Cyber Essentials as the name suggests is a scheme backed by the Government and supported by the IT industry that provides businesses of all shapes and sizes with guidelines on how to protect themselves from Cyber Threats.
The documents are free to download and can be found on this Home Office cyberstreetwise website.
There is also an online questionnaire that enables you to carry out a short self-assessment of how cyber secure your business currently is. We would strongly recommend that you try this assessment as it will give you a good benchmark of where your business stands today.
Basic Cyber Hygiene
The theory behind the guidance is that by encouraging good basic cyber hygiene, businesses will be better protected against the common cyber threats we all face in today’s highly interconnected workplace.
For those undertaking Government contracts the scheme is mandatory and has been for over a year, so if you operate in this sector you most likely will already have it implemented. However if you are new to the sector it is something you will have to take into account and act on.
Two Levels of Cyber Essentials
The picture above indicates the two levels of badges your company can use when they follow the scheme.
The first is for a self-assessment with the answers reviewed by an external certifying body. The second requires an external certifying body to assess your compliance and test your systems.
Areas covered are elements such as:
- Boundary firewalls and internet gateways
- Secure configuration
- Access control
- Malware protection
- Patch management
We think it is a good initiative and one every business should be considering. Please get in touch if you think you need assistance or have identified a problem area in your cyber security.
