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What is the Cyber Essentials scheme, and, 
how do we comply? 
21st August 2014 
Alastair Stewart 
IT Governance Ltd 
www.itgovernance.co.uk
Introduction 
• Alastair Stewart 
• PCI DSS Consultant at IT Governance Ltd 
• Cyber Essentials Consultant & Trainer 
• Associate of (ISC)2 for CISSP 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
2
Agenda 
• Cyber breaches: key facts 
• What sorts of breaches? 
• An overview of Cyber Essentials 
• The requirements of CES 
• IT Governance; a CREST-accredited certification 
body 
• Meeting the CES requirements at your own pace 
and within budget 
• How documentation aids compliance 
• Going beyond CES 
• Using CES as part of your wider cyber resilience 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
3
Cyber breaches: key facts 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
60% of breached 
small organisations 
close down within 
6 months 
– National Cyber 
Security Alliance 
4 
• In 2013 81% of large organisations & 61% of small 
organisation suffered data breaches. 
• The median number of breaches per company were: 
Large organisations: 16 
Small organisations: 6 
• Average cost of the worst single breach: 
Large organisations: £600k - £1.15m 
Small organisations: £65k - £115k 
• 59% of respondents expect more breaches this than last 
PwC and BIS: 2014 ISBS Survey
What sorts of breaches? 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
5 
Of Large Organisations: 
• External attack – 55% 
• Malware or viruses – 73% 
• Denial of Service – 38% 
• Network penetration (detected) – 24% 
– (if you don’t think you’ve been breached, you’re not 
looking hard enough) 
• Know they’ve suffered IP theft – 16% 
• Staff-related security breaches – 58% 
• Breaches caused by inadvertent human error – 31% 
PwC and BIS: 2014 ISBS Survey
Cyber Risk: How Should Boards 
Respond? 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
Governance of Cyber Security 
Board 
6 
Cyber Risk 
environment 
Monitor 
Performance 
Conformance 
Business 
Objectives 
Direct 
Plans & 
Policies 
Evaluate 
Proposals 
Security Management 
Business and IT, Activities and Processes 
“Corporate 
governance consists 
of the set of 
processes, customs, 
policies, laws and 
institutions affecting 
the way people direct, 
administer or control 
a corporation.” 
(Wikipedia) 
Management “is 
the act of getting 
people together 
to accomplish 
desired goals and 
objectives using 
available 
resources 
efficiently and 
effectively.” 
(Wikipedia) 
Governance ≠ Management
Cyber Security Framework 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
7 
Effective cyber security depends on resilience: co-ordinated, 
integrated preparations for rebuffing, responding to and 
recovering from a wide range of possible attacks. 
• A strategy is essential. 
• A management system is fundamental. 
• Defence, continuity, and recovery must each be provided for. 
• No single stand-alone solution is sufficient. 
• Money will be required 
• 80% of breaches could be prevented through basic 
security ‘hygiene’
Why assess Cyber Security risk? 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
8 
Demands for assurance 
74% of respondents say their customers prefer dealing with 
suppliers with proven cyber security credentials, while 50% 
say their company has been asked about its information 
security measures by customers in the past 12 months. 
The need for increased compliance 
Given our findings, and the fact the existence of best 
practice information security standard ISO/IEC 27001 is 
known to 87% of respondents, it is striking that only 35% of 
responding organisations are compliant with the standard.
