackers to commit fraud or theft, industrial espionage, and to steal intellectual property is rapidly increasing due to the businesses relying solely on the evolving digital technologies.

Cyber Essentials Scheme has 2 levels of Certification

Cyber Essentials Plus

It requires an independent assessment of any organization’s security screening to validate if an organization’s 5 technical security checkpoints are effective.

Cyber Essentials

 It involves a Self-Assessment Questionnaire that must be submitted to validate your organization’s security posture level undertaken to get complete.

Why Do You Need Cyber Essentials Scheme?

Cybersecurity threats always put a business at risk. IT systems are the core of most enterprises. The increasing reliance of many companies on IT systems provides bigger opportunities for each of them. Increased risk comes with increased opportunity.

The systems that are operated on a daily basis to perform our jobs are very vital targets for cybercriminals. Nowadays, the risk of deliberate cyber attacks on businesses is higher than ever before, and it is the lawful duty to protect your organization and the data you hold.

Cyber Essentials certification is important and is mandatory for all organizations in order to maintain their security level up to date from raising cyber-attacks and threats. This scheme’s sole purpose is to make sure that your business has the best security practices in place.

What are the Security Controls of Cyber Essentials Scheme?

Firewalls & Internet Gateways

Firewalls & Internet Gateways determines who has approval from the Internet to access your system or the network and controls the user’s accessibility. It ensures that access from the internet seems to be feasible only to secure and necessary network services. A firewall helps in preventing hackers from accessing the network and from external threats.

User Access Control

It is vital to make sure that only authorized individuals are granted access to those applications required to perform their tasks. The user accounts for any sort of special privileges to be assigned to only limited users and to be managed efficiently. Minimal access to vital information in the system or networks shall prevent an intruder from accessing crucial and sensitive data.

Secure Configuration

Application server configuration and the web server configuration are crucial in Cybersecurity. Secure configuration helps in protecting the computers and network devices to reduce the impact of inherent vulnerabilities.

Malware Protection

Protecting the business from an untrusted software product on the internet which could be liable to access the files and data on the system. Constrain the execution of known malware and unsecure software to prevent access to sensitive data through malicious code.

Patch Management

Software is prone to technical vulnerabilities. Hackers exploit known vulnerabilities in operating systems and third-party applications if they are not up-to-date. Making sure devices and software are not vulnerable to known security vulnerabilities that are liable for updates or fixes.

Benefits of Your Business Achieving Cyber Essentials

  • Gains customer trust and ensures that you are reliable to partners, clients and third parties proving that you take cyber security seriously. And you are capable of protecting against cyber threats and attacks.
  • Helps you to win new projects more effectively.
  • Protects your business against 80% percent trivial cyber incidents.
  • Flags your organization as credible and saves your reputation.
  • Puts you as a qualifier and helps you bid for Government projects.
  • Makes your business Compliant as per GDPR standards and regulations.
  • Provides a complete insight and documentation on your cyber security posture and makes your business remain secure for existing and upcoming cyber risks.

How ICOMEDGE Can Help Your Business Become Cyber Essentials Certified?

ICOMEDGE assists all the small and medium-sized businesses to attain Cyber Essentials certification. We walk with you and offer all the tools and experts required to complete the Cyber Essentials certification. Our cybersecurity technical experts are CREST certified. We assess the five technical controls and evaluate your organization’s security perimeters. When our technical consultants are satisfied with your security measures and your self-assessment is a success, then we assist you in achieving the Cyber Essentials Certification. We aim in helping many more organizations to achieve the Cyber Essentials certification.

ICOMEDGE performs the following steps to make your organization become Cyber Essentials certified. They are;

  • Defining the Scope
  • Completion of a Self-assessment Questionnaire
  • Gap Analysis
  • Validation of IT Technical Security Standards
  • Internal External Vulnerability Scanning
  • Providing assistance in getting Cyber Essentials Certified