At Drummond Laurie, we always take the security of our software and systems very seriously, as you would expect and we’d like to share our latest news as it may be beneficial to you.

We recently went through a process and are pleased to confirm that we are now Cyber Essentials Certified.

Cyber Essentials is a UK government backed scheme which is designed to help you protect your organisation, whatever it’s size, against the whole range of the most common cyber attacks.

These attacks can often be very sophisticated, but the majority of them are normally quite basic, and are carried out by someone relatively unskilled. A bit like someone walking along the road trying the doors of parked cars to see if they are unlocked.

The government scheme provides advice on making sure you have the basics of your systems secured, and by doing so, will help you prevent these types of attack. If you are bidding for certain government contracts which involve handling sensitive information or the provision of certain technical products and services then Cyber Essentials Certification is required.

Cyber Essentials consists of a checklist of various questions about your business, it’s software and applications and the devices you run them on, and how they all connect to the internet. There is also a guide covering exactly what the requirement are for each application / system for it to pass. There is a fee to pay, based on the size of your business, ranging from £300 + vat for smaller businesses to £500 + vat for large ones.

Once you complete the questionnaire then it is submitted to an independent assessor who reviews each of your answers and ensures you have completed the requirements to become certified. They will provide feedback on any areas where you haven’t quite reached the required standard, and you have a chance to make changes and submit a second set of answers before having to pay for a re-test.

Once you pass, you then become certified for a year, included on the central register of Cyber Essentials Certified Businesses and can display the scheme logo on your website, emails and letterheads.  More importantly you will have the peace of mind that your systems are protected against the most common attacks.

For more information, please visit  https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberessentials/overview