Cyber Essentials
Certification within as little as 24 hours
Win more business, meet contractual obligations and get certified fast with the UK’s leading Cyber Essentials certification body.
Unlimited attempts. Unrestricted support. One low price.
Cyber Essentials is a Government-backed scheme proven to protect organisations against common cyber attacks and is a requirement for government contracts.
CyberSmart is the UK’s leading Cyber Essentials certification body, delivering fast, hassle-free certification as and when you need it.
Digital portal
CyberSmart’s proprietary digital questionnaire captures and remembers your answers. With in-platform guidance, advanced security features, unlimited support and a highly intuitive platform, getting certified couldn’t be quicker or easier.
Autofill
Enjoy automatic filling of Cyber Essentials answers and save hours checking your inventory, when you take out an Active Protect subscription. Autofill answers ensure you have the latest and most up-to-date information about your systems and devices, without having to lift a finger.
Reporting
Insightful status and stage icons ensure you know exactly where you are in the certification process, as well as what to do next. In addition, Smart Score reporting surfaces your level of risk and what you can do to mitigate it.
Unlimited attempts and support
By default, we offer our customers unlimited attempts to achieve certification at no additional cost. So whether it’s your first or your hundredth time, you get access to the same level of support and care from our UK-based team of IASME-accredited auditors.
Digital certificate of completion
Prove your cyber credentials with a digital certificate of completion and utilise our badges in your marketing materials to demonstrate your commitment to security.
Free £25,000 insurance
Get £25k free cyber insurance coverage when you take out certification with CyberSmart.
Coverage includes:
- Security and privacy liability
- Cyber extortion
- Network interruption
- Event management
- 48 hour free AIG First Response Service
Of course, we’d love to be able to cover everything but some exclusions do apply. Examples of these include:
– There is a £1,000 excess (increasing to £5,000 for claims emanating from activities in the USA or Canada)
– Six hours Network Interruption retention
– Money that may be stolen via electronic means or cyber fraud
Full details of what is and is not covered can be found in your Policy wording.
Partner with the UK’s leading Cyber Essentials and Plus certification body
1000s of businesses have been certified through CyberSmart
Protection from 99.8% of cyber threats
What our customers say
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Complete Cyber Confidence
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Further strengthen your security with
Complete Cyber Confidence
Complete Cyber Confidence is CyberSmart’s cybersecurity framework. It refers to an organisation’s trust in its ability to protect its digital assets, data, and systems from unauthorised access, cyber-attacks, and data breaches.
Cyber Essentials Plus
Cyber Essentials Plus is a government-endorsed scheme which provides auditor-led validation of your cybersecurity setup, giving you peace of mind and access to expert support.
Active Protect
Active Protect is an endpoint monitoring and management product, enhanced with IT policy workflows and embedded cyber awareness training. It provides round-the-clock protection and gives you the tools to up skill and train your employees with ease.
Ransomware & Recovery Toolbox
Best practice frameworks and solutions to prevent and recover from ransomware attacks fast. Dedicated plans and insurance to ensure that you’re protected should the unexpected come to pass.
Privacy Toolbox
Meet your business’ regulatory requirements with dedicated workflows, support, assessments and privacy policies. Give your customers peace of mind, by proving your GDPR credentials and providing customers with a process to ask questions about their data.
Insurance
Our free £100K insurance not only covers your financial liabilities, penalties and business recovery, but it also gives you access to 24/7 breach response services.
Frequently asked questions
Cyber Essentials is a UK Government backed scheme, to ensure businesses implement a set of basic technical controls to protect themselves against common online security threats. Cyber Essentials is suitable for all organisations, of any size, in any industry.
The 5 technical controls are:
- Firewalls
- Secure configurations
- Applying access controls
- Anti-Malware measures
- System maintenance
Certification can be achieved in as little as 24 hours and only requires 4 steps.
1. Once you have purchased a Cyber Essentials subscription, you will be given access to our platform where you can input your evidence for the controls. Helpful tips and guidance will also be provided to support your application submission.
2. The next step is submitting your application. If you are unsure as to whether you’ve provided the right information, our experts are available on live chat for support or, alternatively, you will receive feedback on each failed check at step three.
3. One of our IASME accredited auditors will review your application and for any failed checks, will provide what steps need to be taken in order to fix them.
4. Once you have passed all your checks and a successful submission has been made, you will be provided with a digital certificate of completion as well as badges to be used in your marketing materials. You will also be added to IASME’s database of certified organisations, should your partners or customers want to verify it.Not for CyberSmart customers. We provide an online questionnaire with clear guidance and examples of what’s required to pass each check, free support and advice as well as unlimited attempts at no extra cost.
CyberSmart operates a yearly rolling subscription. This is to ensure that you never miss your re-certification deadline or open yourself up to attacks.
Set V14 (Montpellier)
Yes. It is highly advised that any company doing business in the UK, even if they are based overseas, should get certified. Not only does it demonstrate a commitment to security, but also many business contracts in the UK require organisation’s to have Cyber Essentials.
There are a number of reasons why using spreadsheets for Cyber Essentials is not advised.
- Lack of strong security features
- Disorganised version control
- Manual data input and collection
Instead, we recommend using a digital portal, like CyberSmart’s, to ensure that your business’ most critical information is captured and protected. Moreover, our smart notification system will ensure that you’ll never miss re-certification or have a day without protection.
There are no known downsides to Cyber Essentials and additional certifications can be used in parallel with it. However, it is highly advised that businesses take out a Cyber Essentials Plus audit, as it ensures there is external validation of checks, as well as the added assurance of passing cyber-attack simulations. For more enhanced protection, we would also recommend products such as Active Protect, which scans your devices and software daily for any vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. It also comes with training and policy management which should reduce the likelihood of a breach.
Sutcliffe Insurance Brokers Ltd trading as Sutcliffe & Co is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Number 306068. Individual cover purchased online is offered on a standardised and non-advised basis. Terms, conditions and coverage limits are predetermined by the Underwriter. If you require bespoke coverage offered on an advised basis, please contact Sutcliffe & Co directly at enquiries@sutcliffeinsurance.co.uk