How Many Cyber Essentials Accreditation Bodies Are There?
Cyber Essentials certification is a UK government-backed scheme to improve cybersecurity across the private and public sectors. It forms a pivotal component of the national cybersecurity strategy, assisting organisations in developing robust defences against a range of common online threats.
By achieving accreditation, an organisation demonstrates that it adheres to cybersecurity best practices.
Cyber Essentials Accreditation Bodies
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.
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.
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What is the role of the Cyber Essentials Accreditation Body?
IASME, the governing body for Cyber Essentials accreditation, plays a pivotal role in overseeing the programme’s management.
They are responsible for defining and maintaining certification standards, accrediting bodies and assessors, providing guidance to aspiring organisations, and continuously improving the Cyber Essentials framework to address evolving Cyber Security challenges.
The key responsibilities of the three accreditation bodies are:
Setting Certification Standards
- The accreditation bodies develop, define and maintain scheme standards. They establish the criteria that organisations are required to meet to attain Cyber Essentials accreditation. These are designed to ensure the consistent implementation of essential Cyber Security best practices.
Accrediting Certification Bodies
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Certification bodies carry out the assessment and evaluation of an organisation’s security measures to evaluate whether they meet the Cyber Essentials standards. Accreditation bodies provide accreditation for certification bodies, verifying that they have the capability and competence to accurately conduct assessments.
This is a thorough process that includes assessing the technical expertise and qualifications of the assessors to ensure they are qualified. Equilibrium Security is an accredited certification body and one of the few operating in the Midlands.
Ensuring Consistency & Quality
- Consistency and reliability in the certification process are essential if trust in the scheme is to be maintained. Accreditation bodies oversee and monitor the performance of certification bodies to ensure a high level of quality in the certification process. To ensure consistency they regularly conduct audits, assessments, and reviews to ensure that standards are being upheld.
Handling Disputes & Compliance Issues
- Occasionally, disputes can occur within the certification process, particularly between organisations seeking certification and the bodies responsible for assessment. The accreditation bodies act as mediators, helping to resolve conflicts and ensuring fairness and consistency in the certification process.
Cyber security certification you can trust
As a certification body, Equilibrium Security works with the accreditation body IASME to ensure the highest professional standards are being maintained.
We ensure that there is consistency across the assessment process and that our clients and the organisations they work with can be confident that high security standards are being met.
We have been working alongside IASME conducting Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus assessments since 2016. We understand how the scheme operates and its evolving criteria, providing advice and support to help our partners achieve their security objectives.
Contact us to find out more about how we can help your organisation achieve Cyber Essentials certification.