Cyber Essentials – A guide to the scheme

Most cyber attacks are basic, opportunistic endeavours that target vulnerabilities rather than organisations. As the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) puts it, these relatively simple methods are “the equivalent of a burglar checking a front door to see if it is locked”, and account for around 80% of cyber attacks.

The Cyber Essentials scheme, launched in 2014 and backed by the UK government, is designed to help organisations protect themselves from the most common cyber threats while keeping the approach simple and the costs low.

Download this white paper, which has been updated for Cyber Essentials v3.3, to discover:

• What Cyber Essentials is;
• The benefits of certification;
• What you need to do to meet the scheme’s requirements;
• The difference between Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus; and
• How the certification process works for both tiers of the scheme.

Published: February 2026
Keywords: Cyber Essentials, cyber security, SMEs