How can businesses benefit from the Cyber Essentials Certification?
With cyber-attacks impacting more and more businesses every day, it’s important for organisations to demonstrate their commitment to cyber security to put customers at ease.
What is the Cyber Essentials certification?
The Cyber Essentials certifications are a government backed scheme to help businesses protect themselves against the most common types of cyber security threats. Based on a framework of five technical controls, the Cyber Essentials scheme advises businesses on what they need to do to guard themselves from cyber threats.
The five Cyber Essentials technical controls include:
- Boundary firewalls and internet gateways
Businesses will need a firewall in place to protect internet-connected devices.
- Secure configuration
Implement secure configurations to stop any unauthorised access to business data.
- Access control
Minimise the possibility of unauthorised access and control which team members can see certain information.
- Malware protection
Guard vital data against viruses, malware, and other cyber security threats.
- Patch management
Consistently update business devices to identify and resolve potential vulnerabilities.
What’s the difference between Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus?
There are two accreditation levels to the government-backed Cyber Essentials scheme, which consist of Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus. There are several differences between each accreditation, most notably that the Cyber Essentials certification is a pre-requisite to the Cyber Essentials Plus certification.
Another difference is that Cyber Essentials is a self-audited accreditation, whereas Cyber Essentials Plus is independently audited and a hands-on technical verification is carried out.
What are the benefits of the Cyber Essentials certification?
There are many reasons businesses should consider getting certified with Cyber Essentials.
- Protect your business
By implementing the measures within the Cyber Essentials scheme, businesses significantly reduce the risks of a cyber breach. With robust security software in place, potential attacks will either be deterred completely or detected earlier, minimising damage.
- Stakeholder trust
Being awarded with a Cyber Essentials certification will earn your business greater trust from customers, suppliers, and prospective clients, as it demonstrates your commitment to keeping their data secure.
- Differentiate your business
Gaining a Cyber Essentials accreditation gives your business an edge against competition. As not all organisations follow cyber security best practices, knowing your business does its best to keep customer information safe, can help you win more clients and retain existing ones.
- Improve efficiency
By complying with the Cyber Essentials standards, your business will have a much better overview of your cyber security defences. By adopting best practices, your business can more proactively uncover ineffective data and potential vulnerabilities, providing you with the opportunity to increase efficiencies.
- Apply for government tenders
Cyber Essentials has been a requirement of applying for many public sector contracts since 2014. In addition, the UK government has mandated that all of its suppliers have to be compliant with Cyber Essentials for contracts that include the handling of personal or sensitive information.
From ensuring your business is protected to customer trust, the Cyber Essentials accreditations have been designed to help businesses work more securely and efficiently.
If you want to understand more about Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, or to find out how to get started with the accreditation, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Feel free to contact us at Techsol Group by calling 03300 245447 or emailing info@techsolgroup.co.uk.
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