Cyber Essentials for sole traders and micro businesses
You don’t need an IT department to get certified. If you run a business with up to nine people, we’ll explain Cyber Essentials in plain English, at a price that makes sense.
At a glance
- Plain-English help, no IT department needed
- Covers the laptops, phones and cloud tools you actually use
- Free cyber liability insurance for eligible organisations
Why small businesses certify
Win and keep work
Larger customers and public sector buyers often ask suppliers of every size for Cyber Essentials. Having it can make the difference on a tender.
Insurance included
Eligible UK organisations can receive cyber liability insurance with their certificate, subject to IASME’s terms.
Small businesses get attacked too
Most attacks are automated and don’t care how big you are. The five Cyber Essentials controls stop the most common ones.
Where small businesses commonly trip up
These are the issues we see most often when marking assessments, so you can deal with them before you submit.
- Forgetting cloud services. It’s not just email. Accounting software, social media accounts, your website platform and your domain registrar login all hold business data or control your online presence, so they’re in scope.
- MFA not switched on. Every cloud service that offers MFA must have it turned on. Missing it is now an automatic fail.
- Personal devices. If you use your own laptop or phone for work, it’s in scope and needs a supported operating system, up-to-date software and a screen lock.
- Using an admin account every day. Do your day-to-day work from a standard account and keep administrator access for installs and changes.
Two ways to get certified
Most micro businesses choose the Supported Service: your assessor explains each question in plain English and tells you exactly what needs changing. If you’re technically confident, Marking Only is the lowest-cost route.
For confident, well-prepared teams
Ideal if you have in-house expertise and have already checked your setup against the requirements.
- Your own secure assessment portal
- Independent marking with a feedback report
- Two working days to fix any non-compliances, then a complimentary re-mark
- Cyber Essentials report and certificate included
Cyber liability insurance is subject to IASME’s terms. Certifying more than one organisation? Define each additional organisation within your assessment and you’ll automatically be asked whether you’d like a duplicate certificate.
Buy Marking OnlyA senior assessor with you all the way
The right choice for most organisations, and for anyone working to a deadline.
- Your own assigned senior assessor
- Readiness check and gap analysis before anything is submitted
- Feedback within 24 working hours, with same-day assessments available subject to T&C’s
- Unlimited remote support for every question
- As many attempts as you need within the six-month assessment window
- Cyber Essentials report and certificate included
For our Supported Service: 100% of applicants who have followed our advice and who have submitted within the required deadlines have passed. Cyber liability insurance is subject to IASME’s terms. Certifying more than one organisation? Define each additional organisation within your assessment and you’ll automatically be asked whether you’d like a duplicate certificate.
Buy SupportedPrices are “from” prices, exclude VAT and depend on organisation size; your exact price is shown in our shop. Free cyber liability insurance is available to eligible organisations (IASME terms apply).
Guidance for micro organisations
Practical articles from our assessors in the Resource Hub.
“Mark was brilliant and supported me through the process offering advice and guidance as needed. As someone who is not tech savvy he was able to communicate key information in a way I understood.”
Samantha · Google reviewCommon questions
I’m a sole trader using my own laptop. Is that in scope?
Yes. Any device you use for business work is in scope, along with the cloud services you use. We’ll help you check each one.
Do I need technical knowledge?
No. With the Supported Service your assessor explains each question in plain English and tells you exactly what needs changing.
More answers in our full FAQs.
Get certified without the jargon
Call or email us and we’ll explain exactly what’s involved for a business your size.