Cyber Essentials Plus Certified accountants

What is Cyber Essentials (Plus)? 

The Cyber Essentials scheme helps businesses protect themselves and their clients from cyber-attacks and threats. The scheme is backed by the government and supported by different industries because its approach to cyber security reduces the risk of a data breach by up to 80% - 98.5%. 

Cyber Essentials certification is available on two levels: 

• Cyber Essentials: a primary certification that requires the company to complete a self-assessment questionnaire, with responses on the controls it has in place to mitigate cyber-attacks.  

• Cyber Essentials Plus is an expansion of Cyber Essentials. Whilst it covers identical requirements as Cyber Essentials, the system checks are performed by an external certifying body. 

Is cyber essential necessary for accountants? 

As accountants, we hold sensitive and personal data for individuals and businesses. We must also collect our client’s  ID evidence to verify their identity - to protect against potential money laundering. 

A cyber attack could result in a data breach that would attract losses. That is why at Spondoo, we have gone through the IT infrastructure tests to gain the Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation. Our certification is meant to put our client's minds at ease - and prove we are equipped to avoid potential security breaches that would compromise the data of any individual or business we hold. 

Note: Cyber Essentials is recommended by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). 

What does the Cyber essentials certification mean to our clients? 

For Spondoo to acquire a Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation, we went through a process that checked the technical security controls in our IT infrastructure. The review of our in-house and external systems verified we have: 

• Secure Configuration – ensures our systems are built and structured securely. 
• Firewalls – averts unauthorised access to our systems and IT infrastructure. 
• Malware Protection – our systems have anti-virus software to detect, warn and delete malicious codes. 
• User Access Control – we restrict access to our systems to only authorised personnel. 
• Patch Management – we are always working to ensure our software is updated and free of exposure. 

Having all the above five areas in place means our clients have peace of mind because their data is guarded against cyber threats. 

Contact us for all your accounting and bookkeeping needs 

Spondoo is made up of a team of certified accountants and software developers. We will be happy to offer personal and business solutions through our accounting software support, bookkeeping, accounting, and advisory services. Call us at 02033 259 341 to start.