Cyber Essentials

Cybersecurity_Swansea_Cardiff
Cyber Security

Cyber Essentials Certification

Government-backed cybersecurity certification for businesses across Swansea, Cardiff, and South Wales - delivered fast through our CyberSmart partnership.

SA1 Solutions helps businesses achieve Cyber Essentials certification quickly and pass first time. As a CyberSmart partner, we use the UK’s leading certification platform to guide you through the five technical controls – firewalls, secure configuration, access control, malware protection, and security update management. Most clients certify within days, not weeks. Once certified, you’ll also unlock up to £25,000 of free cyber insurance included with the CyberSmart package.

Why SA1 Solutions

Why Choose SA1 Solutions for Cyber Essentials?

Fast-track your certification with expert guidance, remediation support, and CyberSmart-powered compliance.

Delivered with CyberSmart UK Government-backed scheme

Government Backed

Achieve the UK's recognised cybersecurity standard and demonstrate your commitment to security.

Certified in Days, Not Weeks

Our streamlined process and CyberSmart partnership help accelerate certification and reduce delays.

£25k Insurance Included

Included with certification through the CyberSmart package, providing additional peace of mind.

Pass First Time Support

We identify and remediate compliance gaps before submission, reducing the risk of failure.

Fully Managed Service

From initial assessment to IASME submission, we handle the technical work and paperwork for you.

Continuous Compliance

Ongoing monitoring and guidance help keep your organisation ready for annual renewals.

Compare your options

Why Certify With SA1 Solutions?

You get the same government-backed certificate whichever way you go. The difference is how much of the work, speed and ongoing compliance is handled for you.

RecommendedSA1 SolutionsPowered by CyberSmart
Other routesDIY or basic providers
Hands-on gap remediation before you submit
Included
Often self-service
CyberSmart continuous monitoring platform
Optional add-on
Not available
Typical time to certify
Days, not weeks
Weeks, varies
Technical work and paperwork handled for you
End to end
You do it
Ongoing compliance and managed annual renewals
Continuous
One-off certificate
Guided to pass first time
Yes
Varies
UK-based local team you can call
Swansea-based
Varies

The certificate and its £25k cyber insurance are the same whichever route you choose. What changes is the speed, the hands-on support, and how much of the work and ongoing compliance we take off your plate.

Your path to certified

The Cyber Essentials Certification Process

Six clear steps from first call to certified, with our team handling the heavy lifting at every stage.

1
A quick call with you

Initial Scoping Call

We start with a short scoping call to understand your business size, device estate, cloud services in use, and any contractual deadline driving the certification, such as a public-sector tender or a customer requirement. This determines your pricing tier (Cyber Essentials covers organisations up to 249 employees) and the realistic timeline to certify.

2
Handled by SA1

Onboarding to SA1's CyberSmart Platform

Your organisation is added to SA1 Solutions' CyberSmart partner platform. Where appropriate, the CyberSmart Active Protect agent is deployed to your endpoints, which auto-populates much of the certification questionnaire by pulling live data on your devices, configurations, and patch status, saving hours of manual inventory work. No separate accounts, logins, or vendor relationships to manage on your end.

3
Handled by SA1

Gap Assessment Against the Five Controls

We assess your current setup against the five Cyber Essentials controls: firewalls, secure configuration, user access control, malware protection, and security update management. Any gaps are documented with a remediation plan tailored to your environment, whether that's enabling MFA, tightening admin privileges, or updating end-of-life software.

4
Handled by SA1

Remediation and Hardening

SA1 Solutions handles the technical remediation work directly. We apply secure configurations, deploy missing controls, enforce patching policies, and resolve any blockers preventing a pass. You don't need to interpret the standard or figure out what "good" looks like, we do it for you.

5
Handled by SA1

Questionnaire Submission and IASME Review

We complete and submit the certification questionnaire on your behalf through our CyberSmart platform. An IASME-accredited auditor then reviews the submission. If any checks fail, you get unlimited attempts at no extra cost, and SA1 Solutions handles the corrective actions before resubmitting, so you pass first time.

6
Handled by SA1

Certification, Insurance, and Ongoing Compliance

Once you pass, you receive your Cyber Essentials certificate, the official badge for your website and marketing materials, and a listing on IASME's public database. You also unlock up to £25,000 of free cyber insurance through the CyberSmart bundle. SA1 Solutions then monitors your compliance year-round via Active Protect, so you stay certification-ready for the annual renewal.

Cyber Essentials Certified

You're Cyber Essentials Certified

And with Active Protect monitoring you year-round, you stay certification-ready for every annual renewal, no last-minute scramble.

Our partnership

Proud to Partner with CyberSmart

SA1 Solutions is a proud CyberSmart partner. By pairing CyberSmart's compliance platform with our hands-on expertise, we help businesses across Wales and beyond achieve Cyber Essentials certification quickly, stay continuously compliant, and get genuine protection, all delivered and managed by our own team.

Contact us today

Protect your business, meet customer requirements, and unlock up to £25,000 of included cyber insurance. Talk to our team today and start your certification journey.