Cyber Essentials is a government-backed initiative to help businesses just like yours to protect against the most common cyber threats.
Formalise Your Security
You will gain a clear picture of your current cyber security posture, with every important process and policy formally documented to ensure business continuity.
Set Yourself Apart
Whoever your customers are, a Cyber Essentials qualification will let them know that cyber security is a priority for your business.
Win More Business
A Cyber Essentials qualification opens doors to the public sector. Since 2014, Cyber Essentials has been a requirement for public sector contracts that deal with personal data.
Employee Engagement
Improve security awareness within your business, educating your people on the importance of cyber security and on how to minimise threats.
Cyber Liability Insurance
If your turnover is below £20m, your certification comes with Cyber Liability Insurance, complete with 24hr helpline, and incident response worth up to £25,000.
Peace of Mind
Rest easy in the knowledge that you have secured your systems and applications against 80% of cyber attacks and focus on what matters the most.
Thousands of organisations across the UK trust us, here’s why…
IASME Accredited
As an IASME-approved assessor, CyberLab can both certify your organisation and guide you through the process to achieve Cyber Essentials.
1,500+ CE+ Certifications
We've awarded over 1,500 Cyber Essentials & Cyber Essentials Plus accreditations - trusted by public sector & enterprise organisations.
4.9/5 Trustpilot Rating
Our Cyber Essentials customers have rated us 4.9/5 on Trustpilot, with all of our 180+ reviews being Excellent or above.
100% UK-based Experts
All of our IASME qualified experts are 100% based within the United Kingdom, ensuring quality, consistency & transparency.
The Process: 5 Technical Controls
The Cyber Essentials scheme addresses five key controls that, when implemented correctly, can prevent around 80% of cyber attacks.
Creating a buffer between your network and external networks, a firewall protects your network by analysing incoming traffic to identify whether access to your network should be granted.
Cyber Essentials requirement – A firewall must be configured and used on all devices, particularly those connected to public or untrusted Wi-Fi networks.
Default configurations often make it as easy as possible to connect and use, which can create vulnerabilities if left unchanged. Settings should be checked, disabling, or removing unnecessary functions, while default passwords should be updated before deployment. Two-factor authentication should be used for data sensitive accounts.
Cyber Essentials requirement – Only necessary software, accounts and applications are used.
In allowing access to those – and only those – accounts (software, settings, services, and functions) that your people need in their specific job role, the risk of potential damage can be minimised.
Cyber Essentials requirement – Access to your data must be controlled through user accounts, with controlled administration level privileges given only to your people who specifically need them.
Malware — including ransomware and viruses — can come from a range of sources, including infected email attachments or USB memory sticks. Anti-malware measures are included within most operating systems. Malware can be introduced to a network when a rogue application is downloaded, so whitelisting – only giving users the ability to run applications authorised by the administrator – offers good protection. Sandboxing – running an application in an environment with restricted access to the rest of your devices and network – helps to keep your data beyond the reach of malware.
Cyber Essentials requirement – At least one approach, anti-malware measures, whitelisting or sandboxing must be implemented.
Operating systems and applications become vulnerable if they are not up kept to date. To keep patches up to date, your systems and applications should be set to “automatically update” where possible. When no longer supported, systems and applications should be replaced.
Cyber Essentials requirement – Devices, software and apps must be kept up to date.
One of our CREST, CHECK, and Cyber Scheme certified consultants will work with you to define the scope of the engagement and ensure that our tests will fulfil your requirements.
Your assigned consultant will gather information on your organisation, including:
- IP addresses of websites and MX records
- Details of e-mail addresses
- Social networks
- People search
- Job search websites
This information will assist in identifying and exploiting any vulnerabilities or weaknesses.
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Cyber Essentials Success Stories
Cyber Essentials Plus
Moat Homes
Moat strengthens housing sector cyber resilience with CyberLab, securing 24/7 protection and Cyber Essentials certification for trusted resident data.
“With Sophos MDR in place and CyberLab’s wraparound support, we have 24/7 peace of mind knowing threats are being monitored and addressed by people who understand our environment.”
Cyber Essentials
GM61
GM61 partnered with CyberLab to elevate its cyber security, achieving Cyber Essentials accreditation and reinforcing trust with clients in the healthcare sector.
“Working with CyberLab gave us reassurance that our business meets the highest security standards. Their professional, consultative approach made the Cyber Essentials journey straightforward and added real value to our organisation.”
Cyber Essentials Plus
Delvify
Delvify partnered with CyberLab to strengthen its cyber security, ensuring resilient operations for its global fashion tech platform and achieving Cyber Essentials certification.
“CyberLab’s team thoroughly and efficiently supported us in bringing best practice to our security processes. With a consultative approach, they guided us to modify and improve our existing processes to make Delvify a more robust and more secure organisation.”
Cyber Essentials
CSH Transport
CSH Transport partnered with CyberLab to enhance their cyber security, ensuring resilient operations through robust Microsoft 365 protection and achieving Cyber Essentials certification.
