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With the world turning to remote working and using the virtual space for video meetings, the use of platforms such as Zoom, Skype and House Party has never been so high. But with stories of meeting bombing and the use of offensive content by hackers, it’s little wonder that Zoom is now reported to be bringing in more rigorous security measures to ensure its users are protected. This highlights once again the importance of cyber security for all organisations, large and small, across the globe. It has never been so important to put measures in place to minimise the threat and consequences of a cyber attack.
Cyber Essentials, which is a cyber security framework that has been created by the Government backed National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), is designed to do precisely that – help to protect your business against hackers and allow you to demonstrate that by adhering to five basic security controls, you have done all you can to mitigate the risks involved. It is widely promoted that any organisation with IT equipment should certify because it means they are ensuring they have a base level of IT security in place. Once certified, you will also be able to display their logo badge on your website to show that you take cyber security seriously and are putting measures in place to keep your clients and their data safe.
Cyber Essentials has gone through a significant change this year. Until recently, there were five certifying bodies that had the authority to grant Cyber Essential certification. As of 1st April 2020, the IASME Consortium (IASME) is now the only Cyber Essentials accreditation partner and will handle all applications for the next five years.
Completed by self-assessment questionnaire, it is a valid certification for all companies looking to improve their security measures, and a good starting place for cyber security. Whilst there has been criticism of the Cyber Essentials certification as a box ticking exercise, if your firm ensures compliance with the requirements you will be able to sleep at night knowing you are better prepared for the fight against Cyber Crime. Additionally, it will now also be necessary to recertify every year so if an organisation was certified as compliant over one year ago, they are essentially not certified anymore and will have to reapply this year because the validity of the certificate goes down over time as change may have been introduced to your systems.
There are two Cyber Essentials levels available, according to the needs of your business. They are effectively both the same with a self assessment questionnaire requiring completion for both and an additional assessment for the Plus scheme.
Standard Cyber Essentials
Standard CE is designed to be easily accessible and has simple to follow guidelines. It aims to provide protection against most eventualities associated with cyber attacks and is recommended for all companies looking to protect the integrity of the data that they handle.
Cyber Essentials Plus
CE Plus is a higher grade level where an external vulnerability scan is conducted and a consultant is sent onto the premises to carry out a technical audit and validate the machines. Of course, if there are greater risks in your organisation, you may need to go even further and put more security measures in place which will incur further cost.
Whichever level you choose, in order to become CE certified, you will need to ensure that you take measures to satisfy the five basic security controls:
Once certified, the NCSC says that CE will protect against 80% of cyber attacks. Hackers are not specifically targeting businesses and don’t care if you’re a one man band or a large corporate. They are mostly automated bots searching for weaknesses and vulnerabilities and ways to access sensitive information.
Security protocols for accountancy and legal firms will need to be especially robust and include CE certification due to the large amount of sensitive information handled on a daily basis which they can’t afford to be vulnerable and accessible to all. Additionally, any company tendering for government supplier status will need to be CE compliant as standard.
At Lumina Technologies, we encourage all businesses to undertake the Cyber Essentials assessment. Please contact us for more information on how to choose the correct level of certification for your company.
Lumina Technologies have taken the time to understand the requirements of our business and work as our strategic IT partner, enabling us to concentrate on delivering a high quality service to our clients and focus on our growth strategy. They have delivered a 100% cloud solution to our business with no underlying infrastructure costs or maintenance, which gives us scalability for our planned growth. It also means our business critical applications and data are securely accessible from virtually all our user devices. Lumina’s professional approach and strategic expertise is highly valued and their management of our IT – based on their in-depth knowledge, leaves us confident that our systems are available 24×7.
Luke Harrison
Keidan Harrison LLP
Lumina have supported us so well through the difficult circumstances of 2020. They worked extremely hard to ensure we were able to work remotely and continue to operate our business successfully. The support team are very friendly and knowledgeable, and have excellent response times.
The team have also enhanced our cyber security which is so important in the legal sector, and they continue to provide high quality advice to help us move forward with our IT goals.
Robin Illingworth
Managing Partner, Adams & Remers LLP
The quality of IT Support provided by Lumina Technology is of the highest standard and is complemented by effective client liaison with impressive response times. Trap Oil Group plc has no hesitation in recommending Lumina as a dedicated and specialist group of IT professionals.
Martin David
Technical Director, Trap Oil Group plc
Richard and his team are a real inspiration to anyone who meets them and I have watched Lumina’s growth over the last few years with interest and admiration. Richard has been an amazing supporter of the Hospice of St Francis, being a Gold member of the Corporate Partner Network for almost two years. He takes an active interest in the community and is passionate about his company and his town: nothing is too much trouble, he is always willing to help, to give up his time and to provide business advice when asked. Lumina is an inspiration to any company wanting to set up business in Hertfordshire.
