Learn about the Cyber Essentials fee and the benefits of getting certified. Understand what is required to obtain Cyber Essentials certification and how it can translate into increased revenue and a lower risk of losing money for your business.
What is Cyber Essentials Certification?
Cyber Essentials Certification is a UK government-backed scheme that helps organisations protect themselves against cyber-attacks. It provides a set of guidelines and requirements that organisations need to follow to ensure that they have the basic level of cybersecurity measures in place. Cyber Essentials Certification is becoming increasingly important as cyber-attacks continue to rise in frequency and sophistication.
What is Required to Obtain Cyber Essentials Certification?
To obtain Cyber Essentials certification, organisations need to follow these simple steps:
- Choose an Accredited Certification Body: Select a certification body that is accredited by the UK government to provide Cyber Essentials certification.
- Complete a Self-Assessment Questionnaire: Complete a self-assessment questionnaire to assess the organisation’s cybersecurity measures against the requirements of Cyber Essentials.
- Submit the Questionnaire to the Certification Body: Submit the completed questionnaire to the certification body for review.
- Certification Body Assessment: The certification body will review the questionnaire and perform an assessment of the organisation’s cybersecurity measures.
- Certification: If the organisation meets the requirements of Cyber Essentials, the certification body will issue the organisation with a certificate.
What is the Cyber Essentials fee that my business or organisation will pay to submit our self assessment?
While micro businesses and organisations pay a £300 assessment charge, small, medium and large organisations pay a little more, on a sliding scale that aims to better reflect the complexity involved in assessing larger organisations. The bigger and more complex the organisation, the longer it takes to review and give feedback on the assessment.
The new structure adopts the internationally recognised definition for micro, small, medium and large enterprises.
See the list below for current prices:
Micro organisations (0-9 employees) £300 +VAT
Small organisations (10-49 employees) £400 +VAT
Medium organisations (50-249 employees) £450 +VAT
Large organisations (250+ employees) £500 +VAT
What costs that I should budget for in addition to the cyber essentials fee?
You should also budget for:
Staff time to complete the questionnaire, or paying an agency to do this for you, which is often cheaper as their staff know all the questions inside out.
The price of upgrading any cyber security software, patches and staff training and so on, which you may need in order to meet the requirements of Cyber Essentials. The cost of this could be nothing if your cyber security is already in line with Cyber Essentials, or it could be fairly high if you are significantly in need of improvement.
A full repayment of your Cyber Essentials fee a second time if your first submission fails. There is no discount for second attempts, which is another strong economical argument for using professional help to make sure you pass first time.
What are the Benefits of Cyber Essentials Certification?
There are several benefits to obtaining Cyber Essentials certification, including:
Protection Against Cyber-Attacks: Cyber Essentials certification helps organisations protect themselves against cyber-attacks by ensuring that they have the basic level of cybersecurity measures in place.
Increased Revenue: Cyber Essentials certification can lead to increased revenue as it can help organisations win more contracts, particularly those with government and public sector organisations.
Lower Risk of Losing Money: Cyber Essentials certification can help organisations avoid the financial costs associated with cyber-attacks, such as loss of data, reputational damage and legal costs.
Customer Confidence: Cyber Essentials certification can increase customer confidence as it demonstrates that the organisation takes cybersecurity seriously and has measures in place to protect their data.
How do These Benefits Translate into More Revenues and a Lower Risk of my Organisation Losing Money?
The benefits of Cyber Essentials certification can directly translate into increased revenue and a lower risk of losing money for your business.
Increased Revenue
Cyber Essentials certification can help organisations win more contracts, particularly those with government and public sector organisations. This can lead to increased revenue for the business. For any public sector tender or bid that involves handling personal data under GDPR, you must have Cyber Essential Certification. This means that getting certified opens up a vast range of business options that are otherwise out of reach.
Companies dealing with the general public are increasingly finding that people are reluctant to share their credit card details to buy online when they don’t know the company. Displaying the Cyber Essentials badge on business websites can encourage trust among potential customers that their sensitive personal data will be safe.
Lower Risk of Losing Money
Cyber-attacks can be costly for businesses, both in terms of the financial costs associated with the attack and the damage to the organisation’s reputation. No less than 90% of businesses which lose money to cyber criminals, and fail to get it back, end up going out of business within a year, according to Companies House.
This statistic becomes particularly stark when you consider that about half of all UK companies report cyber breaches, and that’s only the proportion of companies that successfully detect them! Cyber Essentials certification can help organisations avoid these costs by ensuring that they have the basic level of cybersecurity measures in place.
Conclusion: The Benefits Outweigh the Costs of your Cyber Essentials Fee
In conclusion, Cyber Essentials Certification is becoming increasingly important as cyber-attacks continue to rise in frequency and sophistication. The Cyber Essentials fee is a small price to pay for the benefits that certification can provide, including protection against cyber-attacks, increased revenue, and a lower risk of losing money. If you haven’t already obtained Cyber Essentials certification, now is the time to take action and protect your business.
Useful links
The fixed Cyber Essentials fee for a guaranteed pass with Flywheel
Cyber Essentials to adopt tiered pricing structure from 2022
