Businesses in the food and hospitality industry spent less on cybersecurity than businesses in any other sector, according to a survey from Specops Software in 2019.

With 54% of small businesses experiencing an attempted cyber attack in the past 12 months, it is clear that businesses need to take action to protect their cyber assets.

Cyber Essentials can help in three ways:

1. By undertaking Cyber Essentials, you gain a much better understanding of your IT environment. This puts you in a better position to protect your business and employees.
2. Cyber attacks are frequently in the news. Cyber Essentials can fully or partially mitigate up to 99% of common cyber attacks meaning that if you meet the standard, you are less likely to fall victim, as seen in the graphic below.
3. Cyber Essentials is a requirement for all government contracts. To become a supplier for this area, Cyber Essentials is mandatory.

How to achieve cyber essentials:

By signing up for a free membership with the ECRC, you are auto-enrolled on the Little Steps training programme which will deliver weekly, bite-sized practical information about how to build cyber resilience. By implementing the guidance suggested, you will be well on the way to achieving Cyber Essentials (Online Programs | Eastern CRC (ecrcentre.co.uk) ).

You can then contact our Cyber Essentials Partners who can assist with your certification. For more information, visit ,our Cyber Essentials Partners at the Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre (ecrcentre.co.uk).

To review the controls set by the Cyber Essentials scheme, the Requirements for IT Infrastructure document contains all of the relevant information.

Next Steps:

1. Sign up to our free membership and start learning from the Little Steps programme.
2. Review the Cyber Essentials requirements document.
3. Contact one of our Cyber Essentials Partners at Our Cyber Essentials Partners at the Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre (ecrcentre.co.uk), or contact us (enquiries@ecrcentre.co.uk) and we will put you in contact with a local partner.

Reporting a live cyber-attack 24/7

If you are a business, charity or other organisation which is currently suffering a live cyber-attack (in progress), please call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 immediately. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Reporting a cyber-attack which isn't ongoing

Please report online to Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. You can report cybercrime online at any time using the online reporting tool, which will guide you through simple questions to identify what has happened. Action Fraud advisors can also provide the help, support, and advice you need.

Report a phishing attack

If you suspect a phishing attack, please report it to the Suspicious Email Reporting Services (SERS) set up by the NCSC at: report@phising.gov.uk

Text messages can be forwarded to 7726