- Is Telebyte a Cyber Essentials certification body?
- No, and you should be wary of any IT provider that says it is. Certification bodies are independent companies licensed by the IASME Consortium, which runs the scheme on behalf of the NCSC. Telebyte is the provider that gets you ready and takes you through the process — we put the controls in place, prepare the evidence and manage the submission with a licensed certification body. The certificate itself is issued by that body.
- Can you get us Cyber Essentials accreditation?
- We can get you certified, which is what people usually mean. The five controls — firewalls, secure configuration, access control, malware protection and patch management — are exactly what Telebyte Shield puts in place and keeps in place. On the Compliance+ package, certification is a one-off £500 add-on covering preparation, evidence and submission through a licensed certification body.
- What does Cyber Essentials cost through Telebyte?
- The IASME assessment fee is banded by company size and paid to the certification body. Our certification support is a one-off £500 add-on on the Compliance+ package, which covers getting the controls in place, preparing the evidence and managing the submission. Telebyte Shield itself is from £25 per user per month.
- We failed the questionnaire on our own. Can you fix it?
- Usually, yes. Most self-submitted failures come down to unpatched software, missing multi-factor authentication, or unsupported operating systems still in use. Those are remediation jobs rather than lost causes. We will tell you what is failing and what it takes to fix before you commit to anything.
- Do you do Cyber Essentials Plus as well?
- Cyber Essentials Plus adds a hands-on technical audit by an assessor, rather than a self-assessment questionnaire. The controls we run are the same ones Plus tests, so the groundwork is identical — the difference is the audit. Not every certification body is licensed for Plus, so if Plus is likely later it is worth using one body for both.
- Do you only work with FCA-regulated firms?
- No. Telebyte Shield was built around FCA-regulated finance, insurance and claims firms because that is who we already serve, and their requirements are the strictest. Any small UK business that holds customer data and has been asked for Cyber Essentials by an insurer, client or public-sector contract is a fit.