01Baseline
Readiness and gap review
A straight look at your systems against the five controls. You see where you stand and what it will take to close each gap, before you commit to anything.
Gap analysisScopingPrioritised list
NCSC Cyber Advisor for Cyber Essentials implementation
The NCSC's Cyber Advisor scheme covers the implementation of the technical controls outlined in Cyber Essentials, and is tailored towards small and medium sized organisations. Dead Simple Computing is assured under the scheme, and the NCSC listing names Daniel McClure Fisher as our Qualified Advisor. He passed IASME's independent assessment of the same three things the scheme sets out: knowledge of the controls, implementing them in practice, and working at the scale of a smaller organisation. You get help putting the five controls in place.
Verified
ISO 27001 & 9001Certified by a UKAS-accredited certification body
Cyber EssentialsCertification body
NCSC AssuredCyber Advisor
CISSPHeld by Daniel McClure Fisher
Assured under the NCSC Cyber Advisor scheme
Dead Simple Computing is an NCSC Assured Service Provider under the Cyber Advisor scheme, and this page describes the exact service that assurance covers. The status is on the record with IASME, so you can check it yourself.
What the assurance covers
Cyber Advisor / 01 · What it is
What a Cyber Advisor does
A Cyber Advisor is not another auditor and not another report. The role, as the NCSC designed it, is practical: someone who can look at your systems, tell you where they fall short of the Cyber Essentials controls, and then help you fix them.
The scheme assesses advisors on their knowledge of the controls, their implementation competence, and their ability to work with small and medium organisations, because advice that assumes an enterprise IT department is no use to most UK businesses.
01Controls implementedConfiguration changed, controls switched on, and risks closed.
02The five CE controlsFirewalls, secure configuration, security update management, user access control, and malware protection.
03Verified by IASMEThe advisor passed IASME's independent assessment and holds a Certificate of Competence in Cyber Essentials Implementation.
04Pitched at youAdvice for the person responsible for the business, sized for organisations without a dedicated security team.
Cyber Advisor / 02 · What we do
How the service works
Use the service end to end, or bring us in where you are stuck. Every engagement stays inside what the assurance covers: implementing the Cyber Essentials controls.
02Implement
Controls put in place
We do the work with you: firewall rules, secure configuration, update management, access control and malware protection, on your own estate rather than in a template.
ImplementationYour systemsMinimal disruption
03Evidence
Ready for certification
When the controls are in, you are positioned to certify. Our assessors work to the standard every day, so we tell you when you are ready. Formal assessment is a separate piece of work, arranged after the implementation support.
Assessment prepCertification pathAnnual renewal
04Advise
Ongoing advice
Questions between engagements get straight answers. If your requirement is bigger than Cyber Essentials, we say so and point you at the right service instead of stretching this one.
SME-focusedScope in writingReferral if out of scope
What the assurance covers. The Cyber Advisor assurance covers Cyber Essentials implementation support. Our ISO 27001 consultancy, governance and audit, and incident response are separate services backed by our other credentials.
Cyber Advisor / 03 · Why it matters
What the assurance checks
The Cyber Advisor scheme exists so that competence in implementing the Cyber Essentials controls can be checked rather than claimed. IASME assessed our advisor on the NCSC's behalf, and our status as an NCSC Assured Service Provider is on the record for you to check.
AssessedIndependently assessed competence.The advisor passed IASME's assessment of knowledge, practical implementation skill, and fit for smaller organisations.
BackedA certification body behind the advice.Our assessors work to the same standard every day, and formal assessment stays a separate piece of work.
VerifiableOn the record.Assured status is verifiable through IASME, so you never have to take our word for it.
FAQ
Common questions
What is an NCSC Cyber Advisor?
A Cyber Advisor is an individual who has passed an independent assessment, run by IASME on the NCSC's behalf, of their ability to give small and medium organisations practical help implementing the five Cyber Essentials technical controls. On passing, the advisor receives a Certificate of Competence in Cyber Essentials Implementation. The firm that employs them can then become an NCSC Assured Service Provider.
Do I need a Cyber Advisor to get Cyber Essentials?
No. Plenty of organisations self-assess and certify without help. A Cyber Advisor is for when you want the gaps closed rather than worked around, when you do not have in-house IT capacity, or when you want confidence that the person advising you knows the standard. If your setup is simple and well maintained, we will tell you that too, and our free Cyber Essentials checker is a sensible place to start.
How is a Cyber Advisor different from a certification body?
They sit on opposite sides of the same standard. A Cyber Advisor helps you implement the controls before assessment. A certification body assesses and certifies organisations against the standard. Dead Simple Computing is both: an NCSC Assured Service Provider under the Cyber Advisor scheme, and an appointed Cyber Essentials certification body. The implementation help is informed by what an assessment looks for, and the two roles are kept as separate pieces of work.
What does the Cyber Advisor service cost?
It depends on the size of your estate and how many gaps the readiness review finds, so we quote after that review rather than inventing a number before we have seen anything. The review itself is scoped and priced up front, and every engagement is fixed-price once scoped. Our pricing page explains how we charge across all services.
How do I verify your Cyber Advisor status?
Check IASME's Cyber Advisor pages, which list assured providers, or see our NCSC Assured Service Provider page for what the assurance covers. We would rather you verify it independently, that is the point of the scheme.
Get help with the five controls
Tell us where you are with Cyber Essentials, whether that is nowhere yet, stuck on a control, or facing a contract deadline. We will set out the path and do the work with you.