What is Cyber Essentials and why should I get certified?
The essential cyber security certification for any organisation
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What is Cyber Essentials?The Benefits of Cyber EssentialsGet Cyber Essentials Certified with HighGroundInfo
For a guide on how to use HighGround to manage your Cyber Essentials certification and auditing, visit our Guide to the Cyber Essentials module article.
What is Cyber Essentials?
Cyber Essentials (CE) is a UK Government-backed scheme run by the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) that can help to protect any size organisation from the most common cyber attacks.
Most cyber attacks are unsophisticated and untargeted, and it these kinds of attack that Cyber Essentials is designed to protect your business against.
Cyber Essentials is a self-assessment questionnaire that involves 5 technical controls that your IT systems must comply with in order to meet the standard.
Cyber Essentials is suitable for all organisations, of any size, in any sector. There are 2 levels of certification – Basic and Plus, with the latter requiring a higher level of verification to provide suppliers and insurers with a higher level of assurance.
Cyber Essentials
We work with you to ensure your IT systems meet the Cyber Essentials standard, then we complete the questionnaire on your behalf.
What's included?
- Pre-Questionnaire
- Our help to get you up to standard and ready for certification
- Cyber Essentials Results Report
- Cyber Security Insurance (£25,000 cover)
- Use of the CE logo on your website
- 12 -month certification
Cyber Essentials Plus
Cyber Essentials Plus is exactly the same standard as Cyber Essentials, but with an added external technical verification carried out.
What's included?
- On-site assessment
- Vulnerability scan
- Pre-Questionnaire
- Our help to get you up to standard and ready for certification
- Cyber Essentials Results Report
- Cyber Security Insurance (£25,000 cover)
- Use of the CE logo on your website
- 12 -month certification
The Benefits of Cyber Essentials
- Protect yourself against 80% of common Cyber Attacks
- Gain a clear picture of your organisations cyber security level
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Become eligible for government contracts
- The UK Government has made a Cyber Essentials certification mandatory for any organisation wanting to bid for government contracts.
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Reassure your customers that you are working to secure your IT systems from a cyber attack
- When certified, you can display the Cyber Essentials badge on your website for customers to see. They will be assured that you take the security and integrity of their data seriously.
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Win new business by proving you have security measures in place
- Many Cyber Attacks take advantage of 'Supply Chain Hacking' - where smaller organisations are targeted to get to the larger organisation's they are supplying.
- As awareness of Supply Chain Hacking grows, more and more companies insist on suppliers having a clear and informed cyber security posture in order to enter into a business relationship - something Cyber Essentials offers.
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Cyber Insurance
- UK organisations with less than £20m annual turnover and a Cyber Essentials certification are entitled to cyber liability insurance worth £25,000 of cover (terms apply).
Get Cyber Essentials Certified with HighGround
Info
To learn more about the benefits of Cyber Essentials and the different options available read our article - What is Cyber Essentials and why should I get certified?
Our Cyber Essentials Service will prepare your IT systems to Cyber Essentials standards, as well as make the certification request on your behalf. To purchase this service, follow the steps below:
This will take you to a page displaying all of the paid services which HighGround offers. Look for Cyber Essentials.
Click on Cyber Essentials. This will open a new window to the side:
Tip
Apply your Pro-Services credit to save money on this purchase by clicking the blue 'Apply <your credit> Credit' button at the top-right hand corner.
If you would like to learn more before making a purchase, click the Enquire button located toward the top right-hand corner of this window.
- Basic: this is the Basic Cyber Essentials certificate, which involves a self-assessment questionnaire.
- Plus: this is the Cyber Essentials Plus certificate, which involves an on-site assessment and vulnerability scan in addition to the questionnaire.
- Preparation + Submission: before making your application for certification - we will look at your IT infrastructure and security policies, and reconfigure these to meet Cyber Essentials standards. This ensures your application for certification will not fail, avoiding the hassle and costs of applying a second time.
Once you have selected from the above options, click the Buy Now button to make the purchase.
And that's it! A notification will get sent to our Pro Services team who will contact you within 24 hours to get started with your certification.