Cyber Essentials Certification
Cyber attacks are increasingly common, often carried out by attackers with low technical ability — yet they still cause serious disruption, data loss, financial damage, and reputational harm.
The UK Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme provides a clear, effective baseline for organisations to defend against the most common cyber threats.
At ICT Solutions, we guide you through Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus from start to finish — ensuring you meet all requirements, avoid common pitfalls, and maintain compliance year-round.
What Is Cyber Essentials Certification?
Cyber Essentials is a UK Government-backed certification that helps organisations of all sizes achieve strong foundational cyber security.
It focuses on five key technical controls:
FIREWALLS & SECURE CONFIGURATION
ACCESS CONTROL & PRIVILEGED ACCOUNTS
PATCH & VULNERABILITY MANAGEMENT
MALWARE PROTECTION
SECURE BOUNDARY AND DEVICE MANAGEMENT
Certification demonstrates to customers, suppliers, and partners that you take cyber security seriously.
Cyber Essentials Plus
If you want a higher level of assurance, Cyber Essentials Plus includes all the above — plus an independent hands-on technical audit.
This provides stronger evidence of your organisation’s cyber resilience and is often required for:
- Legal sector frameworks
- Public sector tenders
- Larger private sector supply chains
- Insurance validation
- High-value or sensitive data environments
How To Get The Cyber Essentials Certification?
Achieving certification is a structured process designed to transition your business from its current security state to the government-backed standard.
At ICT Solutions, we lead this journey by performing a gap analysis and readiness review to identify exactly where your defenses need strengthening. Our team then manages the heavy lifting, from technical remediation—such as configuring firewalls and implementing Multi-Factor Authentication—to the creation of essential security policies. Once your environment is secure, we complete the formal questionnaire and liaise directly with IASME or CyberSmart auditors to secure your certification.
It is important to note that a Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus certification remains valid for 12 months from the date of issue. To prevent a gap in your protection, we provide an ongoing managed service that tracks annual renewals and automatically updates your policies as new guidelines, such as the Willow requirements, are introduced.
Why Choose ICT Solutions?
We’re Certified Ourselves — Cyber Essentials & Cyber Essentials Plus
We maintain our own CE and CE+ certifications every year, including meeting the new Willow requirements. This means we understand the process inside-out and apply the same high standards to our clients.
Complete Done-For-You Service
We handle everything:
- Gap analysis & readiness review
- Policy creation (Access Control, Asset Management, Password Policy, etc.)
- Technical changes (MFA, patching, anti-malware, firewall configuration, secure backups)
- Completing the questionnaire on your behalf
- Liaising with CyberSmart / IASME auditors
- Managing annual renewals
- Rolling out guideline updates as they happen — not just at renewal time
Includes Required Security Software
We deploy the required security stack such as:
- Password manager
- Endpoint Detection & Response
- Vulnerability scanning
- Cloud backup & DR
- Email security enhancements
- Microsoft 365 security hardening
A Success Story — Everpool Recruitment
We recently guided Everpool Recruitment through successful Cyber Essentials certification, providing full end-to-end support and strengthening their long-term cyber posture.
Our collaborative approach ensured a smooth and empowering experience for their team.
Benefits of Cyber Essentials Certification
- Meet tender, public sector, and contract requirements
- Reduce cyber risk by up to 98%
- Increase customer trust & win new business
- Automatic Cyber Liability Insurance included* (where applicable)
- Demonstrate compliance with regulatory expectations
- Strengthen your organisation’s resilience
What’s Included in Our Managed CE Package?
Year 1 – Full Implementation
- Cyber Gap Analysis
- Policy & procedure setup
- Technical remediation
- Employee security configuration
- Assisted questionnaire completion
- Submission to IASME/CyberSmart
Year 2+ – Easy Renewals
- Ongoing monitoring
- Automatic policy updates based on new guidelines
- Renewal questionnaire support
- Annual recertification submission
Ready to Begin?
Whether it’s your first certification, a renewal, or upgrading to Cyber Essentials Plus, our experts will guide you every step of the way. Contact us today for more information.
0151 230 2424 Alternatively leave us a message via our contact form and we’ll get back to you!