Smarter Business Processes Achieves Cyber Essentials Certification

With cyber attacks on the increase, we at Smarter Business Processes (SBP) are taking precautions to future proof and safeguard our systems against potential attack. We are delighted to announce we are now Cyber Essentials Certified, awarded by UK government’s National Cyber Security Centre .  Read on to learn more about our Cyber security certification and guidance.

In 2022 only 54% of businesses acted to identify cyber security risks. We are proud to be in that 54% and have formalised this by securing our Cyber Essentials Certification 

Proactively managing cyber risk

While the majority of most cyber attacks are basic, vulnerability to basic attacks is still an issue. It marks you out as a target for more in-depth attacks from cyber criminals. 

At Smarter Business Processes, we take cyber security very seriously and this accreditation demonstrates our commitment to maintaining high standards of cyber security and to protecting both our clients’ sensitive data and our own systems, services and business information.. 

Our tools and Apps are built to be robust and resilient

We design and roll out tools and solutions designed to help clients manage and monitor their data. We implement API solutions to help integrate large amounts of data with external software. We understand the need to prioritise cyber security.

We are Cyber Essentials Certified

Smarter Business Processes are very excited to be Cyber Essentials Certified.  We achieved Cyber Essentials Certification through the IASME Consortium with Cyber Smart.

The Cyber UK Conference

At his speech to the Cyber UK Conference in Belfast, Tom Tugendhat, Minister for Security said,

“New findings released just yesterday from the Cyber Security Breaches Survey show that 32% of businesses experienced at least one cyber breach in the last 12 months.

This year the survey also tells us how many of these breaches resulted in real cybercrimes. We estimate that 11% of businesses fell victim at least once, costing each around £15,000 in a year. We must never lose sight of the fact that behind each of these online statistics is a real-world victim”

According to the Cyber Security Breach Survey 2022 39% of UK businesses identified a cyber attack last year. Among the organisations reporting cyber attacks, 31% of businesses and 26% of charities estimate at least weekly attacks.

 Cyber security – An Overlooked Concern

Despite the growing risk, tightening up cyber security is often overlooked by organisations. Upgrading and maintaining healthy security practices slips down the do list.  Many organisations believe they have highly developed secure technology platforms but fail to stay up to date. This may be due to a lack of knowledge or training.

The survey found that, despite growing concerns, only half of businesses (54%) acted in the past 12 months to identify cyber security risks.  One of the challenges businesses face is only having a limited understanding of cyber threats, with management opting to outsource to cyber protection. 

What is “Cyber Essentials”?   

Cyber Essentials is a Government backed, cyber essentials self-assessment scheme designed to support organisations against a wide variety of the most common cyber attacks. 

This Certification gives peace of mind that your defences will protect against the vast majority of common cyber attacks. And this is because such attacks are looking for targets without the necessary security controls in place.

Cyber Essentials online shows you how to address those basics and prevent the most common attacks.

To become Cyber Essentials certified, a company must demonstrate that their cyber security meets specified criteria set out under the rules of the scheme. These are specified under 5 technical controls: 

• Firewalls. Every device in scope must be protected by a correctly configured firewall (or equivalent network device). 
• Secure Configuration. Ensure that computers and network devices are properly configured to reduce the inherent vulnerabilities, and provide only the services required to fulfil their role. 
• User Access Control. Ensure user accounts are assigned only to authorised individuals, and provide access to only those applications, computers and networks actually required for the user to perform their role 
• Malware Protection. Restrict execution of known malware and untrusted software, to prevent harmful code from causing damage or accessing sensitive data.  
• Security Update Management. Ensure that devices and software are not vulnerable to known security issues for which fixes are available.

Each Cyber Essentials scheme Applicant must ensure that their organisation meets all the requirements. They must also supply evidence to confirm the above criteria has been met. The certification is valued for 12 months and must be up to date to retain certification. For more information view the detailed FAQ page.

SBP is delighted to announce that we have fulfilled all the requirements and are now officially Cyber Essentials Certified.

What Does this Mean for Smarter Business Processes and for you?

Securing this certification for Smarter Business Processes means that we have met the government requirements under the 5 control themes. We can offer greater protection and peace of mind to our clients to help manage cyber risk when dealing with:

• Sensitive and personal data
• Shared work spaces 
• Working collaboratively with cloud based software
• Sharing data across integrated software solutions

If you want to contact us about any of our services please register your interest here.

Next Steps

To learn more about Cyber Essentials watch the video below from Cyber Smart.