The Cyber Essentials Scheme 
• A government scheme 
designed to make the UK a 
safer place for online 
business 
• Part of the governments 
National Cyber Security 
Strategy 
• Outlines requirements for 
mitigating the most common 
internet based threats 
• Designed not to exclude 
SME’s 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
9
Background to CES 
• Has evolved from other schemes and HMG guidance 
such as 
– 10 Steps to Cyber Security 
– Small Businesses: What you need to know about cyber security 
• Forms the next stage from these schemes 
• Gives practical controls to implement 
• Involves a level of independent testing to give assurance 
to other parties 
• Designed as a security profile for all businesses to follow 
• Addresses SME specific challenges in implementing 
cyber security 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
10
Certification Options 
• Cyber Essentials 
– Self-Assessed by completing a questionnaire 
– Certification Bodies will verify compliance 
– Different CB’s will use different methods to verify 
compliance 
• Cyber Essentials Plus 
– All of the previous option 
– Also includes independent vulnerability testing 
• The different options don’t indicate the security 
stance, but the robustness of the check on the 
security stance 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
11
Scoping Controls of CES 
• The scope should be clearly defined at the start 
of a CES project 
• It should include internal and external systems 
• You should consider service providers such as 
cloud service or hosting providers 
• Should exclude bespoke or highly complex IT 
systems (SCADA, POS etc.) 
• A meaningless scope creates a useless 
implementation 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
12
The CES Controls 
1. Boundary firewalls and internet gateways 
2. Secure Configuration 
3. User Access Control 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
13 
Objective: Information, applications and computers within the 
organisation’s internal networks should be protected against unauthorised 
access and disclosure from the internet, using boundary firewalls, internet 
gateways or equivalent network devices. 
Objective: Computers and network devices should be configured to 
reduce the level of inherent vulnerabilities and provide only the 
services required to fulfil their role. 
Objective: User accounts, particularly those with special access privileges (e.g. 
administrative accounts) should be assigned only to authorised individuals, 
managed effectively and provide the minimum level of access to applications, 
computers and networks.
The CES Controls 
4. Malware Protection 
5. Patch Management 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
14 
Objective: Computers that are exposed to the internet should be 
protected against malware infection through the use of malware 
protection software. 
Objective: Software running on computers and network devices should 
be kept up-to-date and have the latest security patches installed.
Certification Bodies 
• Accreditation bodies 
– Accredits or licences organisations to be 
certification bodies 
– Ensures certification bodies are competent 
and able to implement the certification 
process 
• Certification bodies 
– Must meet the requirements set out by the 
accreditation bodies 
– Must follow the accreditation bodies 
certification scheme 
• Currently only two AB’s: IASME & 
CREST 
• IASME CB’s can only certify to CE 
• CREST CB’s can certify to CE and CE+ 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
15
IT Governance Ltd; a CREST 
approved CB 
• We follow CREST’s certification scheme 
• Allows certification at both levels 
• CE is verified by external vulnerability 
scanning 
– Provides a more robust check than just the 
questionnaire 
• CE + uses internal vulnerability 
assessments 
– Assessments performed by CREST approved 
penetration testers 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
16
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
17 
How to comply? 
IT Governance can help.
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
18 
We are a CREST member and a 
CREST-accredited certification 
body for CES.
DO-IT-YOURSELF 
 Certification 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
19 
We offer three solutions for certification. 
You implement the 
requirements yourself 
and we provide 
certification subject to 
compliance. 
GET A LITTLE 
HELP 
GET A LOT OF 
HELP 
 Training 
 Toolkit 
 Online help 
 Certification 
 On-site 
consultancy 
 Toolkit 
 Certification 
We give you the 
implementation tools 
and provide 
certification subject to 
compliance. 
We show you how to 
implement the 
requirements and 
provide certification 
subject to compliance.
Why us? 
• CREST approved 
• Able to offer both CE and CE+ certification 
• Perform both the external and internal scanning 
in house 
• Expertise surrounding Cyber Resilience 
• Able to integrate CES into other information 
security standards 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
20
The Toolkit 
• Designed to aid 
in meeting the 
controls 
• Includes policy 
and procedure 
templates 
• Utilises record 
templates 
• Includes a Gap 
Analysis tool 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
21
The Gap Analysis Tool 
• Easy and simple 
interface 
• Lists all the 
controls and 
requirements 
• Offers locations to 
find further 
guidance 
• Clear and simple 
summary layout to 
show progress 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
22
Why Policies and Procedures? 
