Cyber Security & Cyber Essentials
Practical security that meets a recognised standard — and gets you certified, so you can prove it to clients, insurers, and tender panels.
Why Cyber Essentials matters
Cyber Essentials is the UK Government-backed security standard, delivered by IASME. It is mandatory for most central government contracts and increasingly required by larger private-sector clients before they'll place work with a supplier. Many cyber insurance policies now price against it, and some require it outright.
It is also, simply, a sensible baseline. The five controls address how the large majority of opportunistic attacks actually succeed.
The five controls
- Firewalls — boundary and device firewalls configured, with documented rules rather than defaults
- Secure configuration — unnecessary accounts, software, and services removed; default passwords changed
- User access control — least privilege, separated administrator accounts, and multi-factor authentication
- Malware protection — endpoint protection deployed, updating, and actually enforced
- Security update management — supported software only, with critical patches applied within 14 days
Most organisations that fail an assessment fail on unsupported operating systems, missing MFA, or users running as local administrators. All three are fixable well before you apply.
How we help you certify
1. Readiness assessment
We review your environment against all five controls and give you a written gap analysis — what passes, what fails, and what needs evidence. You'll know where you stand before spending anything on an application.
2. Remediation
We fix the gaps: enforce MFA, remove local admin rights, bring devices under Intune management, configure firewalls properly, replace unsupported software, and establish a patching regime that holds up under scrutiny.
3. Certification support
We guide you through the IASME self-assessment questionnaire, help you answer accurately, and prepare the supporting evidence. Certification is issued by an IASME-appointed Certification Body.
4. Staying certified
Cyber Essentials is annual, and environments drift. Managed clients are kept at the standard continuously, so recertification is a formality rather than a scramble.
Beyond certification
Cyber Essentials is a floor, not a ceiling. We also deliver Microsoft 365 security hardening and Conditional Access, endpoint detection and response, email security and phishing protection, backup and recovery testing, security awareness training, and incident response support.
Our own certification
OPENSKY Technologies is Cyber Essentials certified and holds IASME Cyber Assurance Level 1. We hold ourselves to the standard we implement for clients.
Not sure whether you'd pass?
A readiness assessment tells you exactly where you stand against all five controls, with a written gap analysis and a clear remediation plan. No cost, no obligation.