“Working with CyberLab has been a seamless and highly effective experience. Their expertise in securing our Microsoft 365 environment and guiding us through Cyber Essentials certification has significantly strengthened our overall security posture.
ISO 27001 is a globally recognised framework for managing information security risks. While penetration testing is not explicitly required, it plays a crucial role in meeting the standard’s risk assessment requirements by identifying weaknesses in systems and strengthening security controls.
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CREST, CHECK & Cyber Scheme Certified
CREST (the Council of Registered Ethical Security Testers) is an international accreditation with a strict Codes of Conduct and Ethics. CHECK is the Government-backed accreditation from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) which certifies that a company can conduct authorised penetration tests of public sector systems and networks.
All our penetration testers are certified by CREST, with senior consultants certified by CREST to the highest CCT Level. Our testers are also either CHECK Team Leaders (CTL’s) or Team Members (CTM’s).
Security testers that pass the Cyber Scheme exams demonstrate ‘competence and skill at the highest levels’ as defined by the National Technical Authority for Cyber Security (NCSC).
Our team have decades of combined experience and take pride in operating at the highest level of the industry – conducting a broad range of government and commercial tests – and always aim to go the extra mile.
How much does Cyber Essentials Certification cost?
Prices for Cyber Essentials certifications start from just £320.
Prices can vary depending on the size of your organisation, and the level of support that you would like from us. We can offer the certification by itself, alongside a pre-assessment check, or with additional remote support from our team of experts.
We are transparent about our pricing, which we align with NCSC recommendations.
How do we Achieve Accreditation?
As an IASME approved assessor, CyberLab is not only authorised to assess against the scheme, but also able to support your organisation to achieve certification.
Not only are we authorised Cyber Essentials assessors, we are also able to provide bespoke consultancy services to assist your team in meeting and maintaining the high standard of security required.
With our expert advice, you’ll pass first time.
Frequently Asked Questions
- According to the UK government, achieving Cyber Essentials means your organisation is protected your organisation from approximately 80% of cyber-attacks.
- Cyber Essentials certifications demonstrate that you are committed to cyber security and data protection to customers and stakeholders.
- Improves your organisation’s reputation and increases your chance of securing new business by showing you have robust cyber security measures in place.
- Enables you to bid for and win UK government contracts.
- Gives you the peace of mind to focus on your business objectives, knowing your systems are secure.
24hr helpline to report a cyber incident, which will provide crisis management and incident response to the total liability limit of £25,000.
For Certifications after 01 October 2023 the cover will be underwritten by American International Group UK Limited and continued to be administered via Sutcliffe & Co Insurance Brokers.
Please see Terms and Conditions.
The Cabinet Office’s note to Procurement Officers requires that:
Any of the following characteristics will necessitate the requirements prescribed by Cyber Essentials:
i) Where personal information of citizens, such as home addresses, bank details, or payment information is handled by a supplier.
ii) Where personal information of Government employees, Ministers and Special Advisors such as payroll, travel booking or expenses information is handled by a supplier.
iii) Where ICT systems and services are supplied which are designed to store, or process, data at the OFFICIAL level of the Government Protective Marking scheme.
The Cabinet Office’s note to Procurement Officers requires that:
Any of the following characteristics will necessitate the requirements prescribed by Cyber Essentials:
i) Where personal information of citizens, such as home addresses, bank details, or payment information is handled by a supplier.
ii) Where personal information of Government employees, Ministers and Special Advisors such as payroll, travel booking or expenses information is handled by a supplier.
iii) Where ICT systems and services are supplied which are designed to store, or process, data at the OFFICIAL level of the Government Protective Marking scheme.
The questionnaire requires answers to all questions – most of these questions will require brief notes to enable us to understand your company and the information security controls that you have in place. By providing full details in the questionnaire you will reduce the time required for certification as we will have all the information we need up front.
Once you have completed the self-assessment questions on the online portal we aim to turnaround all assessments within 24 hours.
We will get in touch ahead of your expiry date outlining the steps involved in order to work through your renewal.
You need to get nearly all the questions right (compliant) to pass the Cyber Essentials assessment. You need to be controlling all these aspects of your system to be certified.
This very strict pass criteria is set by the UK Government.
If you are not compliant in some of the questions we suggest you try and change your processes to meet the requirement and add notes to explain why you are not compliant in this aspect, and how you control that risk.
Cyber Essentials May 2026 Update: What Businesses Need to Do to Pass Danzell
Cyber Essentials continues to evolve to reflect the realities of modern Cyber Security. From 27 April 2026, all new Cyber Essentials assessments are being assessed against Danzell (The new IASME standard based on Requirements for Infrastructure v3.3), introducing more rigorous expectations around cloud security, authentication and patching.
This update is more than a routine refresh. It reflects how organisations now operate, with cloud first services, remote working and increasingly sophisticated commodity threats firmly in scope. For businesses planning certification or renewal after May 2026, understanding these changes early is essential.
This guide breaks down what has changed and, more importantly, what practical steps organisations should take to remain compliant and resilient.
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