Prove you care about customer data with Cyber Essentials Plus

"As a business that specialises in IT security, becoming Cyber Essentials Plus certified was very important to us and helps prove we take care of customer data," says Chris Joberns, Managing Director at Strident. "It is something we are encouraging our customers to do and we have a proven path to success."

Recently, two Strident customers have become Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus certified respectively and found the process very beneficial to their businesses.

"Shelbourne Reynolds Engineering Ltd recently completed the Cyber Essentials assessment, which gave us a clear insight into our current security level and created a foundation for our cyber security strategy going forward. It highlighted the benefits of two factor authentication in multiple areas of the business technical infrastructure, to further protect the core services, business data and applications from the ever-increasing risks of compromised passwords and cyber-attacks," explains Matthew Jarvis, IT Manager at Shelbourne.

David Savage, IT Manager at Chelmsford-based Currock Engineering Co. Ltd, explains that taking good care of business and customer data is an important part of customer care. "We deal with sensitive information and our customers are beginning to require Cyber Essentials Plus certification as a minimum. The process was handled very efficiently by Strident. They look after our IT needs anyway, so most of the work was done in the background with very little inconvenience to Currock."

Cyber Essentials Plus

Cyber Essentials is a UK government scheme that highlights security issues from internet-based threats. The scheme, which is run by the National Cyber Security Centre (part of GCHQ), has two certification levels; Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus. CE is a self-assessment that consists of a check-list of requirements that is submitted to an independent assessor to review.

Cyber Essentials Plus builds upon the basic accreditation with a much more detailed analysis and a technical assessor will visit your premises to verify your devices and procedures. There are ethical penetration tests to look for vulnerabilities. Strident can provide full technical support ahead of Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation and arrange for the independent technical assessor to complete the certification.

“Cyber Essentials Plus provides peace-of-mind and security for your business and customers. It shows you take your IT security seriously and can help prevent significant damage to your business," says Chris. "We are very proactive in IT security and many of the actions required, such as up-to-date security patches of software, are frequently carried out by us for our customers. This will enable our customers to reach the Cyber Essentials standard with ease.”

To find out more about Cyber Essentials Plus, call Strident on 01473 835 280.