UK Slashes Cyber Essentials Cost 75 Percent to Shield Small Businesses
Eligible firms will pay between £80 ($108) and £125, plus value-added tax, for the government-backed credential, which is designed to guard organizations against the most common online attacks.
In a statement, the government said the move is meant to widen access to cybersecurity support. It estimated that a significant cyberattack on a UK business or organization costs £195,000 ($261,539) on average.
Cybersecurity Minister Liz Lloyd said small and medium-sized businesses should not be left exposed to growing cyber risks.
“We are not going to sit back and let malicious actors take advantage -- we will back our SMEs and help them be protected and secure,” she said.
The government is also working with more than 230 companies that have signed the Cyber Resilience Pledge to harden security across their supply chains. Signatories can refer groups of small and medium-sized businesses for free Cyber Essentials certification, and the selected firms will receive free cybersecurity advisers to guide them through the process.
Separately, 14 organizations have joined the second cohort of the UK’s Software Security Ambassadors, a group that includes Fortinet, Thales, Capgemini, SANS, Zscaler and QinetiQ. They will work with the government to promote secure software development and encourage supply chains to adopt the Software Security Code of Practice.
The announcement follows suspected cyberattacks on refrigeration systems that hit food businesses in eight European countries, causing food losses and triggering a criminal investigation in Belgium. Incidents were reported Monday in Sweden, Belgium, Estonia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark, while Finnish retailers were checking whether overnight temperature irregularities were connected.
The government said the measures are part of a broader push to strengthen cyber resilience across the UK economy as artificial intelligence reshapes the threat landscape.
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