Notes to Editors

Cyber Essentials aims to help organisations implement basic levels of protection against cyber attack, demonstrating to their customers that they take cyber security seriously.  The scheme is available at two levels:

• Cyber Essentials – an independently verified self assessment. Organisations assess themselves against five basic security controls and a qualified assessor verifies the information provided.
• Cyber Essentials PLUS – a higher level of assurance. A qualified and independent assessor examines the same five controls, testing that they work in practice by simulating basic hacking and phishing attacks.

The five basic controls within Cyber Essentials were chosen because, when properly implemented, they will help to protect against unskilled internet-based attackers using commodity capabilities – which are freely available on the internet.

Organisations that undertake Cyber Essentials are encouraged to recertify at least once a year and, where appropriate, progress their security.

Since 1 October 2014, Cyber Essentials became a minimum requirement for bidding for some government contracts (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0914-cyber-essentials-scheme-certification

For further information please see www.cyberstreetwise.com\cyberessentials