Cyber Essential is a government-backed scheme aiming to help businesses become more cyber secure. As hacking and cybercrime are rising with the rise of technology, companies must be able to protect their data. Here are five huge reasons your business would benefit from getting a Cyber Essentials certification.
Basic Cyber-Security
This assessment includes over 35 cyber security tests that your business must pass to achieve the certificate. This gives your business a great start to its journey in Cyber Security. Having the basics for your business will help protect your data and educate you on the bare minimum of security that you need to have. Without this, your business’s data is seriously exposed to the dangers of cyber attacks and may not recover if one occurs.
Internal Culture
Taking part in a cyber security assessment will be a great way to educate members of your business on cyber security. Many people don’t know much about cyber security and its importance. Not only that, but it will also assist in educating everyone in the business on their responsibilities to help prevent cyber-crime and keep the company protected. Your business is only as strong as the people within it. If even one employee has not been educated on cyber security, this could cause a significant risk of a cyber-attack hitting the business, and it makes a considerable impact.
Customer Confidence
Once the Cyber Essentials scheme is completed and passed, you can show the certification on your website, email footer and office. This then shows any existing and potential business partners or existing and potential customers that you take cyber security seriously and have made steps to provide cyber security. Your company is then going to be much more trustworthy. As more businesses learn about technology and the dangers of cyber attacks, any businesses without apparent efforts to secure their data may be excluded and replaced by a company that does and lose customers.
Independent Assessment
How do you know if your business is cyber secure without certification? If you’re a business that uses an external IT company, you should still be checking to see if they are certified, not just you. This is because they have our data, and if they are not secure themselves, how could you know that they take their cyber security seriously, let alone yours?
Government Contracts
If a business wishes to build a contract or relationship with a government organisation or local authority, you must be able to prove that you are cyber secure. Therefore, if you achieve the Cyber Essentials scheme, there is more possibility for business expansions and opportunities. Without this certification, it may be a lot more challenging to collaborate or connect with others as they will not be able to trust sharing their data with you unless you can give evidence to say you have taken steps to protect your data, and as a result of this, theirs as well.
If you wish to find out more about cyber security and the Cyber Essentials Assessment, we have a blog available here and a YouTube video available here.
