Cyber Essentials for Business

You are assessed by questionnaire. A board member from the organisation completing the assessment must certify the answers are true. The responses are then evaluated by an independent assessor who is certified to make the evaluation.

There are two parts to the assessment, the Cyber Essentials questions and an additional technical audit of systems that fall within the scope of Cyber Essentials, such as user devices and internet gateways.

The Cyber Essentials accreditation is part of the Cyber Essentials Plus assessment and needs to be completed before the audit which is part of the Cyber Essentials Plus assessment.

It can only take a few working days for your assessment to be reviewed and a decision reached. If your first assessment doesn’t go to plan, there’s an opportunity to rectify problems and complete the assessment again free of charge.

Many central government departments now require suppliers to be Cyber Essentials accredited; this includes the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health. Many large private organisations also look for an accreditation from contractors.

All Cyber Essential certificates expire after 12 months, before which you need to be re-assessed to continue having the Cyber Essentials accreditation.

No, they are different accreditations and assess different aspects of IT and cyber security. As they are different accreditations and are recognised as such, you can have both.

You can fail Cyber Essentials, for example, if you are using unsupported software you will fail the assessment. These issues should however be picked up and rectified during our questionnaire in step 2 of the process to get you ready to pass your Cyber Essentials Certification. 

If you fail, you have two days to address the feedback given and change any issues before reassessment. If you can do this within the two days and resubmit your application, there is no additional cost.

Once you’ve applied to complete the assessment you have six months in which to submit the assessment. If it isn’t done in that time you have to apply again.

Cyber Essentials is not a legal requirement, but accreditation does demonstrate your commitment to cyber security and your understanding of its importance.

For many clients and partners, this is reassuring and could potentially open more doors for you.

Any business which manages, receives or stores sensitive data in order to protect themselves and their clients. 

By completing Cyber Essentials through Syn-Star, you are likely to be eligible for up to £25,000 worth of Cyber Insurance for the first 12 months, subject to T&Cs.