The Cyber Essentials for your business - a quick guide

Earlier this month, a new partnership was announced between the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the IASME Consortium to relaunch the 'Cyber Essentials' Scheme.

You may recall that back in 2019, Clumber Consultancy became the first in our sector to achieve the Government's Cyber Essentials Plus and IASME Audited Gold Awards.

Cyber Essentials is a Government backed scheme which has proven to be hugely popular and successful with organisations seeking to protect themselves against the most common online cyber threats.

As a specialist consultant, Jo Austin helped us elevate our procedures to these industry leading standards. Jo then joined us full-time later in the Autumn to help our clients ensure that the highest standards of data security are adhered to in situations needing the utmost care, sensitivity and security, especially in the case of an insolvency.

Here, Jo gives 5 top tips to ensure that your business is working with the security of your data, your customers and of course, your teams as a priority.

• Boundary Firewalls and Gateways – Configured correctly, these devices protect your network from the internet by only allowing the traffic you trust to access your network.
• Secure Configuration – Configuring ALL devices so that only the software you NEED is installed reduces the footprint of cyber risk.
• Access Control – Only allowing access to information or resources that are required reduces the risk of data being lost or stolen.
• Malware Protection – Specific software whose only function is to prevent your devices from infection or malicious code.
• Patch Management – Patches (updates) almost always contain vulnerability fixes and should be applied ASAP to ensure your devices are as protected as possible.

To chat to Jo and the team about protecting your organisation or Cyber Essentials accreditation email Jo on jaustin@clumberconsultancy.co.uk