Reap the Rewards of a Cyber Essentials Accreditation
As you may already know, Cyber Essentials is a government scheme that helps schools protect themselves from all forms of cyber-attacks.
What is Cyber Essentials Accreditation?
The baseline Cyber Essentials accreditations consists of a self-assessment against five basic security controls (firewalls, secure configuration, user access control, malware protection and patch management) and the most common cyber-attacks schools experience. A qualified assessor then verifies the assessment.
Schools can choose to further their accreditation with Cyber Essentials Plus. Cyber Essentials Plus works differently in the way your school is evaluated. Passing this accreditation involves a physical, technical audit of your systems, testing that the five security controls mentioned above, are effective. This hands-on approach is for those who require a more in-depth audit of the controls, want to work with the MOD, and those who have staff remote working in several locations.
What are the benefits of gaining a Cyber Essentials Certification?
There are many benefits to getting Cyber Essentials Accredited. These rewards are not only directly attributed to your school security but also provides front facing boosts and advantages.
Protection Against Cyber-Attacks
Cyber Essentials Accreditation provides protection for 80% of the most common cyber-attacks. Currently reviewing, implementing and or updating the five basic security controls mentioned above provides protection for 80% of the most common cyber-threats.
A large majority of the attacks that target schools are quite basic and easy to deal with. However, without the proper systems and strategy, many will still fall victim and be exploited. With Cyber Essentials, you can rest assured that your school is protected against these straightforward, easy to deal with threats, whilst implementing strong strategies for larger threats.
Boost Your Reputation & Parent Confidence
Getting Cyber Essentials Accredited certifies your school takes cyber security seriously. Being able to show off your accreditations on your website, premises and documents will further boost your reputation as a school who is cyber secure.
With hybrid learning becoming more popular, staff, parents and other stakeholders can feel at ease knowing your school has cyber security accreditations.
Ensures GDPR Best Practice & Avoid Fines
By now, GDPR compliance and best practice should be a given. Unfortunately, many have still not taken the required action to ensure best practice. Hefty fines and damaged reputation are still on the table for those not yet compliant.
Even if you do fall victim to a security breach, a Cyber Essentials Accreditation will show your compliance to GDPR and that your school did everything to stop and prevent a security breach. This in turn will fall in your favour to avoid receiving a large fine from the ICO.
Reduced Cyber Security Insurance Costs
As previously alluded to, Cyber Essentials Accreditation shows that you take cyber security seriously and are doing your best to stay cyber secure
Cyber Essentials Accreditation can reduce and, in some cases, can provide free Cyber Security insurance for schools. “You must fit the following criteria to be eligible for free Cyber Insurance:
Your organisation must have Cyber Essentials Certification at either the basic or plus level
You must be certified with an IASME certification body
Your organisation must turnover under £20,000,000
Your organisation must be domiciled in the UK” - Cyber Essentials Accreditation provides free Cyber Security Insurance.
How can I reap the rewards?
The above mentioned are just some of the many benefits that a Cyber Essentials accreditation can bring. Whilst the process of gaining accreditation can be an extensive one, it is certainly worthwhile.
To begin benefitting from Cyber Essentials, getting accredited is the first step. But where do you start? How can you begin your journey?
Book a free Cyber Essentials Consultation visit with the Sweethaven team to discuss further. In the meantime, why not request a FREE copy of our Cyber Essentials Checklist to self-asses your schools readiness for a Cyber Essentials accreditation:
