**PRESS RELEASE** Media Contact: Ellie Hurst

+44 (0) 121 559 6699,

bestpractice@advent-im.co.uk
Date : 26.09.14


Successful Cyber Essentials and IASME Certifications for Advent IM

The independent holistic security specialists gain successful certifications to both schemes

Advent IM Ltd, the UKs leading independent holistic security consultants today announced
their successful certification to both Cyber Essentials, the UK Governments cyber security
assurance scheme and IASME Self Certification the Information Assurance scheme for SMEs.
Operations Director, Julia McCarron said, We are delighted to have gained these two
worthwhile certifications. It was a natural step for Advent IM as we already have ISO27001
and were keen to embrace the UK Governments schemes. It is a great way of continuing to
assure our supply chain partners of how seriously we take Information Security and having
ISO27001 meant we were already very well placed for success. We walk the walk as well as
talk the talk! We are already helping our clients through Cyber Essentials with great success.
Cyber Essentials Scheme
The UK governments Cyber Essentials scheme was developed earlier this year with the IASME
Consortium, a local Malvern company, representing small companies on the drafting panel.
The development of this scheme resulted from a review of the successful cyber attacks over
the last few years. They found that the majority would not have been successful if 5 simple
technical controls had been implemented. These controls are quite detailed and so plenty of
companies who have the international cyber standard, ISO27001, may not actually have all
these technical controls in place. Cyber Essentials is also available as a self assessment or
audited version, called Cyber Essentials PLUS.
The Government has announcement that, from 1
st
October 2014, all new Government
contracts associated with personal or sensitive data will only go to companies with Cyber
Essentials certification. Large companies will also be encouraged to enforce this down through
their supply chains.

IASME Standard
A recent call for evidence by the UK Government concluded that the best governance standard
for small companies was the IASME standard developed and run by a local small Malvern
company. The standard itself was developed using government funding with the aim of
finding a small company alternative to the international standard (ISO27001). The IASME
standard focuses on both governance and technical security. It includes aspects like a security
policy, staff awareness, risk assessments, business continuity plans and back-up processes.
These ensure that you understand your risk and are managing your security effectively.
Accreditation is available either as a self assessment or a fully audited assessment




Issued: 26.09.14 Ends Ref: CE/IASME/1/ Advent



NOTES TO EDITORS

About Advent IM
Advent IM is an independent specialist consultancy, focusing on holistic security management solutions for information, people
and physical assets, across both the public and private sectors. Established in 2002, Advent IM is a centre of excellence for security
services, promoting the benefits of best practice guidelines and standards and the need to address risk management to protect
against potential threats.

From its offices in the Midlands and London, its Consultants work nationwide and are members of the CESG Listed Advisor
Scheme (CLAS), Institute of Information Security Professionals (IISP), The Security Institute (SyI), Business Continuity Institute and
British Computer Society.
Consultants are also Lead Auditors for the International standard for information security management (ISO 27001) and business
continuity management (ISO 22301), Practitioners of PRINCE2, a recognised project management methodology widely used
within the public sector, CISSP qualified and Home Office trained physical security assessors.