Cyber Readiness Check

 

There are five basic controls that are assessed in the Cyber Essentials self-assessment questionnaire that will put you and your Practice on the path to better cyber security.  As the responsible person if you are able to work through, understand and implement the following you will already be in a good position to progress to the Cyber Essentials certification.

 

1. Does your Practice use a firewall to secure your internet connection?

  • Do you understand what a firewall is
  • Understand the difference between a personal and a boundary firewall
  • Locate the firewall which comes with your operating system and turn it on
  • Find out if your router has a boundary firewall function. Turn it on if it does

 

2. Have you selected the most secure settings for your devices and software

  • Do you know what ‘configuration’ means
  • Are you able to find the Settings of your device and try to find a function that you don’t need. Turn it off.
  • Find the Settings of a piece of software you regularly use
  • In the settings, can you find a a function that you don’t need. Turn it off.
  • Have you read the NCSC guidance on passwords & about two-factor authentication
  • Are you sure you’re still happy with your passwords

 

3. How do you control who has access to your Practices’ data and systems

  • Have you read up on accounts and permissions
  • Understand the concept of ‘least privilege’
  • Know who has administrative privileges on your machines
  • Know what counts as an administrative task
  • Set up a minimal user account on one of your devices

 

4. How does your Practice protect itself from viruses and other malware

  • Do you know what malware is and how it can get onto your devices
  • Can you identify three ways to protect against malware
  • Read up about anti-virus applications
  • Install an anti-virus application on one of your devices and test for viruses
  • Research secure places to buy apps, such as Google Play and Apple App Store
  • Understand what a ‘sandbox’ is

 

5. How do you keep your devices and software up to date

  • Do you know what ‘patching’ is
  • Verify that the operating systems on all of your devices are set to ‘Automatic Update’
  • Try to set a piece of software that you regularly use to ‘Automatic update’
  • List all the software you have which is no longer supported

 

If the above was straightforward, that you could be in a good position to go through the Cyber Essentials Certification process, however if it wasn’t, then feel free to get in touch and we will support you through the process.