• Most effective way of implementing the controls 
and maintaining compliance 
– Allows you to set the accepted standard for the five 
control areas 
– Responsibility for the controls can be assigned 
through policies 
– Effectiveness of the controls can be monitored 
– Procedures for implementing the controls can be 
developed and standardised 
• Writing policies requires a level of understanding 
on management systems 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
23
Beyond CES 
• CES is derived from ‘10 Steps 
to Cyber Security’ 
– Only covers 5 of the 10 
• Mapped to ISO/IEC 27001 & 
27002 
• Mapped to PCI DSS 
• Compliance with another 
standard doesn’t automatically 
mean compliance with CES 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
24
Next steps to consider 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
25 
• Evolve your CES into an 
ISMS and create a robust 
and cyber resilient system 
for your business 
processes. 
• Consider the Cloud 
Controls Matrix (CCM) as 
well as protecting devices 
with BYOD policies and 
procedures. 
• Make the right choice for a 
permanent solution.
ISO27001 The Cyber Security 
Standard 
ISO/IEC 27001, together with the international code of 
practice, ISO/IEC 27002, provide a globally recognised 
standard and best-practice framework for addressing 
the entire range of cyber risks 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
26 
- Could be a first step to ISO27001 
- Could add strength to an existing ISMS
Benefits 
Impress 
stakeholders 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
27 
Being Cyber Resilient 
Reduce 
Protect Survival 
jobs 
insurance costs 
Major cost 
saving 
Impress 
customers 
Protect 
reputation 
Avoid 
significant 
disruption 
Win new business: 
- Existing markets 
- Supply Chain Assurance 
- Contracting with HMG
Any Questions? 
For more information on our products and services you can simply 
email us here: 
© IT Governance Ltd 2014 
team@itgovernancepublishing.co.uk 
Or call us on: 
+44 (0)1353 771107 
28 
Cyber Essentials: A Pocket Guide £3.49 
Cyber Essentials Gap Analysis Tool £19.95 
Cyber Essentials Documentation Toolkit £99.95 
DIY Package CE: £400 
CE Plus: £1,150 
‘Get a little help’ Package CE: £885 
CE Plus: £1,635 
‘Get a lot of help’ Package CE: £1,245 
CE Plus: £1,995

More Related Content

What is the UK Cyber Essentials scheme?

  • 1. What is the Cyber Essentials scheme, and, how do we comply? 21st August 2014 Alastair Stewart IT Governance Ltd www.itgovernance.co.uk
  • 2. Introduction • Alastair Stewart • PCI DSS Consultant at IT Governance Ltd • Cyber Essentials Consultant & Trainer • Associate of (ISC)2 for CISSP © IT Governance Ltd 2014 2
  • 3. Agenda • Cyber breaches: key facts • What sorts of breaches? • An overview of Cyber Essentials • The requirements of CES • IT Governance; a CREST-accredited certification body • Meeting the CES requirements at your own pace and within budget • How documentation aids compliance • Going beyond CES • Using CES as part of your wider cyber resilience © IT Governance Ltd 2014 3
  • 4. Cyber breaches: key facts © IT Governance Ltd 2014 60% of breached small organisations close down within 6 months – National Cyber Security Alliance 4 • In 2013 81% of large organisations & 61% of small organisation suffered data breaches. • The median number of breaches per company were: Large organisations: 16 Small organisations: 6 • Average cost of the worst single breach: Large organisations: £600k - £1.15m Small organisations: £65k - £115k • 59% of respondents expect more breaches this than last PwC and BIS: 2014 ISBS Survey
  • 5. What sorts of breaches? © IT Governance Ltd 2014 5 Of Large Organisations: • External attack – 55% • Malware or viruses – 73% • Denial of Service – 38% • Network penetration (detected) – 24% – (if you don’t think you’ve been breached, you’re not looking hard enough) • Know they’ve suffered IP theft – 16% • Staff-related security breaches – 58% • Breaches caused by inadvertent human error – 31% PwC and BIS: 2014 ISBS Survey
