Safeguarding Your Business Against Cyber Criminality with Cyber Essentials
In today’s digital age, the threat of cyber criminality is a growing concern. Cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated and frequent, targeting vulnerabilities in businesses of all sizes. This rising threat can lead to significant financial losses and damage to a company’s reputation, making proactive measures essential. By staying informed and implementing effective cybersecurity strategies, businesses can better protect themselves from these malicious activities.
Many business owners know that cyber security is something they should be focusing on but aren’t sure how to go about it, and need answers to key questions, such as:
- How do I safeguard my business against attack?
- How can I minimise the risk of business data breaches?
- How can I optimise my IT network for GDPR?
- How do I demonstrate to my customers that we take IT security seriously?
For businesses that are committed to protecting their network and business data, and to demonstrating their cybersecurity commitment, AMJ UK provides fully managed cybersecurity services that enables your business to gain and maintain Cyber Essentials certification.
Understanding Cyber Essentials
Cyber Essentials is a government-backed scheme created by the UK government in 2014 and coordinated by IASME. It is designed to help organisations protect themselves against a range of the most common cyber threats. By implementing Cyber Essentials, businesses can demonstrate their commitment to cybersecurity and ensure their IT security measures are robust and up-to-date.
Any business that works with public organisations or bids for government contracts must have Cyber Essentials certification, and all businesses are encouraged to attain it, to ensure compliance with online security standards, reassure customers and meet GDPR obligations.
What does Cyber Essentials cover
The Cyber Essentials accreditation consists of a series of 5 checks and technical controls that according to the UK Government, could prevent up to 80% of cyber-attacks.
Firewalls and internet gateway
Firewalls are crucial for safeguarding your business against unauthorised access. Ensuring their proper implementation is essential not only for compliance with Cyber Essentials but also for providing comprehensive protection for your business.
Secure Configuration
Secure configuration is vital for preventing security issues that arise from improper management. By configuring computer networks and devices to minimise vulnerabilities, you ensure that only essential services are available for users to perform their roles. This includes for example removing or disabling unnecessary user accounts, software, and auto-run features, implementing robust authentication methods before granting access, and enforcing device locking controls such as biometrics, passwords, or PINs.
User Access Control
Keeping access to your data and services as restricted as possible is absolutely crucial, and you need to make sure you think about the best ways of being able to achieve this in order to protect your company in the process. This includes for example that user accounts are assigned to authorised individuals only and access to services, applications and networks are limited to the user needs to carry out their role and that a password-based authentication is in place for all user accounts including protective measures such as MFA
Malware Protection
Safeguarding your business from malware is crucial for maintaining security. It’s important to explore the most effective strategies to enhance your protection measures.
Patch Management
The fifth pillar of Cyber Essentials is patch management, which is crucial for safeguarding your devices and software against vulnerabilities. Ensuring that your systems are protected from known security issues with available fixes is vital for enhancing your business’s safety and security measures.
Benefits of Cyber Essentials
There are also many business advantages to gaining Cyber Essentials certification beyond the obvious benefits of protecting your vital business data.
Optimised Business
Knowing that you are protected from most cyber threats will enable you to focus on your central goals and objectives, thus improving business efficiency.
Builds Customers and Partners Trust and Strengthen Reputation
Cyber Essentials certification reassures your customers that their data is protected according to industry best practices. It also demonstrates a commitment to cybersecurity and enhances your organisation’s reputation as a secure and reliable partner.
UK Government Security Standards Compliant
Cyber Essentials certification is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for public sector, local and national government tenders. Gaining Cyber Essentials certifications will give you a chance to work with the UK government.
Numerous industries are also adopting Cyber Essentials as a mandatory standard.
Optimised Business Insurance Cover
Cyber Essentials can potentially reduce your cyber insurance premiums and receive Cyber Insurance. Cyber Essentials also provides Up to £25K cyber essentials insurance.
Steps to achieve Cyber Essentials Certification
Getting Cyber Essentials certification requires a systematic process to meet the scheme’s strict compliance standards.
Indetify
Initially, organisations should undertake a comprehensive evaluation of their existing cybersecurity measures, benchmarking them against the five core controls. Scanning for vulnerabilities will help identify all aspects of an organisation’s IT infrastructure which are not in compliance with Cyber Essentials.
Fix
Weaknesses or security gaps found should be resolved. This may include adjusting system settings for better security, updating software as needed, and implementing strict access controls to protect important data.
Certify
Upon remediation of these issues, the organisation is required to complete the cyber certification process which reflects the organisation’s cybersecurity posture. The review process is designed to validate compliance with Cyber Essentials criteria, ensuring that the organisation has met all requisite standards.
Maintain
Following the successful evaluation by the certification body, the organisation is granted the Cyber Essentials certification. This certification serves as an attestation to the organisation’s commitment to robust cybersecurity practices and is valid for a period of 12 months.
However, maintaining data security is a continuous responsibility, requiring organisations to consistently uphold and update their security measures to ensure ongoing compliance.
How can AMJ IT Services helps your organisation achieve certification and maintain compliance
Our team at AMJ IT is equipped to provide full-scale support by managing the entire cyber essentials certification journey for your organisation.
We start by assessing your IT infrastructure and operational processes against the cyber essentials criteria, followed by delivering in-depth recommendations to make certain your organization is well-protected and prepared for a smooth accreditation process.
Additionally, our team of highly experienced technical professionals is ready to help by carrying out any necessary adjustments as a standalone project where needed, and they will collaborate with your organisation to ensure the attainment of your certification as quickly and efficiently as possible.
As part of the services, AMJ uses CyberSmart, a cloud based platform with instant online access offering guarantees to gain cyber essentials certification. It also offers constant monitoring of your IT network devices on security aspects covered by Cyber Essentials so you remain compliant on an ongoing basis.
Beyond Cyber Essentials
We collaborate with organisations to guide them through achieving Cyber Essentials certification. Our process begins with a thorough evaluation of IT systems and procedures, followed by a detailed report outlining the necessary modifications to meet certification standards. Additionally, we offer implementation services for these improvements at an additional cost. Once the required adjustments are made, our IT Specialists will conduct a formal evaluation to secure immediate certification.
For those seeking a higher level of assurance, Cyber Essentials Plus offers a more comprehensive certification that involves in-depth technical verification of security measures. This advanced certification includes both vulnerability scanning and an extensive audit of systems to ensure robust security.
We can also provide expert consultancy and support for Cyber Essentials Plus throughout every phase of the accreditation process.
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Whether you are looking for a new IT company to support your business, advise on a specific IT requirement or project or assistance or a specific area of your IT, our team will be happy to help.
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