We recently interviewed Rob, one of our Cyber Essentials assessor’s here at The Unite Group. Rob has received his qualification to be a Cyber Essentials Assessor. This means he can assess companies for the Cyber Essentials accreditation.
Cyber Essentials is a program from GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre. Achieving this accreditation gives companies security from known security vulnerabilities.
Rob talked us through some common FAQ’s surrounding Cyber Essentials and the scheme it follows.
What is the role of a Cyber Essentials Assessor within The Unite Group?
As a Cyber Essentials Assessor I am accredited to assess a company to see if they will meet the requirements of the Cyber essentials certification.
When a company wants Cyber Essentials accreditation, The Unite Group will do a quick survey to see how ready the company is for accreditation. Following this, I will advise if there are any changes likely required to meet the accreditation. After the company has applied for the accreditation, and any changes have been made in order to comply, I go through the details of a company and assess this against the Cyber Essentials specification, and will ultimately give the company there grade.
Why is it important to get a Cyber Essentials Certification?
Cyber Essentials is a accreditation developed in partnership with the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ. Cyber Essentials gives a company a well rounded foundation in security that will mitigate the majority of attacks that companies face. With a Cyber Essentials Certification a company can demonstrate to it’s clients or other business that they are prepared to protect themselves from a cyber attack. This can also be used to demonstrate that the company is insurable against a cyber attack coming. For some companies it would be possible to get insurance as part of the Cyber Essentials certification.
How can Cyber Essentials help protect businesses?
Cyber Essentials demonstrates that your business has various security practices in place. Cyber Essentials has various requirements for how to secure your business routers, firewalls, services, end user devices, and to secure users access.
Your companies router and firewall is what keeps your companies network protected from the general internet. This is just as important as the walls and doors that prevent an attacker just walking in. You may have much of your companies information running on important services. Think of how hard it would be if you didn’t have access to emails for a day!
What is involved in the Cyber Essentials process?
To apply for Cyber Essentials there is a form that demonstrates that your business has all the protections in place. You have to provide evidence of the policies and processes. As well as technical measures that your business has in place to protect the business. These will demonstrate that the measures in place are sufficient to meet the requirements of Cyber Essentials.
How can The Unite Group support businesses through the process?
The Unite Group can help by updating your business to have all of technical measures in place to meet the requirements of Cyber Essentials. We can provide the evidence that is required. Likewise we can provide the details of any technical measures that are in place to protect your business.
The Unite Group can go through all the questions required with you and make sure that you know what is required. We also go through what is currently in place, so you know if there are any changes that your business needs to make in order to achieve the Cyber Essentials accreditation.
Once your business is ready to apply for Cyber Essentials The Unite Group can prepare the final document, and submit this for examination.
Interested in learning more or perhaps you have some questions you’d like answered about Cyber Essentials? Arrange a call with Dean today!