Cyber Essentials: A guide to the Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications

Cyber attacks are a fact of life in the information age. For any organisation that connects to the Internet, the issue is not if an attack will come, but when. Most cyber attacks are performed by relatively unskilled criminals using tools available online. These attacks are often opportunistic: looking for easy targets rather than rich pickings.

The Cyber Essentials scheme is a UK government-backed effort to encourage UK-based organisations to improve their cyber security by adopting measures (called controls) that defend against common, less-sophisticated cyber attacks. The scheme recommends practical defences that should be within the capability of any organisation.

The Cyber Essentials scheme has two levels:

1. The basic Cyber Essentials; and
2. Cyber Essentials Plus.

This first part of this book will examine the various threats that are most significant in the modern digital environment, their targets and their impacts. It will help you to understand whether your organisation is ready for Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus certification.

The second part of the book presents a selection of additional resources that are available to help you implement the controls or become certified.