“Hello everybody. It’s Matt here from Solutions for IT. A lot of people think IT only makes sense if you’ve got a degree in computer science. We don’t. We think if you can explain it simply, people can make better decisions. So let’s lift the curtain and see what’s really going on. Today’s frequently asked question is, what is Cyber Essentials and does my business need it?
When a lot of people hear the word Cyber Essentials, and immediately assume it’s another complicated IT certification, another box-ticking exercise, another hurdle to jump through. It isn’t. Cyber Essentials is actually much simpler than that. It’s a government-backed certification that helps small- to medium-sized businesses protect themselves against the most common cyber attacks.
It focuses on the basics, not hundreds of technical controls- just the things every business should already be doing: keeping your devices up to date, using supported software, protecting against malware, managing who has access to your systems, and securing your internet connections with properly configured firewalls. It’s built around just five technical controls. Get those right, and you’ve significantly reduced your chance of becoming an easy target. Think of it like locking up your office at the end of the day. You lock the doors, close the windows, set the alarm. None of these things guarantees that nobody will ever break in. But together, they make your business a much harder target than one that’s been left wide open. Cyber Essentials does exactly the same thing for your IT. It’s about demonstrating that you’ve taken sensible, practical steps to protect your business. Increasingly, that’s becoming something customers expect.
We’ve worked with businesses that couldn’t even tender for contracts until they achieved Cyber Essentials certification. One engineering company needed it simply to continue to remain a part of a major manufacturer’s supply chain. Without the certification, they weren’t even invited to put in another quote. So this isn’t just about cyber security. It’s about credibility, it’s about protecting your business, and for many organisations, it’s about opening the door to new opportunities.
If you’re wondering about the differences between Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, we’ll put a link to the national cyber security website down below. So, there you have it. The question isn’t, ” Do I need cyber essentials? The real question is, can my customers trust that I’m taking cyber security seriously? Wait, thanks for watching. Callum’s giving me the wrap-up signals, our guy in marketing, who stays just out of the shot of the camera, so I better stop there. Look out for more frequently asked questions, coming soon. Bye for now.“
