The UK Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme was developed in 2014 to give small to medium sized businesses a simple and affordable way of achieving a good standard of cyber security. Consisting of five critical technical controls, Cyber Essentials can help businesses protect against 80% of common cyber attacks and is the ideal first step for any organisation’s cyber security journey.

Organisations can gain two levels of Cyber Essentials accreditation, Cyber Essentials Basic and Cyber Essentials Plus, however the Plus standard holds greater credibility as it involves an external audit carried out by an official Certification Body to ensure that organisation meets the standard.

The five critical technical controls are what make up the Cyber Essentials standard. Organisations must demonstrate that they are aligned with these controls in order to achieve certification. They are as follows:

• Access Control
• Firewalls and Internet Gateway
• Secure Configuration
• Patch Management
• Malware Protection
  

Aside from the obvious benefits of improving your company’s security posture, Cyber Essentials is now required for any Government contracts dealing with sensitive data and increasingly being required for contracts in the private sector. Achieving certification puts you a step in front of your competitors and opens the door to a greater number of new business opportunities, as well as demonstrating to current clients, stakeholders, suppliers and partners that you take cyber security and data protection seriously.

Using a standard like Cyber Essentials to lay the foundations of your business’ cybersecurity strategy allows you to better understand what your business’ needs are and utilise the correct solutions to protect against your identified risks. Not only does this save money by reducing the purchase of products and solutions that are irrelevant, but it also ensures you have a framework to base any future security decisions upon and that any investment made is going to deliver a measurable outcome.