If you’re concerned about your business’ cyber security, you may have heard about the Cyber Essentials Certificate. But what is it? Is it useful for your business? In this blog, the experts at NEBRC take you through the benefits of completing the Cyber Essentials Certification and answer all your questions, starting with: Is the Cyber Essentials Certificate worth it?
The Cyber Essentials certificate is worth the time and money if you want to ensure that your business is suitably protected against common cyber threats. Additionally, it signals to customers that your business is trustworthy and is capable of securely handling their data.
Read on to learn more about the Cyber Essentials certificate, the Cyber Essentials Plus certificate and the benefits of completing them. Plus, find out how you can prepare for the assessment with NEBRC’s 10-month programme.
What is the Cyber Essentials Certification?
The Cyber Essentials Certification is a National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) endorsed standard for technical security in the UK, run by IASME. It is a self-assessment certification that aims to give you the knowledge and skills to protect your business against a wide variety of cyber threats.
This certification gives you the peace of mind that your cyber defences are strong enough to protect against the majority of common cyber attacks. Such attacks include:
- Malicious vulnerability scanners
- Bots
- Common Malware
As part of the certification, you assess yourself against five basic security controls (patch management, firewalls, access controls, secure configuration and malware protection). A qualified assessor then verifies your findings.
Is Cyber Essentials Worth It?
Yes, Cyber Essentials is worth it, especially if you’re a business operating in the modern world. As you likely conduct a large portion of your business online. This exposes you to a wide range of cyber threats, regardless of how tech-savvy you are. The certificate also comes with cyber insurance cover.
The Cyber Essentials accreditation is not only a certificate, but is also a great opportunity to determine your business’ current cyber security level and learn more about how to protect your business against future threats. The below factors are just a few ways that your business will benefit from taking part.
Better Protection
The main benefit of the Cyber Essentials Certificate that makes it so worth it is better cyber protection for your business. As part of the assessment, there are a large number of security elements and processes that you must consider and work on in order to pass. In turn, this ensures that your business is suitably protected and that there are processes in place, should the worst happen.
Stay Ahead of the Curve
The knowledge gained from completing the Cyber Essentials Certificate means that you’ll be well aware of the most common cyber threats, allowing you to stay ahead of the curve and keep on top of current threats that might impact your business.
Improve Company Reputation
Another key benefit of achieving the Cyber Essentials Certificate is improving your business’ reputation. It is an internationally recognised certificate that tells potential clients and customers that your business is on top of cyber security and data protection.
Learn more about the benefits of the Cyber Essentials Certification and whether or not it’s worth it in our free webinar.
Do I Need to Get the Cyber Essentials Plus Certification?
The Cyber Essentials Plus certificate is similar to Cyber Essentials certificate, except that the assessment is completed by a qualified professional. This ensures that all of your systems and processes are suitable and meets the standard that is demonstrable to third parties.
Cyber Essentials Plus adds an extra level of trust and confidence for you and your customers.
How to Get the Cyber Essentials Certificate
To get started with the Cyber Essentials certification, we recommend that you start by taking the free assessment from IASME and download their free question set to learn more about what is required and the type of areas that are assessed.
From here, you can begin the process on the IASME website, selecting from the Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus certifications and the size of your business.
How NEBRC Can Help
Furthermore the NEBRC has a range of cyber professionals who have extensive experience of working with small businesses to obtain Cyber Essentials. Also if you have decided to get Cyber Essentials certified on your own but need a little help in getting your business’ processes up to scratch, NEBRC provides a 10-month long programme to get you ready for assessment. We cover:
- The importance of passwords and why you need a secure password
- Protecting your accounts further with layered security
- How can you can keep my other devices safe
- Phishing emails and how to spot them
- What a backup is and how can you implement them
- Keeping your devices up to date
- Who can access your business and customer data
- Ensuring your business is cyber resilient
- What anti-virus, encryption and firewalls are
Get in touch with us today to learn more about our 10-month programme and how it can help you to prepare for the Cyber Essentials Assessment.