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Cyber Essentials gap check

Eighteen plain-English questions across the five Cyber Essentials controls. You get an instant score and a short fix for every gap.

Cyber Essentials is the UK government-backed certification that shows your business has the basics of cyber security in place. This check gives you an honest view of where you stand before you apply.

Answer Yes, No or Unsure for each question — it takes about five minutes. “Unsure” counts as a gap, because an assessor will ask you to prove it. Your answers are scored in your browser: nothing is sent to us unless you choose to email yourself the results at the end.

0 of 18 questions answered

Firewalls and internet gateways

Keeping the internet out of the parts of your network it should not reach.

Does every office internet connection sit behind a firewall, or a business router with its firewall switched on?
Has the default administrator password on your firewall or router been changed to a strong, unique password?
Is managing your firewall or router from the internet switched off — or limited to approved addresses and protected by multi-factor authentication?
Do laptops have their own built-in software firewall switched on when staff work from home or on public Wi-Fi?

Secure configuration

Devices and software set up safely, with the manufacturer's defaults changed.

Have unused software, apps and user accounts been removed or disabled from your company devices?
Do your devices lock themselves after a short period of inactivity, and need a password, PIN or fingerprint to unlock?
Have default passwords been changed on everything on your network — laptops, servers, Wi-Fi access points, printers and cameras?
Do you have an up-to-date list of the devices, software and cloud services your business uses?

User access control

The right people with the right access, and nothing more.

Does everyone have their own named account, rather than sharing a login with colleagues?
Are administrator accounts used only for admin work, with a separate standard account for everyday email and browsing?
Is multi-factor authentication switched on for email and your other cloud services?
Are accounts and access removed promptly when someone leaves or changes role?

Malware protection

Stopping viruses and malicious software before they can run.

Is anti-malware protection installed, switched on and updating itself automatically on every computer?
Are staff prevented from installing software that has not been approved?
On phones and tablets used for work, are apps installed only from the official app stores?

Security update management

Keeping everything patched, and nothing running past its end of life.

Are operating system updates installed on every device within 14 days of release?
Are web browsers, Office and your other applications set to update automatically?
Is all your hardware and software still supported by the manufacturer, with nothing running past its end of life?

Cyber Essentials readiness

Prefer us to do the work? We close the gaps across all five controls, write the policies, build your device list and help you complete the questionnaire — at a fixed price from £950.

See what is included

Talk it through with us

Not sure how to read your result, or which answers an assessor would challenge? Send us a message, or call 07424 950397, and we will talk it through with you.

Contact ClearByte

Want to pass first time?

We prepare London businesses for Cyber Essentials at a fixed price, and support the annual renewal.

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