Intel Security UK has certified its offerings against the UK Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme.
Developed by the UK government as part of a broader initiative to raise cybersecurity awareness and preparedness in businesses of all sizes, Cyber Essentials provides a set of criteria against which organizations can measure their cybersecurity systems. Achieving the certification demonstrates to customers that a business has taken basic and essential cybersecurity precautions.
Since October 2014, the UK government has required that organizations that handle sensitive and personal data are Cyber Essentials-certified in order to bid for public contracts.
“It was the right thing to do, and the government’s efforts to improve the resilience and security of its supply chain make absolute sense,” said Maurice Cashman, director of enterprise architects at Intel Security. “Cyber Essentials is designed to establish a level of consistency; it’s simple enough that organizations of all sizes can achieve it, and, importantly, it’s effective in nature.”
Intel worked with accreditation body APMG International to achieve the certification. APMG recently incorporated the Cyber Essentials scheme into its portfolio.
There are two levels of Cyber Essentials certification—Cyber Essentials is the standard level and is awarded after completion of a validated and verified self-assessment. To aid and facilitate the certification process, businesses are able to complete the assessment entirely through APMG’s online portal. Cyber Essentials Plus involves a more thorough assessment, which includes vulnerability testing. Both levels need to be renewed annually.
“The Cyber Essentials questions are well structured, but the interview with our assessor really helped us understand the spirit of things,” Cashman added. “The questions aren’t just black and white—it’s really a risk management process that requires understanding. APMG were very responsive in answering our questions and helped us engage with the context and how the scheme fits with our services in a very clear and accessible way. It was clear they were a good match for us.”
“The Cyber Essentials scheme provides a solid foundation of basic cybersecurity measures for all kinds of enterprises,” said Richard Pharro, CEO of APMG. “Our approach has been designed to make it easy for any size of organization to apply and be assessed with a minimum disruption to their day-to-day business activities. Through the Assurance Framework, companies can demonstrate to investors, customers and insurers they are committed to their cybersecurity.”