What 10 steps should you follow to prepare for Cyber Essentials certification?

The following checklist applies to both Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus requirements, the difference being that with the latter a technical expert conducts a vulnerability scan and remote audit of your IT systems, including a representative set of user devices, all Internet gateways and all servers with services accessible to unauthenticated Internet users.

The questions that will need to be answered include:

1. Ensure all your operating systems are still being supported by the manufacturer (including mobile phones, servers, tablets etc.)
2. Apply all operating systems’ security patches within the 14-day time period.
3. If you are using the Office suite, it must be on a supported version with all the security patches applied.
4. Ensure the anti-malware agent is up to date and functional.
5. Update the web browser to the latest version, or at least apply the latest version with a patch for a high-risk or critical vulnerability.
6. Disable auto-run and ensure you have a process for new starters and leavers and providing role-based access control.
7. Ensuring administrator accounts are not used for non-administrative tasks.
8. Ensure all default passwords are changed on the firewall, on the systems and ensure they are changed to a secure password.
9. Ensure all unnecessary applications are removed. This can either be achieved with a ‘gold image’ or manual removal of relevant software.
10. Ensure all the software you are running is supported and up to date.