Why Cyber Essentials Plus over Basic?

What is Cyber Essentials Plus?

Cyber Essentials (CE) is a government-backed security certification and accreditation scheme that protects against a wide variety of cyber-attacks. Organisations without robust security are vulnerable to attack - and are regularly identified as on-going targets for cyber criminals. The CE building blocks and accreditation process are smart ways to demonstrate your commitment to cyber security and data protection.

Once CE Basic certification has been achieved, companies can easily progress to Cyber Essentials Plus, the most secure level of the Government backed programme. It’s an independent assessment audit to verify that all security measures identified in the Basic certification process are deployed in your business.

The CE Basic certification is essentially an unverified accreditation, and responses via a short answer question (SAQ) process can only be fully confirmed and proved through an official audit. 

CE Plus provides businesses with an independent assessment of their cyber security measures, helping them identify and address weaknesses. It’s fast becoming the ‘de-facto’ standard of proof to customers that an external audit has been completed, and your business is fully certified and aligned with all the Cyber Essentials controls. 

Reasons to Progress from Basic to Plus

Key reasons to progress from CE Basic to CE Plus are:

• Externally accredited certification builds trust and confidence in a business, leading to increased sales and customer loyalty.

• Cyber Essentials Plus offers guaranteed assurance that your cyber security meets robust, externally recognised standards.

• It’s already required for many Government, Education, and Public Sector contracts, especially where sensitive data is handled.

• Promoting your Plus status and credentials will give you a competitive edge over companies that don’t have it.

• Qualified technicians undertake the external assessment audit, providing a greater understanding of your current status and future security strategy needs.

Cyber Essentials Plus Vulnerability Assessment

As an initial step, we’ll internally assess your organisation against the Cyber Essentials Plus requirements, without the pressure of an official assessment - including a full compliance status report with any remedial action required, and guidance to achieving Cyber Essentials Plus – which you can progress independently or with us.

Cyber Essentials Plus - Assured Pass

The Cyber Essentials Plus audit result is a pass or fail outcome. We recommend working with us to firstly assess and consolidate your security position before commencing the external audit. Our partner driven assessment programme with Cyber Tec Security (an IASME Certification Body) offers unlimited practice scans and consultations with dedicated assessment experts, ensuring your Cyber Essentials Plus compliance is achieved in the most efficient and secure way.In a period of economic uncertainty and unrelenting cybercrime, it’s vital to review and update your security credentials. Our Professional Services security experts and partnership with Cyber Tec Security will ensure you become Cyber Essentials accredited to your preferred level.