On the ten year anniversary of the Cyber Essentials scheme, Minister Feryal Clark looks to expand the programme to the supply chain to secure critical industry.

The Cyber Essentials scheme provides a credential to organisations that have completed a self assessment to ensure that they have basic cybersecurity measures in place.

The scheme has awarded nearly 190,000 certificates aiming to make small and large organisations more safe from cyber-threats.

In her speech, Clark revealed positive statistics for the programme, showing that organisation with Cyber Essentials are 92% less likely to make a claim on their insurance than those without it.

Further, those that require their third parties to adopt Cyber Essentials experience fewer third party cyber incidents.

Additionally, 82% of certified organisations are confident that they have the controls appropriate to protect against common cyber-threats.

But in her speech, the minister delved into prominent threats as the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve.

“Supply chain attacks are increasing in prevalence, and their impact can be far reaching,” she said.

The recent cyber-attack on Synnovis, the IT provider, for instance, devastated hospitals, revealing the severity of these attacks.

“We know many organisations across the economy are struggling to manage the cyber security risk presented by suppliers,” she said.

“This is clearly reflected in the fact that just 6% of UK businesses are assessing cyber risks in their wider supply chain.”

Feryal believes the Cyber Essentials programme can help mitigate security threats along the supply chain by offering a similar scheme for organisations along this chain.

Recommended reading

• NCSC Launches Free Cyber Essentials Programme
• Nearly Ten Years On, How Is the Cyber Essentials Scheme Faring?
• How is the Cyber Essentials scheme faring?

In her speech, she announced that the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has entered a joint agreement with major UK banks to collaborate on raising cybersecurity levels in critical national supply chains by exploring pathways to expand the Cyber Essentials programme.

“By requiring suppliers, or other third parties, to have Cyber Essentials themselves, customers gain tangible assurance that fundamental cybersecurity controls are in place, and they are protected from common cyber-attacks,” she explained.

The minister also noted the introduction of the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which is set to be introduced into law, as a marked step to improve cyber resilience in the UK.

“However, the proposed legislation must be complemented by other efforts to improve cybersecurity across the wider economy,” she noted.

She urged members of the House of Lords to encourage all organisations, especially SMEs, to become certified to better protect overall security of the UK.