You're not sure where you stand
You know Cyber Essentials matters, but you don't have a clear view of how close your business is to being ready.
Built for UK businesses preparing for Cyber Essentials.
Find out how ready you are for Cyber Essentials in around 2 hours.
BrightCert guides UK SMEs through a plain-English readiness assessment, highlights what needs attention, and creates a practical report before you apply for certification.
- No payment to start
- Plain English, no jargon
- Pay only to unlock your report
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The problem
Cyber Essentials can feel harder than it should
For many small businesses, Cyber Essentials starts with a simple goal: prove your organisation takes cyber security seriously. But preparation quickly becomes confusing, and that uncertainty leads to delays, guesswork, or expensive consultancy before you even understand the gaps.
The language feels technical
Firewalls, secure configuration, access control, patching: important, but rarely explained in a way SMEs can act on quickly.
Consultants can be expensive
Many businesses only find out what needs fixing after paying for external help. You deserve the picture first.
Your team needs next steps
A score alone is not enough. You need a practical list of what to fix, why it matters, and what to do next.
The solution
A clearer way to prepare for Cyber Essentials
BrightCert turns preparation into a guided, step-by-step process. Answer simple questions about your organisation, devices, users, software and security controls: BrightCert analyses your responses across the five control areas and gives you a readiness score, plain-English gap findings, and prioritised remediation steps.
- Plain-English questions
Every requirement translated into language a business owner can answer.
- AI-assisted analysis
Your answers are scored across all five Cyber Essentials control areas.
- Prioritised next steps
Know what to fix first, why it matters, and how to evidence it.
How it works
From uncertainty to action in four steps
- 01
Answer simple questions
A guided assessment across the five Cyber Essentials control areas. Every question written in plain English, with helpful context where you need it.
~2 hours · save & return anytime - 02
Get your readiness score
BrightCert analyses your answers and scores your organisation across the core Cyber Essentials areas, instantly.
Scored out of 100 - 03
Review your gaps
See where your business may fall short, with clear explanations and practical next steps: no auditor-speak.
Plain-English findings - 04
Unlock your full report
Pay £99 including VAT with code FOUNDING10 when you're ready — a £100 founding discount from £199, for the first 10 customers — and unlock detailed gap analysis, remediation actions and a preparation summary.
PDF · shareable with your team
See it working
Two minutes, start to finished report
A full run through the four steps above: answering the questions, the analysis, and the report that comes out the other end.
What we check
Built around the five control areas
Cyber Essentials focuses on five technical control areas that protect organisations from common internet-based threats. BrightCert structures your assessment around exactly these five areas: 60 questions in total.
Whether your business has suitable protection between your internal systems and the internet: the first line of defence against external attack.
12 of 60 questions · assessed in depth
Whether devices, systems and software are configured securely before they are used: removing default passwords, unneeded accounts and services.
12 of 60 questions · assessed in depth
Who has access to your systems and whether permissions are appropriate: unique accounts, least privilege, and proper joiners and leavers processes.
12 of 60 questions · assessed in depth
Whether your devices are protected from malware and unsafe applications: active anti-malware, application allow-listing and safe defaults.
12 of 60 questions · assessed in depth
Whether software and devices are kept updated against known vulnerabilities: patching within 14 days for critical and high-risk updates.
12 of 60 questions · assessed in depth
Your report
Know what to fix before you apply
Your BrightCert report gives you a structured view of your Cyber Essentials readiness: understand your position, share findings with the right people, and work through improvements before applying for official certification.
- 01Executive summary
Your readiness score, strongest areas, and main risks.
- 02Five control area scores
Performance across each Cyber Essentials control area.
- 03Gap analysis
Where your current setup may not meet expected requirements.
- 04Priority action plan
Recommended fixes, ordered by importance.
- 05Preparation notes
Guidance before working with a Certification Body.
- 06PDF download
Save it, share it, review it with your team.
Start your assessment
Complete the assessment first. Unlock the report for £99 including VAT with code FOUNDING10 — a £100 founding discount from £199, for the first 10 customers.
BrightCert ReportFenwick & Hale Ltd · readiness summary
0readiness
Nearly ready
4 gaps to close before you apply: 2 are quick fixes your team can do this week.
- Firewalls85%
- Configuration72%
- User Access61%
- Malware88%
- Updates54%
Download PDF report14 pages · generated instantly
Pricing
Simple pricing for Cyber Essentials preparation
Start with a guided readiness assessment. Upgrade only when you need ongoing monitoring, CE Plus preparation, or partner features.
