We have been providing managed IT services to Darlingtons Solicitors LLP, for more than a year now and recently supported their ambition to achieve Cyber Essentials Plus compliance.
The growing North London based law firm, recognised the importance of demonstrating to their clients and prospects that they understand the need for a robust, secure IT infrastructure and systems, with a recognised badge to prove it.
Phone a friend
We provide consultancy services to all our Qworks clients, but help with first achieving Cyber Essentials, then upgrading to Plus was beyond our typical remit.
However, confident all the physical security measures were up to the job, we were more than happy to help the team at Darlingtons through the process, which would start as a tick-box exercise.
The initial help with the Cyber Essentials questionnaire, needed some time on the phone together with a written description of all the physical measures in place, which could be passed to the external certifying body undertaking the assessment.
Upgrading to Plus requires specific technical controls to be in place and recorded, the majority of which reside with the engineering and support teams here at Quiss.
We have to configure the firewalls to prevent unauthorised access and ensure the configuration of the IT systems and infrastructure is not only secure, but suits the needs of our client.
Ensuring only those who need access to the systems is an essential part of our remit as is the security training we help most clients with, particularly the areas of password security and understanding the anatomy of phishing attacks.
Mentioned in dispatches
Michael Chapman, Practice Manager at Darlingtons explains: “Whilst offering us greater protection, the accreditation enables us to be ahead of the queue when renewing our panel memberships (as cyber awareness is becoming a key criteria) and assist in negotiating cheaper insurance policies.
“The Cyber Essentials Plus badge is immediately recognised and demonstrates our commitment to keeping our clients’ data safe and secure. Very few of our competitors have gone down this route, but I suspect many more law firms will choose to follow this example.
“Quiss Technology provide the day-to-day support our business needs to maintain the service levels on which our reputation is built. The support offered by their team throughout the two month process was critical to our quick accreditation, especially the immensely patient Jade Holland.”
As time passes and cyber-security remains the pre-eminent issue, we expect organisations of all sizes and across all sectors to seek the assurance offered by the Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation. And the badge that goes with it.
There is a lot of work behind the scenes, particularly with the back-end system we implement and maintain, but having helped a client through the process, we are prepared for all eventualities and a lot of phone calls.
Ian Wesley, Customer Support Manager, Quiss Technology plc
