Firm urges others to get cyber savvy after achieving rare certification

Tech firm L.E.A.D. IT Services is urging businesses to bolster their online defences after achieving a rare certification.

The business recently joined just one per cent of UK businesses who have achieve Cyber Essentials Plus certification.

The company, which works with more than 250 businesses, schools and multi-academy trusts across the UK on their IT provision and management, underwent a rigorous independent audit process to achieve the top-level certification.

Managing director Lee Jepson has now urged other businesses to get Cyber Essentials Plus certified to help protect themselves against increasing online threats.

He said: “We are very proud of our Cyber Essentials Plus certification, which involved commitment on our part to undergo the process.

“But I’m concerned at how few other businesses out there have got this level of cyber security.

“I’d urge other firms to consider it. It’s very important for many reasons. Cyber breaches are increasing all the time and that has serious implications for every organisation.

“Data breaches are well documented in their impact, particularly for organisations like schools and hospitals, but businesses with an e-commerce function, for example, are just as vulnerable to being compromised.”

The UK Government backed Cyber Essentials scheme comprises two levels of certification: the standard level and the more advanced ‘Plus’.

Basic Cyber Essentials is the minimum standard recommended by the Government for all organisations, yet only around five per cent of UK businesses have completed it.

Larger organisations are much more likely to be certified while only a tiny proportion of SMEs have Cyber Essentials.

Meanwhile, the Government’s latest Cyber Security Breaches Survey revealed that over four in 10 businesses and around three in 10 charities reported a cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months.

Of those, phishing attacks – where attackers deceive people into revealing private data or installing malware – were by far the most common.

Cyber Essentials Plus certification involves an independent technical audit of a business’s systems, including a vulnerability scan of public facing IP (Internet Protocol) addresses.

As well as providing protection against 98.8% of the most common cyber attacks, it also helps open the door to government contracts and high value tenders which typically require this level of certification.

Lee said: “Having been through the Cyber Essentials Plus certification process I can highly recommend it to other businesses.

“People might not know that it does really support you when bidding for high profile tenders.

“It also gives you top tier protection for your business – as well as peace of mind for your supply chain too that you are doing everything you can to protect against cyber attacks.

“If any businesses would like to talk to us about the certification, what is involved, and how we achieved it, they should get in touch.”