Author: Tracy Matthews, cyber security assessment manager, Jisc
Expert support to gain cyber essentials certification
Jisc’s Cyber Essentials service is a trusted way to obtain and renew your cyber essentials certificate. Cyber Essentials is a government-backed certification that will help your organisation provide protection against the most common cyber attacks. Give your stakeholders confidence in your organisation’s security and attract new business by demonstrating you have the security measures in place required for compliance.
Our members and customers have seen an expansion of the cyber essentials scheme to be a requirement for government contracts and funding agreements. In January 2020, the Education and Skills Funding Agency announced organisations it funds must make ‘best endeavours’ to achieve cyber essentials certification.
Our experience working in the education and research sectors provides support and advice to help you with your compliance journey. We have built up a wealth of experience in helping organisations cope with any challenges for gaining certification.
There are several ways Jisc can support you along your journey.
1. Free drop-in clinics
We offer monthly drop-in clinics, which you can attend for free. These clinics are the perfect opportunity to ask questions and have them answered by our experts.
2. Advice and guidance
Get one-to-one advice from our experts, who are on hand to support you along this journey. You can book guidance sessions with our approved assessors by contacting your account manager.
3. Certification training
Sign up for our three-hour online course to prepare you for certification. Led by a cyber essentials assessor and designed to guide you through the process with ease. You will gain an overview of the questions you will face, common pitfalls, instant failures, and the assessor’s top tips.
We also offer the Cyber Essentials plus – prepare for verification course.
4. New Cyber Essentials/plus three-year package
The three-year package offers an annual advice and guidance session with a Jisc specialist to include the cost of the basic certification upon compliance and 20% off all Jisc cyber essentials training courses.
Our Cyber Essentials plus offer is a step up the cyber defence ladder. We ensure the necessary tests are carried out during the audit to meet the plus certification requirements. We can arrange a pre-test scan before your audit to notify you of potential failures; however, this is not essential. Contact your account manager to find out more about this offer.
Get in touch with us direct or find out more here.