On 23rd October, the 10-year anniversary of Cyber Essentials was marked with an event at the House of Lords in London.
Chris Ensor, Deputy Director for Cyber Growth at the National Cyber Security Centre urged all organisations to make the scheme a foundational part of their cyber resilience and signposted to NCSC-recognised Cyber Advisors as a way of helping organisations implement the five controls.
Also speaking at the 10th anniversary event was the Minister for AI and Digital Government, Feryal Clark. She gave a speech reflecting on the success of the scheme – and how it plays an important part in making the UK more cyber resilient.
The minister urged more businesses, organisations and their suppliers to adopt the scheme and take the steps needed to ensure we can continue to deliver a safe digital economy.
During the event, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), alongside the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the UK’s leading banks including Barclays UK, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest, Santander UK and TSB Bank issued a joint statement. They emphasised the critical importance of cyber security across the business supply chain and called for more businesses to adopt the Cyber Essentials scheme.
To mark this event, a brochure, “Ten Years of Cyber Essentials” was published and is now available for you to download and share.
The Ten Years of Cyber Essentials brochure opens with a timeline of the scheme from its launch in 2014.
In the introduction, Deputy Director of the National Cyber Security Centre, Chris Ensor speaks of the evolvement of Cyber Essentials and says he still believes it is one of the best tools available to protect the majority of organisations from the majority of cyber attacks. He talks about identifying the controls that really matter and finding evidence to back that up.
The brochure goes on to detail the impressive facts and stats and key insights about the growing cyber security scheme. A notable theme is the growth of the network of Certification Bodies and Cyber Advisors across the UK and Crown Dependencies. Many of these expert cyber security businesses have experienced significant growth themselves as well as being part of an expanding ecosystem.
The section, ‘Extending support’ details the levels of help and support offered to help UK organisations increase their cyber resilience and achieve certification. The document heralds the success of the Funded Cyber Essentials Programme, Cyber Essentials Pathways proof of concept and the Cyber Essentials Readiness Tool.
The brochure also includes case studies that illustrate the different roles that Cyber Essentials can play, from securing the sensitive data of a Womens’ Aid charity to securing the internal supply chain of the UK’s largest pensions and life company.
The document provides a thorough review of Cyber Essentials as a supply chain tool. In the conclusive section titled ‘Cyber Essentials – Future Ambitions’, it is emphatically stated that the function of Cyber Essentials as a tool for third-party assurance is fundamental to the strategic vision and prospective goals for the scheme’s evolution.
Download the ‘Ten Years of Cyber Essentials’ brochure here
Read the NCSC’s blog ‘A decade of Cyber Essentials’
Read the NCSC’s press release