Assessment
Best for UK SMEs preparing for Cyber Essentials who want a clear view before applying.
£99including VAT
Code FOUNDING10 · £100 off £199 · first 10 customers
- Guided readiness assessment across all five control areas
- AI-assisted scoring and gap analysis
- Prioritised remediation steps
- Downloadable PDF report
Pay nothing until you unlock your report
Monitor
£99/month
Ongoing visibility after your initial readiness report.
Coming soonCE Plus Pack
£499one-time
Preparation for Cyber Essentials Plus before technical testing.
Coming soonMSP Partner
£299/month
For MSPs supporting multiple UK SME clients.
Coming soonWhy BrightCert
Understand your gaps before you spend more
Traditional consultancy can be valuable for complex organisations. But most SMEs first need an answer to a simpler question: are we ready, and what do we need to fix?
Without BrightCertWith BrightCert
✕You may not know where to begin
Start with a guided assessment
✕Technical language can slow you down
Questions written in plain English
✕You may pay for advice before knowing the gaps
See your readiness position first
✕Findings scattered across emails or calls
Get a structured PDF report
✕Teams may not know what to fix first
Receive prioritised remediation steps
✕Progress can feel unclear
Track score, status and next actions
Who it's for
Built for the businesses that need clarity fast
Small business owners
Show customers, suppliers and partners you take cyber security seriously, without a large internal IT team.
Operations managers
You've been asked to prepare for Cyber Essentials and need a structured way to collect answers, spot gaps and organise next steps.
IT providers
You support clients who need Cyber Essentials preparation and want a repeatable way to assess readiness before formal application.
Growing suppliers
You're bidding for work where Cyber Essentials is expected or required, and need to know whether your business is ready.
Clear guidance, without false promises
BrightCert is careful about what it does, and what it doesn't do. We help you prepare for Cyber Essentials by assessing readiness, identifying gaps and creating a practical report. We do not issue the official certificate. Official certification is handled through IASME-licensed Certification Bodies.
Readiness assessment, not official certification
Founder, BrightCert · Cognumi Ltd
- MSc Cyber Security (Distinction)
- EC-Council Certified
- Fortinet Certified
- Founder, Cognumi
Founder's note
Why I built BrightCert
“I started BrightCert after watching UK small businesses stall out on Cyber Essentials. Not because the technical controls are hard, but because the preparation process is opaque and the language is written for auditors, not business owners.”
My background is in cybersecurity research. I hold a Master's degree in Cyber Security with Advanced Research from the University of Hertfordshire, awarded with distinction. My thesis compared the Nessus and OpenVAS vulnerability scanners on Ubuntu web servers. I also hold certifications in Digital Forensics, Ethical Hacking and Network Defense from EC-Council, alongside Fortinet's Cybersecurity Fundamentals and Huawei's HCIP in Routing & Switching.
Outside BrightCert, I run Cognumi, building AI-managed operations and security-focused automation for service businesses. BrightCert brings that same approach, plain-English analysis backed by real security research, to Cyber Essentials preparation.
FAQs
Answers, before you ask
Everything UK SMEs usually want to know before starting their readiness assessment.
No. BrightCert provides readiness assessment and preparation support. Official Cyber Essentials certification must be completed through an IASME-licensed Certification Body.
No. You can complete the full assessment first. The report unlock is £99 including VAT with code FOUNDING10 — a £100 founding discount from the standard £199 price, limited to the first 10 customers.
Most businesses complete the assessment in around 2 hours. You can save your progress and return at any time.
Yes. BrightCert explains Cyber Essentials preparation in plain English. You do not need to be a cyber security expert to complete the assessment.
Yes. Your assessment responses are stored securely and used only to generate your readiness report. We don't sell your data or use it for marketing. See our Privacy Policy for the specific processors involved, including the Gemini API that powers the analysis.
Cyber Essentials is a self-assessed questionnaire reviewed by a Certification Body. Cyber Essentials Plus adds external technical verification. BrightCert supports preparation for both, with specific CE Plus guidance in the CE Plus Pack.
Ready when you are
Find out how ready
your business really is
Complete your Cyber Essentials readiness assessment, review your score, and unlock a practical report showing exactly what to fix next.
Start your assessment~2 hours · no payment to start · save & return