The Fundamentals: Cyber Essentials

Cyber Essentials is the perfect name for the Government backed scheme. The principles behind the scheme are simple, the five themes are essential to your cyber security health. The majority of cyber attacks that take place are basic and can be easily protected against. NCSC have recently reported that “more than a third of non-certified organisations say they have never heard of the scheme”.

We can’t believe this and are here to make sure every organisation has access to the fundamental information.

The five technical control themes are:

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

By following these control themes simple cyber attacks such as malware, phishing, ransomware and network attacks can be stopped. The NCSC report also shared that 93% of the organisations surveyed were confident they were protected against the most common, internet based attacks; with half of the organisations stating that they had been targeted by one or multiple cyber attacks in the last year.

Everyday there is a new article posted about another cyber attack. Recent examples are Manchester United  and the European Medicines Agency. This is because cyber threats are constantly manipulated and developed to fight against the most recent cyber security defences. The Cyber Essentials certificate lasts 12 months so you can have the best cyber security foundations in place every year. Many organisations with Cyber Essentials become more aware of complex cyber security threats and feel confident enough to continue to work on their cyber security throughout the year.

One possibility to further your awareness is with the Cyber Essentials Plus certification. As you can see, another simple name that explains exactly what it is! It is one step beyond Cyber Essentials. Cyber Essentials is based around filling out a questionnaire while the Cyber Essentials Plus is an audited assessment. A certification body, such as Data Connect, must carry out an audit of the core security controls. These controls are tested to ensure they protect organisations against the most common threats.

With both certifications, Data Connect will help you with your cyber security strategy. Working closely with you, we’ll perform 3 steps which are gap analysis, remedial actions and certification.  We have designed a unique security portal to ensure end to end certification and beyond. The portal lets you have an ongoing view of your progress throughout the year. By working with Data Connect you can be confident that your organisation can build on the foundations of cyber security.

We will be hosting a 30 minute webinar called “Making Cyber Essentials Work For You” on Tuesday 15^th December at 10am. If you would like to attend, please click this link. Within the webinar, there will be a chance for you to ask any questions. Alternatively, you can email us for more information at moreinfo@dataconnect.co.uk.