Things You Need to Know About Cyber Essentials PLUS

1. Cybersecurity is that responsibility which lies with every individual business. The UK Government is leading the agenda of cybersecurity for businesses with a range of initiatives and schemes. Perhaps the most useful for Small and Medium Enterprises is Cyber Essentials. Cyber Essential is a government-backed scheme that was launched by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills in 2014. The main aim of this scheme is to encourage organizations to adopt best practices for their information security strategy, and to make the UK a safer place for business. The Cyber Essentials scheme brings a lot of benefits to the organizations looking for certification. Differences between Cyber Essential and Cyber Essentials PLUS

2. The significant difference between these two 'levels' is that Essentials is focused very much on the external. While the Cyber Essentials entails the completion of a self-assessment questionnaire which is verified by the external certification body and the external vulnerability scan, on the other hand, Cyber Essentials PLUS requires an additional internal assessment and an internal scan which is conducted by a certification body. Cyber Essentials PLUS also requires twice the number of assessments to be conducted for your organization's security measures, including reviewing end-user workstation build and mobile devices, none of this is covered at Essentials level. Significant Benefits of Cyber Essentials PLUS Certification Here are the benefits that Cyber Essentials Plus certification provides to your organization in a nutshell: •Essentials PLUS encompasses a far greater level of Cyber assessments; this provides you with the better, more sound understanding of your company's levels of Cyber risk. •Essentials Plus certification clearly demonstrates your commitment towards protecting your own data and to that of your customers and suppliers.

3. •Essentials Plus certification provides a boost to your reputation and increases your chances of winning contracts. •Whilst Cyber Essentials allows organizations to work with the UK Government; Cyber Essentials PLUS offers you with the opportunity of working with the MOD. •Cyber insurance agencies often look for more favorable on organizations that have achieved the Cyber Essentials certification, mainly at a PLUS level.