Cyber Essentials

Cyber Essentials is the UK government-backed cyber security scheme that helps you win more business and gives clients confidence in your security. Offering both Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, we provide friendly support and advice to help you pass first time.

What is Cyber Essentials?

Cyber Essentials is a certification scheme to help protect organisations against the most common cyber security threats. It’s backed by the UK government and is recommended by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) as the minimum baseline standard that all organisations should meet.

Certification process

Choose the Cyber Essentials certification service you need on our online store.

We’ll open your account within one business day.

Fill out your Cyber Essentials self-assessment questionnaire.

We’ll perform an optional pre-check, then mark your answers and return your results to you within two business days.

If you’re not successful, you’ll have two days to remediate any issues.

If you’re successful, receive your Cyber Essentials certificate, valid for one year.

FAQs

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How long does Cyber Essentials take?

The certification itself does not take long – our standard marking time is two business days, assuming no remediation is required. However the time that you will need to prepare your organisation for Cyber Essentials and complete the questionnaire can vary from a few days to a few months, depending on how ready you are.

You will need to submit and obtain your certification within six months of opening your Cyber Essentials account.

Do you provide support?

Yes, all of our Cyber Essentials certifications come with an hour of phone or video call support, and unlimited email support to help you understand what is required to meet the Cyber Essentials controls.

We also offer a complimentary pre-check of Cyber Essentials applications, where we will attempt to identify major issues and inform you as to whether or not you are ready to submit yet.

Finally, if you need help implementing Cyber Essentials, we also offer consultancy, provided by our NCSC-accredited Cyber Advisors.

How do I know if my organisation is ready?

For a quick initial check you can use the free Cyber Essentials Readiness Tool (https://getreadyforcyberessentials.iasme.co.uk/) which will inform you as to where you may have gaps.

Beyond this, we offer Cyber Advisor consultancy to assist with gap assessments, implementation, policy creation and review to help your organisation meet the Cyber Essentials requirements. If you are interested in this service please contact us and we will reach out to understand your requirements.

What happens if I fail?

If your first attempt is not successful, you are entitled to one additional attempt providing it is made within two business days.

If your second attempt is also unsuccessful, you will need to purchase a new certification.

What if we had a different Certification Body last year?

This is not a problem, however please note that we may need to put an account transfer request in with IASME, which typically takes 1-2 business days before we can open your account.

Get Cyber Essentials certified quickly and easily

Order online from £320

About the scheme

The standard consists of five technical controls which must be implemented to pass certification each year, providing a simple security baseline for organisations  of all sizes.

Ensure users are authenticated, authorised, and only access what they need.

Configure devices to reduce attack surfaces and change insecure default settings.

Ensure systems, software and services are always supported and up-to-date.

Ensure malware protection is installed, working as expected and regularly updated.

Prevent unauthorised connections with firewall rule and secure the network boundary

two levels

cyber essentials

A self-assessment questionnaire about your implementation of the five technical controls.

cyber essentials plus

A technical audit to verify the implementation of the technical controls, typically conducted remotely on a representative sample of your devices and accounts.

Benefits

Demonstrate to customers that you are committed to security
Be eligible for additional government and commercial contracts
Free opt-in cyber liability insurance up to £25,000 (subject to terms)
Increase your resilience to common security threats
Implement NCSC-backed security best practices

Here to help you pass

Coldsurge is an authorised IASME Certification Body for Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, and all of our certifications are conducted in-house by our qualified assessors.

Whether this is your first Cyber Essentials or a renewal, our advisors will guide you through the process to make it as easy as possible, and help you stay compliant year after year.