What is Cyber Essentials (CE)?

Cyber Essentials is a UK government scheme that demonstrates a business has met a minimum level of cyber security. It’s a self-assessment, with a set of questions to answer based on 5 key controls:

  • Firewalls
  • Secure configuration
  • User access control
  • Malware protection
  • Patch management
Not only does becoming CE compliant mean you reduce the risk of a cyber-attack, it’s also a great way for you to show your customers and partners that you’re serious about security.

How much does Cyber Essentials cost?

The cost of Cyber Essentials depends on the size of your business. The certification price starts at £300 +VAT for micro-organisations and £400 for those between 10 and 49 employees. Quite often, businesses will need help to complete and check the forms, including any improvement work that’s needed in order to pass. You will need to factor this in on top of the certification cost.

Check how much the certification would be for you: https://iasme.co.uk/cyber-blog/price-change-and-updates-to-cyber-essentials/

What is Cyber Essentials Plus (CE+)?

CE+ is the advanced certification, testing against the same 5 controls. The difference is that for CE+ your answers are verified by a certified body. The auditor will test a sample of your devices, within scope, and verify that the answers are true.

If you want to go the extra mile and become Cyber Essentials Plus certified, you will need to do so within 3 months of your Cyber Essentials accreditation. So we recommend considering both options at the same time.

Cyber Essentials Plus sets you and your business apart from the rest, as well as ensuring that you’ve got the correct cyber security processes in place.

How do I know if we’re ready for CE & CE+?

If you’re not sure whether or not to try to achieve these accreditations, you’re not alone. It’s a question we are often asked by business leaders. To help you decide, the certification body IASME has created a readiness tool, which is a great place to start: https://getreadyforcyberessentials.iasme.co.uk/questions/

The readiness tool features handy checklists of the things you need to know to answer the accreditation questions, such as:

  • Do you run any software that is no longer in support?
  • Are all your default passwords changed regularly and longer than 8 characters?
  • What cloud services do you run and have you enabled Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) on them?
Datcom can help you gain the accreditations that are right for you. We can guide you through the entire process step by step, or we can simply be your safety net as and when you need us – we can tailor our service to the level of support you need. Get in touch today and let’s get you on the road to Cyber Essentials.