  • 6. Cyber Risk: How Should Boards Respond? © IT Governance Ltd 2014 Governance of Cyber Security Board 6 Cyber Risk environment Monitor Performance Conformance Business Objectives Direct Plans & Policies Evaluate Proposals Security Management Business and IT, Activities and Processes “Corporate governance consists of the set of processes, customs, policies, laws and institutions affecting the way people direct, administer or control a corporation.” (Wikipedia) Management “is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively.” (Wikipedia) Governance ≠ Management
  • 7. Cyber Security Framework © IT Governance Ltd 2014 7 Effective cyber security depends on resilience: co-ordinated, integrated preparations for rebuffing, responding to and recovering from a wide range of possible attacks. • A strategy is essential. • A management system is fundamental. • Defence, continuity, and recovery must each be provided for. • No single stand-alone solution is sufficient. • Money will be required • 80% of breaches could be prevented through basic security ‘hygiene’
  • 8. Why assess Cyber Security risk? © IT Governance Ltd 2014 8 Demands for assurance 74% of respondents say their customers prefer dealing with suppliers with proven cyber security credentials, while 50% say their company has been asked about its information security measures by customers in the past 12 months. The need for increased compliance Given our findings, and the fact the existence of best practice information security standard ISO/IEC 27001 is known to 87% of respondents, it is striking that only 35% of responding organisations are compliant with the standard.
  • 9. The Cyber Essentials Scheme • A government scheme designed to make the UK a safer place for online business • Part of the governments National Cyber Security Strategy • Outlines requirements for mitigating the most common internet based threats • Designed not to exclude SME’s © IT Governance Ltd 2014 9
  • 10. Background to CES • Has evolved from other schemes and HMG guidance such as – 10 Steps to Cyber Security – Small Businesses: What you need to know about cyber security • Forms the next stage from these schemes • Gives practical controls to implement • Involves a level of independent testing to give assurance to other parties • Designed as a security profile for all businesses to follow • Addresses SME specific challenges in implementing cyber security © IT Governance Ltd 2014 10
  • 11. Certification Options • Cyber Essentials – Self-Assessed by completing a questionnaire – Certification Bodies will verify compliance – Different CB’s will use different methods to verify compliance • Cyber Essentials Plus – All of the previous option – Also includes independent vulnerability testing • The different options don’t indicate the security stance, but the robustness of the check on the security stance © IT Governance Ltd 2014 11
  • 12. Scoping Controls of CES • The scope should be clearly defined at the start of a CES project • It should include internal and external systems • You should consider service providers such as cloud service or hosting providers • Should exclude bespoke or highly complex IT systems (SCADA, POS etc.) • A meaningless scope creates a useless implementation © IT Governance Ltd 2014 12
  • 13. The CES Controls 1. Boundary firewalls and internet gateways 2. Secure Configuration 3. User Access Control © IT Governance Ltd 2014 13 Objective: Information, applications and computers within the organisation’s internal networks should be protected against unauthorised access and disclosure from the internet, using boundary firewalls, internet gateways or equivalent network devices. Objective: Computers and network devices should be configured to reduce the level of inherent vulnerabilities and provide only the services required to fulfil their role. Objective: User accounts, particularly those with special access privileges (e.g. administrative accounts) should be assigned only to authorised individuals, managed effectively and provide the minimum level of access to applications, computers and networks.
  • 14. The CES Controls 4. Malware Protection 5. Patch Management © IT Governance Ltd 2014 14 Objective: Computers that are exposed to the internet should be protected against malware infection through the use of malware protection software. Objective: Software running on computers and network devices should be kept up-to-date and have the latest security patches installed.
