In today’s interconnected technological landscape, robust cyber security is a necessity and safeguarding your organisation against cyber threats is crucial. This is where Cyber Essentials comes in. It’s a scheme, endorsed by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and supported by industry leaders, and provides a reliable roadmap to help organisations protect against the most common cyber attacks.
The two levels of Cyber Essentials
Cyber Essentials offers two levels of certification, each serving a different need:
- Cyber Essentials is the foundational certification. It assures that your organisation has essential controls in place to guard against common threats. And it’s self-assessed, meaning no external verification is needed.
- Cyber Essentials Plus takes things up a notch. It incorporates network scanning, a comprehensive review of your organisation’s network to identify any vulnerabilities and is externally verified for added reassurance.
Both certifications are valid for a year and focus on the same five key areas: firewalls and routers, software updates and patching, malware protection, access control, and secure configuration.
The Benefits of Cyber Essentials
Despite what the TV and movies would have us believe; most successful cyber attacks aren’t complex, high-tech operations. They often exploit basic vulnerabilities such as weak passwords or outdated software. Implementing the controls outlined in Cyber Essentials can significantly reduce the risk from these attacks, making your organisation a more challenging target.
Beyond the enhanced security, these certifications also offer a tangible way to demonstrate your commitment to best practice security. In an increasingly interconnected world, this can significantly enhance trust with your supply chain and clients. In certain sectors, having a Cyber Essentials certification is not just beneficial, but a mandatory requirement.
Cyber Essentials at Agilio Software
Agilio Software has two current cyber and information security certifications. We hold a valid Cyber Essentials certificate which covers all Agilio end-user devices, firewalls, and internal networks. We are also in the process of achieving Cyber Essentials Plus for the same scope.
Additionally, our engineering function, which includes the development and hosting of all our applications processing customer data, holds a current ISO 27001 certification (through Clarity Informatics, trading as Agilio Primary Care).
As a leading healthcare operations solutions provider, we are fully committed to implementing enhanced security measures and controls to protect our systems and therefore our staff and customers from potential cyber threats.