The Cyber Essentials Scheme
Your Certification made easy: We can help you achieve Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus and IASME Cyber Assurance.
Pass Cyber Essentials first time with our expert guidance
As a long-established Cyber Essentials assessor, Equilibrium can help you:
- Get Cyber Essentials certified
- Strengthen your Cyber Security measures with specialist guidance
- Demonstrate to your customers that you are following best practice
What is the Cyber Essentials Scheme?
The Cyber Essentials scheme is a Cyber Security certification programme developed by the UK government to help organisations, both in the public and private sectors, protect themselves against common cyber attacks.
It was launched in 2014 as part of the UK’s National Cyber Security Strategy and is designed to encourage good Cyber Security practices and raise the overall level of Cyber Security in the country.
The government mandates that any supplier bidding for contracts that involve managing specific sensitive and personal data must possess a valid Cyber Essentials certificate.
Equilibrium Security are one of the few Cyber Essentials Certification bodies within the Midlands. We have been working alongside IASME conducting Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus assessments since 2016.
Ready to achieve your security goals? We’re at your service.
Whether you are a CISO, an IT Director or a business owner, Equilibrium has the expertise to help you shape and deliver your security strategy.
Cyber Essentials 5 Key Technical Controls
Firewalls and routers
A firewall must be in place to protect your internet connected devices.
Software updates
Regularly update your applications & critical systems to identify & remediate vulnerabilities.
Malware protection
Protect your organisation from virus’s, malware, and other cyber-risks.
Access controls
Reduce the likelihood of unauthorised access, by controlling who can access sensitive data.
Secure configuration
Prevent hackers gaining unauthorised access to your systems.
What is a Cyber Essentials accreditation?
The Cyber Essentials scheme is a self-assessment questionnaire that is completed via the online IASME portal. The 70 questions are based around its five key security controls, their aim to review your current security posture and identify areas for improvement.
Our expert security consultants provide remote support to guide you through the process and help you achieve the Cyber Essentials certificate quickly and painlessly.
What is a Cyber Essentials Plus certification?
Cyber Essentials Plus is the next stage on from the basic Cyber Essentials Self-Assessment Certification. It tests an organisations security against the information obtained in the self-assessment Cyber Essentials questionnaire. As part of the certification, we will run a series of vulnerability scans, security tests and carefully managed attacks to test the effectiveness of your security controls.
If there are areas that we identify that are in breach of the assessment, we will provide remediation actions that you will need to apply prior to us issuing the Cyber Essentials Plus certificate. Equilibrium Security will then issue the certification for Cyber Essentials Plus, which will be valid for 12 months.
Customer Feedback
Why choose Equilibrium as your Cyber Essentials Assessor?
- As a Cyber Essentials certification body since 2016, we are well-versed with the schemes evolving criteria.
- Our team have certified countless companies throughout the years to achieve Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus and IASME Cyber Assurance.
- We're with you every step of the way of the Cyber Essentials certification process to help you pass with flying colours!
The Cyber Essentials Process
Before we can provide a quote or proceed with the assessment we need to understand your environment so that we can fully define the technical scope of what the test will cover.
You can then move onto populating the online questionnaire. Before this is submitted, our consultants will review your answers to check they meet the scheme’s criteria. If changes are required, we provide detailed guidance on areas which need improvement. Once successful, you will be issued with a Cyber Essentials certificate for 12 months.
Our experts will remotely conduct external and internal vulnerability tests, as well as a series of other security checks to test the information obtained in your Cyber Essentials questionnaire.
If vulnerabilities are discovered, or other areas of non-compliance, we will provide detailed remediation guidance which needs to be applied within 30 days of the Cyber Essentials Plus assessment.
Once you have followed all remediation steps, we will conduct a retest to check you comply with the CE+ criteria, you will then be awarded your CE+ certificate for 12 months.
The Benefits of Cyber Essentials
Win new business
Cyber Essentials helps to assure new customers that you take the security of your business seriously and follow industry best practice.
Public sector contracts
Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus permits you to work with the government and MOD.
Cyber Liability Insurance
Benefit from up to £25,000 worth of cyber insurance as part of the certification, conditions apply.
Reduce the risk of a breach
Improve cyber-resilience by implementing the baseline security requirements of the Cyber Essentials five security controls.
Looking for a top Cyber Essentials certification body?
Equilibrium is a Certification Body for The IASME Consortium, the Cyber Essentials Partner to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). We can offer Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus, IASME Cyber Assurance and GDPR Readiness Assessments as a Certification Body.
If you would like to find out more about our Cyber Essentials pricing, please fill in the below form or call us on 0121 663 0055.
- Get your Cyber Essentials Scheme basic certificate with expert guidance along the way.
- IASME Cyber Assurance (excellent alternative to ISO 27001)
- GDPR Readiness Assessments
Frequently Asked Questions
The simple answer is no. Before you can move onto the Cyber Essentials Plus, you must first pass the Cyber Essentials basic certification, as the Plus audit assesses the information provided in your Cyber Essentials questionnaire. Once CE basic is achieved, you must pass your CE+ within 90 days.
Read more about the CE Plus Assessment without Cyber Essentials here.
Cyber Essentials basic is a self-assessed and independently verified questionnaire. The assessment has 70 questions which qualify that your current approach to securing your business is in-line with the CE framework. Cyber Essentials Plus provides a higher level of assurance, it involves us auditing your systems utilising many vulnerability tools to test the effectiveness of the security measures in place.
Read more about the difference between Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus here.
Cyber Liability Insurance is provided as part of the Cyber Essentials certification package on an ‘opt-in’ basis. The cyber insurance is available for businesses with an annual turnover of under 20 million, conditions apply.
Yes, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus certificates are due for renewal after 12 months. If you choose not to renew, your business will be removed from the NCSC’s ‘certified organisations’ list, you will also lose your cyber insurance and ability to work with public sector companies.
Read more about the Cyber Essentials’ certificate expiry dates here.
As with any certification scheme, it does take an investment in both time and money. There are several factors that will impact the certification timelines, including the chosen certification level and the efficiency of the certification process.
Read here to find out how long does it take to get Cyber Essentials and what are the factors that influence this timeline.
The IASME Consortium is the accreditation body that administers the Cyber Essentials certification scheme on behalf of the UK Government.
IASME oversee the Cyber Essentials scheme helping to ensure it’s operating as intended, provides valid protection against cyber-attacks, that consistency is being maintained and that any disputes are quickly resolved.
Find out more about the Cyber Essential Accreditation Bodies here.
If you’re wondering how much the Cyber Essentials certificate costs, then it’s important to remember that this can vary. Much will depend on the size of your organisation and the support you need to achieve certification.
Find out more about the Cyber Essentials cost here.
Cyber Essentials is a government-backed Cyber Security accreditation scheme that has been developed to ensure an organisation’s systems and data are secured against a range of online threats. Cyber Essentials certification is the recognised standard in the UK promoting and assessing Cyber Security best practices in both the private and public sectors.
find out more about the Cyber Essentials certification here.
The certification scheme gives organisations confidence that they have strong security measures in place against some of the most common and insidious cyber challenges. It also helps to reassure customers, clients and suppliers that valuable information and data won’t be at risk.
Find out more about Cyber Essentials importance here.