Get Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus with help from a Rochdale team that holds Cyber Essentials itself. We check your setup, fix the gaps and guide you through the assessment.
Cyber Essentials is the UK government-backed scheme, run by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) with IASME, that shows your business has the basic controls in place to protect against the most common cyber attacks. It covers five technical controls: firewalls, secure configuration, security update management, user access control and malware protection.
There are two levels. Cyber Essentials is a verified self-assessment: you answer the official question set and a certification body reviews your answers. Cyber Essentials Plus checks the same five controls, but an assessor also tests your systems with vulnerability scans and checks on a sample of devices to confirm the controls actually work.
It matters for winning work as well as staying safe. Central government asks for Cyber Essentials on certain contracts, and more customers, larger companies and insurers now ask their suppliers for it. It also protects you against the everyday attacks, like phishing emails, that hit small businesses most often.
BM Technologies is Cyber Essentials certified and applies the same controls to the businesses we support. We help you prepare properly, so the assessment confirms good security rather than becoming a scramble.
Get StartedNot sure whether you need Cyber Essentials or Plus, or whether your setup would pass? Call us and we'll talk it through in plain English.
Let’s ChatSupport for every stage, whether you are certifying for the first time, renewing or recovering from a failed assessment.
We check your devices, accounts, firewall, Microsoft 365 and software against the five controls and the official question set, and tell you plainly what would fail.
Updates, unsupported software, admin accounts, multi-factor authentication, firewall rules and secure settings put right before you apply.
Help agreeing the scope and answering the Cyber Essentials questions accurately, with evidence you can stand behind.
Getting the device sample, access and updates ready for the technical audit, and fixing any findings quickly.
Explore this service: Cyber Essentials Plus preparationIf an assessment fails, IASME allows two working days to fix simple issues and update your answers. We help you use that window, so you avoid reapplying.
Ongoing monitoring, patching and endpoint protection so the controls keep working between assessments and renewal is straightforward.
Explore this service: Staying compliantPractical cyber awareness training so the people using your systems support the controls rather than work around them.
Explore this service: Staff awarenessWe are based in Milnrow, Rochdale, and help businesses across Rochdale, Oldham, Bury, Manchester and the rest of Greater Manchester. Most preparation can be done remotely, and we can visit when it helps.
We agree what the certificate will cover: the whole organisation or a defined part, and which offices, home workers, devices, cloud services and users are in scope. Getting the scope right first avoids surprises later.
We compare your setup with the five controls and the current question set, which you can download free in advance, and give you a short, prioritised list of what would fail.
We put the fixes in place, or work alongside your IT team: updates, unsupported software, admin rights, multi-factor authentication, firewall rules and secure settings. We keep a record of what changed.
You apply and complete the self-assessment with our help. IASME gives you six months from applying to submit. A board-level person, owner or equivalent signs it off, and a certification body reviews it.
For Cyber Essentials Plus, an assessor also tests your systems, including a sample of your devices, your internet connections and any internet-facing servers. We prepare the devices and access and help resolve anything they find.
Certificates expire after 12 months. We keep the controls in place all year and plan your renewal before the expiry date, so you stay on IASME's list of certified organisations.
We are an IT support and cyber security company, so we do not just tell you what needs fixing; we can fix it. Because we look after systems every day, the controls stay in place after the certificate is issued.
We are Cyber Essentials certified ourselves, rated 5.0 on Google and an accredited Bloom supplier for public sector work. Advice is plain English, without scare tactics.
We work from our office in Milnrow, so most reviews and fixes happen remotely, and we can be on site across Rochdale and Greater Manchester when hands-on work helps.
A UK government-backed certification, run by the NCSC with IASME, that shows your organisation has five basic technical controls in place: firewalls, secure configuration, security update management, user access control and malware protection.
Both cover the same five controls. Cyber Essentials is a verified self-assessment. Cyber Essentials Plus adds a technical audit, with vulnerability scans and checks on a sample of devices, so it gives a higher level of assurance.
12 months. To keep your certified status you need to recertify before it expires.
Not for every organisation, but it is often required for government and public sector contracts and increasingly asked for by customers, supply chains and insurers.
No. We are a Cyber Essentials certified IT and cyber security provider. We prepare you, fix the gaps and support you through the assessment, which is carried out by an IASME certification body.
It depends on how many fixes are needed. IASME says that with answers prepared in advance the self-assessment itself might take about an hour, and most assessors aim to return results within three days.
Yes. We support businesses across Manchester and Greater Manchester from our base in Milnrow, Rochdale.
IASME allows two working days to look at the assessor's feedback, fix simple issues and update your answers. If it still fails after that, you have to reapply. A readiness review beforehand makes a fail much less likely.
IASME gives you six months from the date you apply to complete and submit it. After that your account may be closed and you would have to apply again.
The assessor checks a representative sample of your computers and phones, your internet connections and any servers open to the internet, then decides whether more testing is needed.
Not if you achieved Cyber Essentials less than three months before your Plus certification. Otherwise the self-assessment stage is repeated as part of Plus.
Usually, yes. Devices and cloud services used to access your organisation's data are generally in scope, including laptops used at home. We help you agree the right scope before you apply.
Tell us why you need certification and when by, and we'll explain what is involved for your business. Call 0161 672 7461 or 01706 391 047, or send us a message.
Ready to get certified? Call 0161 672 7461 or 01706 391 047 for a free, no-obligation conversation about Cyber Essentials.
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Read more in our Cyber Essentials guide, do I need Cyber Essentials?, preparation planning and Cyber Essentials vs Plus vs ISO 27001. Call 0161 672 7461 or 01706 391 047 or contact us. Book a free IT audit — a no-obligation review of your current IT setup.
A free, no-obligation review of your current IT setup. We look at your devices, Microsoft 365, backups and security, and give you a plain-English list of what needs attention first.
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