Cyber Essentials

About Cyber Essentials

How secure do you feel against a cyber-attack on your organisation? What would it mean to you or your customers if you experienced a denial of service attack, or your data was stolen, or you were the victim of financial crime? Cybercrime rose sharply in 2020 and continues to do so, especially with more people working remotely.

Guard against cyber-attack with Cyber Essentials, a Government-backed scheme that will help you protect your organisation from the most common forms of cyber-crime.

Many cyber attacks are actually very simple and there are some basic precautions we can help you to implement to keep your data and systems safe. BCNS is an accredited provider and assessor for the Cyber Essentials programme and we will take you through the steps involved to achieve certification. Not only does this help your organisation, but it also reassures your clients and suppliers that you are taking cybersecurity seriously.

In addition to Cyber Essentials, there is also Cyber Essentials Plus, which builds on Cyber Essentials.

Cyber Essentials

Cyber Essentials is a UK government scheme supported by the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) that sets out five basic security controls to protect organisations against 80% of common cyber-attacks.

The scheme is designed to help organisations of any size demonstrate their commitment to cybersecurity – while keeping the approach simple and the costs low. Certification is a mandatory requirement for all Government supply chain contracts and a growing number of commercial tenders. Certification is awarded to organisations that can demonstrate through an online assessment process that they have effective cybersecurity measures in place.

Depending on your level of cybersecurity, and your in-house expertise, achieving certification varies from completing the assessment all the way through to updating or introducing cybersecurity measures before completing the assessment process.

The 5 key requirements are:

• firewalls
• secure configuration
• user access control
• malware protection
• patch management

Where possible, the assessment will cover your entire IT infrastructure, including all devices and the software you use, including cloud services. We’ll look at how your people connect to your systems, the security settings, how user access is controlled, what malware protection is in place and finally, the processes for updating devices and software to maintain protection.

Prices

The price for certification will depend on how much help you need from BCNS. Typically, clients need support to strengthen their cyber-security, usually requiring one or two days of our time in addition to the certification process. The Cyber Essentials certificate starts at £300 plus VAT.

For an initial discussion about your specific requirements, please contact us HERE.