Certify Your Cyber Security and Defend Your Data

Certify Your Business and Broaden Your Clientele

Although pushing forward in digital process, technologies and appliances can take businesses to new dimensions in the service and product that they can offer, sadly, doing everything online also means that you are instantly vulnerable to hackers. It doesn’t matter the size of your business either…

You may remember in 2017 that the NHS fell victim to ‘the biggest ransomware offensive in history’. During the attack, hospitals and doctors surgeries in parts of England were forced to turn away patients and cancel appointments after they were infected with ransomware, which scrambled data on computers and demanded payments of 0 to 0 per user to restore access.

The following year, British Airways faced their own hacking issue which saw that over 380,000 payments had been compromised over a 15-day data hack. This resulted in thousands of customers having their data stolen including name, billing address, email address and card payment information being compromised.

Not to mention the Cambridge Analytica scandal in the same year that saw taking the personal data of millions of people’s Facebook profiles without their consent and using it for political advertising purposes. This incident was described as a watershed moment in the public understanding of the personal data and precipitated a call for tighter regulation of tech companies’ use of personal data.

The MOD: Innovating In Cyber Security

With huge corporations facing such large and destroying attacks, action had to be taken to ensure the UK became more resilient to the sorts of attacks outlined above through both defensive and offensive measures.

The result was a Cyber Security Export Strategy, released by the government, outlining how they would support the cyber security sector in the current high threat climate. It aims to tackle foreign threats head on by engaging directly with UK businesses that may be at risk.

The Ministry of Defence have also invested heavily in supporting the UK cyber security industry and has been lauded for its collaboration with industry to combat the growing threat.

They have recruited and maintained an elite cyber workforce by investing heavily in their recruitment process to gain ‘cyber warriors’ who are at the forefront of cyber warfare. They also invested in cutting-edge information security technology to ensure those employees operate in one of the most secure working environments in the world.

Certifying Your Business With Cyber Essentials

As a result of these measures being put in place by the Ministry of Defence, it is now mandatory for businesses to be certified with a Cyber Essentials to bid for work and win contracts with the MOD and other central government.

Cyber Essentials is a government-backed and industry support scheme that helps businesses protect themselves against the growing threat of cyber-attacks and provides a clear statement of the basic controls organisations should have in place to protect them.

Along with being able to conduct work with the Ministry of Defence, it also enables organisations to showcase their credentials as trustworthy and secure when it comes to cyber security, taking a proactive stand against malicious cyber-attacks.

The certification provides a clear guideline and focused set of rules on the bare bones of cyber security for organisation of all sizes and offers a solid foundation of measures that can be implemented by any business at a low cost.

Let’s Get You Certified

As more businesses look to gain this accreditation, to stay in line with the competition and to provide optimum data security for your customers, it is smart business practice that you have this certification to your name.

Netmatters received the accreditation in 2017 and therefore understand the entire process. It means that we are able to perform a pre-MOT of your system security measures and identify what needs to be done so your organisation can achieve the accreditation yourselves.

When you are ready for the assessment, Netmatters will provide a completed Cyber Essentials application form in the correct format for the accreditation body Indelible Data, meaning that all of the work is done for you.

If you are ready to show your customers that you have Cyber Security at the forefront of your mind, we encourage you to get in touch with us today by calling 01603 515007 or by filling out the form below.