North Staffordshire cyber security experts SyTech IT is advising more businesses to ensure their data is secure as possible.

Managing Director Darren Kirby is working to support companies to reach the Government’s Cyber Essentials standard and to go further to gain the gold standard Cyber Essentials Plus certification.

The cost of a cyber attack on business has been highlighted by recent data breaches at the Co-Op and Marks and Spencer. M&S say disruption could continue until July and it is estimated the cyber-attack will hit this year’s profits by around £300m – the equivalent to a third of its profit.

According to the Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025, just over four in ten businesses (43%) and three in ten charities (30%) reported having experienced any kind of cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months. This equates to approximately 612,000 UK businesses and 61,000 UK charities.

Darren said: “It is not possible to be completely secure but the one thing every company can do is to bring their business practices up to the Cyber Essentials standards, gaining accreditation.

“This isn’t just about protecting data, it can also support you in winning new work, especially if you achieve Cyber Essentials Plus. Many organisations are now demanding certification before awarding contracts to suppliers.”

The SyTech team, based at Trent house, Fenton, has achieved Cyber Essentials Plus and is now guiding its IT clients through the accreditation process.

“Cyber Essentials is mainly completed online while the key difference with gaining the plus mark is that someone will come along and do a physical audit with you. It’s a mark of trust,” explained Darren. “In my experience, more and more companies are now working towards Cyber Essentials, but they see getting the gold standard as a difficult extra step. However, more of our work now involves going into companies to work with them to achieve Cyber Essentials Plus, and I would urge all companies to aspire to take their cyber certification to the higher level. 

“Work begins with a gap analysis, looking at where a company’s security standards are and asking what needs to improve, and a cyber security audit. We can take companies through the process, supporting them along the way to full compliance.”

Darren says companies gain from increased customer confidence in their processes as Cyber Essentials is seen as a mark of high quality.

SyTech It is now planning to introduce Cyber Security courses for business. To register for further information on future workshops  please contact Darren at [email protected].

ENDS

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