Price Change Update to Cyber Essentials

Introduction

On 24th January 2022, there will be a price change to Cyber Essentials which is the first since the scheme was launched in 2014. It coincides with updates to the Cyber Essentials requirements in what is the biggest overhaul of the scheme’s technical controls to date.

Change Update

The environment that the scheme operates in has changed dramatically and to reflect these changes, the pricing of Cyber Essentials will adopt a new structure based on organisation size.

While micro organisations will continue to pay the current £300 assessment charge, small, medium and large organisations will pay a little more, on a sliding scale that aims to better reflect the complexity involved in assessing larger organisations.

The new structure uses the internationally recognised definitions used by DCMS which defines the size of an organisation based on number of employees:

Pricing Structure

• A micro organisation has between 0-9 employees and Cyber Essentials will cost £300 + VAT.

• A small organisation has between 10-49 employees and Cyber Essentials will cost £400 + VAT.

• A medium organisation has between 50-249 employees and Cyber Essentials will cost £450 + VAT.

• A large organisation has 250 employees or more and Cyber Essentials will cost £500 + VAT.

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Update from NCSC

NCSC’s Head of Commercial Assurance Services, Anne W, said of the change: “This price change reflects the increasing levels of rigour that goes into every assessment. While Cyber Essentials is designed to help any organisation attain a base level of cyber security, the assessment process we undertake can be quite complex. We want to continue to ensure this important scheme remains accessible to every business, no matter their size.”

The price change and updated requirements will be applied to new assessment accounts from 24^th January 2022. Read the official update from NCSC here.

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