Carolyn Addison
Corporate Fundraising Manager, The Hospice of St Francis
Lumina Technologies Prism Hosted Desktop has allowed our business to centralise our global corporate data, allowing much faster access for all our staff – regardless of their location. We have also been able to simplify and reduce our infrastructure and management overhead. With the new Prism Hosted Desktop solution all staff now have simple and secure access to corporate data using any device they choose. Prism Hosted Desktop has increased the productivity of our staff and given us a single, consistent and familiar experience for all users from any device, in any location, 24/7.
Katherine Roe
Chief Executive Officer, Wentworth Resources PLC
The commercially sensitive and regulated nature of Lambert Energy Advisory’s business requires an IT provider able to maintain the highest levels of integrity and confidentiality, Lumina Technologies has consistently been unimpeachable in this regard over the nine years we have employed them.
Patrick Agar
Lambert Energy Advisory
It has been a great pleasure working with Lumina Technologies over the past two years. They have fully committed to being involved in the local community with volunteering and with professional advice and commitment, helping many local charities along the way. As a growing company it proves that being involved in the local community is helping them attract and retain a talented workforce and I look forward to working with them well into the future.
Cindy Withey
Connect Dacorum
Hawkstone Management Services Ltd is a small company for which IT Outsourcing is realistically the only viable option. Lumina Technologies have successfully performed this role for over fifteen years. They also provide innovative solutions to keep pace with technological progress. I would have no hesitation in recommending Lumina to similar sized businesses.
Stephen Pembury
Hawkstone Management Services Ltd
Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP have been using Lumina Technologies for a number of years now and continue to be impressed by the technical know-how and contemporary knowledge of their senior management, who provide a timely, efficient and friendly service. Whether it is a small issue with one computer, or a strategic IT decision, they maintain a current knowledge of available technologies. Lumina are always at the other end of the phone to help resolve issues and minimise business interference. The technical knowledge of Richard and his senior team means that there has not been a problem that they can’t solve to date. I am sure we will continue to use them in the years to come.
Charles Douglas
Managing Partner, Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP
The team at Lumina Technologies have made the Amoun Travel & Tours office IT transition seamless and problem free. The office set-up has been vastly improved and the IT Support services are flawless. No issue goes unresolved, which is extremely reassuring.
Adam Helmy
Amoun Travel & Tours Ltd
Lumina Technologies has been Salamander Energy plc’s IT provider since start-up in 2005 and has supported us in London during our expansion across operational offices in SE Asia. Their professional approach, strategic advice and close co-operation have been essential in making this a success.
John Bell
Group Technical Director, Salamander Energy plc
Richard and his team at Lumina have provided Perrett Laver Limited with high quality strategic and practical IT Services for over ten years. During this period, Perrett Laver has grown from 10+ colleagues based in London to nearly 100 colleagues located in six offices across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Richard and the Lumina team have not just been responsive to our ‘everyday’ IT needs, but have proactively sought to work with us on developing an infrastructure suitable for the type of operation we are today, and are planning to be months and years down the line. I would not hesitate to recommend Richard, especially for small to medium size business with growth in mind.
Clementine McKinley
COO, Perrett Laver Limited
Society Limited has been supported by Lumina Technologies since our earliest start-up phase. From large logistical challenges like an office move, through to smaller fiddly issues like fixing a faulty e-template, we know we can count on their support and advice. They’ve also been able to engage with us strategically on the challenge of scaling-up our infrastructure as the firm continues to grow and evolve. We always feel confident going to Lumina with a problem, since we know they genuinely care about sorting things out and helping us to get on with our core business.
Simon Lucas
Managing Director, Society Limited
The Vita Group HQ staff have worked with Richard McBarnet and Lumina Technologies for over 9 years, with Lumina providing all our PC, server, phone, and software support. The services have included C-level executives based in London, Manchester, the US, as well as supporting home office IT as well. The service provided and intellectual capabilities are outstanding and we would highly recommend Richard and his Lumina team.
Joe Menendez
CEO, The Vita Group
We worked with Lumina on a GDPR Audit. Richard was knowledgeable and professional throughout, and did the best he could to bring a dry topic to life through lots of real life examples and analogies. We were so impressed with the service Lumina provided and the value we got from partnering with them on this project – we couldn’t recommend them enough.
Holly Cottingham, Vintec Laboratories
