Looking through any technology news now-a-days is enough to instigate an enormous amount of fear for your business. In addition, firms are buying Cyber Insurance in a “Mad Panic”. Perhaps this is the wrong way to go about it. After all, the best way to fight cyber attacks is to prevent them. That’s were Cyber Essentials Plus comes in.
What is Cyber Essentials PLUS?
It’s a 360° shield for your business’s network. Cyber Essentials PLUS tells you exactly what you need to be fully secured. It is a Government scheme that encourages organisations to adopt good practice and procedures in their cyber security measures.
Essentially, it comes into two levels of certification:
- Cyber Essentials – This is a self-assessment of the company’s systems and will ask you questions such as, is your data backed up? Do you have systems in place to prevent cyber attacks? And are your staff educated in these procedures?
- Cyber Essentials PLUS – is all the above but verified by an assessor where your systems are tested for vulnerabilities and if you pass you can be at peace in regard to cyber crime.
Here at Ingenio Technologies, we achieved the Cyber Essentials Plus last October, and now that it’s getting nearer to the GDPR legislation, it’s becoming even more important that businesses incorporate Cyber Essentials into their business.
What has Cyber Essentials got to do with GDPR?
Cyber Essentials PLUS is all about securing and protecting your data and your business. Furthermore, GDPR involves putting security at the forefront of any business decision. It means ensuring you have done everything as a business to protect the data you hold about people.
Having a Cyber Essentials Plus Accreditation is a good foundation for GDPR because it shows you have reviewed your Company’s Network and put in place a standard set of security measures.
What having a Cyber Essentials Plus Accreditation means for you.
Having a Cyber Essentials Plus Accreditation means you will be Government approved and protected in terms of securing and protecting your business and your data, and as a result, contributes a huge piece of the puzzle to becoming GDPR compliant.
Please understand that if your businesses technology is not adequately up to date in terms of protection, it will take some work and investment to become Cyber Essentials Plus Certified. This is because there are 5 areas in which Cyber Essentials Plus focuses on:
- Boundary firewalls and internet gateways
- Secure configuration
- Access control
- Malware protection
- Patch management
If you would like to find out more about Cyber Essentials Plus, or think you are ready to officially secure your business and data, you can contact us on 01273 806211, or email at [email protected]
