Cyber Essentials Plus – Advanced Cyber Security Assurance

Advanced Cyber Security Assurance for Your Organisation

Strengthen Your Defences. Prove Your Security. Win Customer Trust.

Cyber Essentials Plus is the highest level of certification within the UK Government‑backed Cyber Essentials scheme. It provides independent verification that your organisation has strong, effective cyber security controls in place — not just on paper, but in practice.

For businesses that want to demonstrate real cyber resilience, meet supply‑chain requirements, and protect themselves from common cyber threats, Cyber Essentials Plus is a powerful and credible benchmark.

Cyber Essentials vs Cyber Essentials Plus – What’s the Difference?

Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus are part of the same UK Government‑backed scheme, but they offer different levels of assurance.

Cyber Essentials (Basic)

Cyber Essentials is a self‑assessment.

Your organisation completes an online questionnaire confirming that the required security controls are in place. A certification body reviews your answers and, if everything meets the standard, you are awarded certification.

What it covers:

• Firewalls and secure internet gateways
• Secure configuration
• User access control
• Malware protection
• Patch management

Key points:

• No technical testing
• You declare your own compliance
• Fast and cost‑effective
• Often used as a minimum requirement for supply chains

Cyber Essentials Plus

Cyber Essentials Plus includes all the requirements of Cyber Essentials, but adds a hands‑on technical audit carried out by an accredited assessor.

This means your systems are tested in practice, not just on paper.

What it includes:

Internal and external vulnerability scans

• Malware and antivirus checks
• Device configuration reviews
• Multi‑factor authentication and access control testing
• Real‑world attack simulations (e.g., email threat checks)

Key points:

• Independent technical verification
• Higher level of assurance
• Required for many government and MOD contracts
• Identifies issues that self‑assessment may miss