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Cyber Essentials is a simple but effective, Government backed scheme that will help you to protect your business against a whole range of the most common cyber-attacks.

Cyber-attacks come in many shapes and sizes, but the vast majority are very basic in nature, carried out by relatively unskilled individuals.

They’re the digital equivalent of a thief trying your front door to see if it’s unlocked. Our advice is designed to prevent these attacks.

This is important because vulnerability to simple attacks can mark you out as target for more in-depth unwanted attention from cyber criminals and others.

Certification gives you peace of mind that your defences will protect against the vast majority of common cyber-attacks simply because these attacks are looking for targets which do not have the Cyber Essentials technical controls in place.

Cyber Essentials shows you how to address those basics and prevent the most common attacks.

There are two levels of certification:

Cyber essentials (you need to complete the following question with a member of Lucid’s team)

The questionnaire covers some of the basic technical and procedural controls that need to be in place, including:

• Boundary firewalls and Internet gateways are used to protect information and computers on an organisation’s network from unauthorised access from the Internet.
• Secure configuration. All network devices should provide only the services required to fulfil their role, and should be configured in a way that reduces the level of vulnerabilities that are inherent in default installations.
• Access control. User accounts, especially administrator accounts, should be assigned only to authorised individuals, and should provide the minimum level of access necessary.
• Malware protection. It is essential that computers that are connected to the Internet have malware protection installed.
• Patch management. Software running on all PC/Servers should be kept up to date and have the latest security patches installed. Each question has a weighted scoring. Lucid will complete these forms on your behalf.

Cyber Essentials PLUS

Since Cyber Essentials PLUS mandates a technical assessment either remotely or onsite

In addition to the questionnaire and external scan, it is considered a more extensive assessment, and therefore provides greater confidence that an organisation is better protecting its information assets. Lucid highly recommend this option, especially to larger organisations whose supply chains may have particularly stringent requirements, as, overall, it is a more thorough assessment.

As with Cyber Essentials basic, you will need to decide your scope; which systems, and whether mobile devices will need to be included, as well as desktops and servers.

Why should you get Cyber Essentials?

• Reassure customers that you are working to secure your IT against cyber-attack and take the threats seriously.
• Attract new business with the promise you have cyber security measures in place
• You have a clear picture of your organisation’s cyber security level
• Some Government contracts require Cyber Essentials certification such as MOD who put into any new suppliers from 6th April has to have the certification other public sector organisations will follow suit
• It prepares you for being GDPR compliant
• Can be eligible for free cyber insurance cover

How much does Cyber Essentials cost?

The standard Cyber Essentials self-assessment costs approx. £500 Lucid then charge a consultation price and per device. The consultation includes a face-to-face or video conference call with one of our consultants who will highlight the gaps you need to address to be compliant with the scheme. We then apply on your behalf and issue the certificate.

The Cyber Essentials PLUS certification is more in depth and is a bespoke cost this which includes the self-assessment, on-site vulnerability scan, a report highlighting major non-compliance’s along with a full assessment report.

Cyber Essentials PLUS includes an on-site vulnerability assessment and authenticated configuration and patch level assessments of a sample of servers and end-user computing environment. Cyber Essentials PLUS allows organisation to bid for advanced government contracts.

How can my organisation become Cyber Essentials certified?

Lucid Technology Solutions is an accredited certification body for Cyber Essentials it is very easy to request a free cyber security audit simply call our sales department for appointment

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