Boyar Consulting

What is Cyber Essentials? Not sure read this first.

In today’s digital age, cybersecurity is a top priority for businesses. Boyar Consulting is committed to helping businesses achieve Cyber Essentials accreditation, a UK government-backed scheme that helps organizations protect themselves against common online threats. We leverage Microsoft Cloud Services to provide comprehensive solutions tailored to each area of the Cyber Essentials requirements.

For a businesses with 300 users or under a Microsoft 365 Business Premium licenses are needed to utilise M365 to cover each of the areas below:

Area 1 – Firewall Configuration

Boyar Consulting can help businesses secure their endpoint firewalls and consult with hardware firewall owners to meet Cyber Essentials requirements. We utilize Intune to configure policies and Windows Defender Firewall, a built-in firewall service on Windows devices that protects your Windows 10/11 endpoints.

Area 2 – Secure Configuration

To reduce vulnerabilities and expose only the services required to fulfill business needs, we use Microsoft Defender for Business. This Microsoft service provides unified security management and advanced threat protection across end user devices, servers, and applications. With its ability to monitor security configurations across your estate and automatically apply required configurations, it significantly reduces exposure to cyber threats.

Area 3 – Security Update Management

Gaining and demonstrating ongoing patch compliance month-on-month is crucial for maintaining a secure environment. Intune is a service we use to manage operating system updates for Windows and Linux devices and Android and Apple mobile devices. It quickly assesses the status of available updates and schedules installation of required updates to keep your systems secure and compliant.

Area 4 – User Access Control

Ensuring users are provided with only the level of access they require to carry out their role is a key aspect of cybersecurity. We employ Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), Microsoft’s cloud-based identity and access management service. Entra ID helps ensure that only authorized users can access your environments, data, and applications, and provides robust monitoring and alerting features.

Area 5 – Malware Protection

For malware protection, we use Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, a holistic, cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. It provides preventative protection, post-breach detection, and automated investigation and response. With its ability to prevent malware delivery, stop malware execution, and ensure signatures are updated frequently without intervention, it offers robust protection against various types of malware.

By leveraging these Microsoft Cloud Services, Boyar Consulting can help your business meet and maintain the Cyber Essentials requirements, ensuring a secure and compliant digital environment. Contact us today to learn more about how we can assist your business in achieving Cyber Essentials accreditation.