  • 15. Certification Bodies • Accreditation bodies – Accredits or licences organisations to be certification bodies – Ensures certification bodies are competent and able to implement the certification process • Certification bodies – Must meet the requirements set out by the accreditation bodies – Must follow the accreditation bodies certification scheme • Currently only two AB’s: IASME & CREST • IASME CB’s can only certify to CE • CREST CB’s can certify to CE and CE+ © IT Governance Ltd 2014 15
  • 16. IT Governance Ltd; a CREST approved CB • We follow CREST’s certification scheme • Allows certification at both levels • CE is verified by external vulnerability scanning – Provides a more robust check than just the questionnaire • CE + uses internal vulnerability assessments – Assessments performed by CREST approved penetration testers © IT Governance Ltd 2014 16
  • 17. © IT Governance Ltd 2014 17 How to comply? IT Governance can help.
  • 18. © IT Governance Ltd 2014 18 We are a CREST member and a CREST-accredited certification body for CES.
  • 19. DO-IT-YOURSELF  Certification © IT Governance Ltd 2014 19 We offer three solutions for certification. You implement the requirements yourself and we provide certification subject to compliance. GET A LITTLE HELP GET A LOT OF HELP  Training  Toolkit  Online help  Certification  On-site consultancy  Toolkit  Certification We give you the implementation tools and provide certification subject to compliance. We show you how to implement the requirements and provide certification subject to compliance.
  • 20. Why us? • CREST approved • Able to offer both CE and CE+ certification • Perform both the external and internal scanning in house • Expertise surrounding Cyber Resilience • Able to integrate CES into other information security standards © IT Governance Ltd 2014 20
  • 21. The Toolkit • Designed to aid in meeting the controls • Includes policy and procedure templates • Utilises record templates • Includes a Gap Analysis tool © IT Governance Ltd 2014 21
  • 22. The Gap Analysis Tool • Easy and simple interface • Lists all the controls and requirements • Offers locations to find further guidance • Clear and simple summary layout to show progress © IT Governance Ltd 2014 22
  • 23. Why Policies and Procedures? • Most effective way of implementing the controls and maintaining compliance – Allows you to set the accepted standard for the five control areas – Responsibility for the controls can be assigned through policies – Effectiveness of the controls can be monitored – Procedures for implementing the controls can be developed and standardised • Writing policies requires a level of understanding on management systems © IT Governance Ltd 2014 23
  • 24. Beyond CES • CES is derived from ‘10 Steps to Cyber Security’ – Only covers 5 of the 10 • Mapped to ISO/IEC 27001 & 27002 • Mapped to PCI DSS • Compliance with another standard doesn’t automatically mean compliance with CES © IT Governance Ltd 2014 24
  • 25. Next steps to consider © IT Governance Ltd 2014 25 • Evolve your CES into an ISMS and create a robust and cyber resilient system for your business processes. • Consider the Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM) as well as protecting devices with BYOD policies and procedures. • Make the right choice for a permanent solution.
  • 26. ISO27001 The Cyber Security Standard ISO/IEC 27001, together with the international code of practice, ISO/IEC 27002, provide a globally recognised standard and best-practice framework for addressing the entire range of cyber risks © IT Governance Ltd 2014 26 - Could be a first step to ISO27001 - Could add strength to an existing ISMS
  • 27. Benefits Impress stakeholders © IT Governance Ltd 2014 27 Being Cyber Resilient Reduce Protect Survival jobs insurance costs Major cost saving Impress customers Protect reputation Avoid significant disruption Win new business: - Existing markets - Supply Chain Assurance - Contracting with HMG
  • 28. Any Questions? For more information on our products and services you can simply email us here: © IT Governance Ltd 2014 team@itgovernancepublishing.co.uk Or call us on: +44 (0)1353 771107 28 Cyber Essentials: A Pocket Guide £3.49 Cyber Essentials Gap Analysis Tool £19.95 Cyber Essentials Documentation Toolkit £99.95 DIY Package CE: £400 CE Plus: £1,150 ‘Get a little help’ Package CE: £885 CE Plus: £1,635 ‘Get a lot of help’ Package CE: £1,245 CE Plus: £1,995