Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus support for small businesses
Customers, tenders and insurers increasingly ask whether you’re certified. We’re Cyber Essentials certified ourselves, and we help small businesses get certified without the project taking over their week.
- Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus
- We check where you stand, then fix the gaps
- We guide you through the assessment
What Cyber Essentials is, and what the Plus version adds
A government-backed scheme that shows you have the essential protections in place against the most common cyber attacks.
Cyber Essentials
You complete a self-assessment questionnaire about your set-up, and an assessor checks it. If it passes, you’re certified. It’s the baseline most businesses start with.
Cyber Essentials Plus
Everything in Cyber Essentials, plus an independent technical check. An assessor tests your devices and network to confirm the controls work in practice. Some customers and contracts ask for it specifically.
The five controls it checks
Firewalls and internet gateways · secure configuration · user access control · malware protection · security update management. Certification lasts 12 months, then needs renewing.
The questions businesses ask us about certification
From first check to certificate, and keeping it
See where you stand
We check your set-up against the five Cyber Essentials controls and give you a clear list of what’s fine and what needs fixing.
Fix what’s missing
We put the missing controls in place across your devices, accounts and network, so you’re not left holding a to-do list.
Handle the assessment
We complete the questionnaire with you and deal with the assessor’s questions, so it doesn’t land on your desk.
Cyber Essentials Plus testing
We prepare your devices for the independent technical check and support you through the day it happens.
Stay certified
Certification lasts 12 months. We keep your set-up on track and get you ready for renewal well before it runs out.
Security that lasts beyond the certificate
The certificate is the start, not the finish. Ongoing management keeps the controls working as people, devices and software change.
Common questions about getting certified
No. Most businesses already have some of the controls in place. We start by checking what you have, then close the gaps.
Most businesses start with Cyber Essentials, and some add Plus later. If a customer or contract has asked for one in particular, check which they need before you begin. If you’re not sure, we’ll help you work it out.
It depends on how tidy your set-up is to begin with. After the first check we’ll give you a realistic timescale and a clear list of what needs doing.
No. It’s designed for organisations of any size, and for a small business it can be the proof that gets you onto a customer’s supplier list.
No. It’s a baseline that protects against the most common, low-effort attacks. It doesn’t replace the rest of good security, which is why we look after the day-to-day too.
Related reading: Is Cyber Essentials worth it? · 5 tips to get Cyber Essentials certified
Want to know where you stand?
Book a complimentary IT call and we’ll talk through what you’re being asked for, and what it would take to get there. No pressure, no obligation.