What's the difference between Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus?

Cyber Essentials is a verified self-assessment against five security controls. Cyber Essentials Plus tests the same controls with a hands-on technical audit by a licensed assessor. You must hold Cyber Essentials before doing Plus.

Do you do the work, or just assess us?

We do the work. Foresight runs the gap analysis, carries out hands-on remediation, prepares the evidence and liaises with the assessor, so you pass first time rather than paying to re-sit a failed audit.

How much does Cyber Essentials cost?

The IASME assessment fee is tiered by size from around £320 + VAT and includes £25,000 cyber liability insurance for eligible UK businesses. Cyber Essentials Plus is scoped to your estate, typically from around £1,380 + VAT.

Cyber Security · Secure AI Adoption

AI Security

AI can transform how your team works — or quietly leak your most sensitive data. Foresight helps you adopt tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft 365 Copilot safely: stopping data leaving, locking down what Copilot can see, and putting policy, DLP and training in place.

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AI usage policyCopilot hardeningData loss preventionStaff training

Quick answer

AI security is about adopting tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft 365 Copilot without exposing your data. Foresight stops staff pasting confidential information into public AI, configures Copilot so it can’t surface files people shouldn’t see, and puts data loss prevention, sensitivity labelling, an AI usage policy and staff training in place — so you get AI’s productivity gains without the risk.

The new risk

AI is already in your business

Your team is almost certainly already using AI — often without telling anyone. That’s the problem. When staff paste client data, contracts or code into a free public AI tool, that information can leave your control for good. And when you switch on Microsoft 365 Copilot, it can instantly surface any file a user technically has access to — so years of loose SharePoint permissions suddenly become a data-exposure problem. AI doesn’t create these risks from nothing; it amplifies the ones you already have.

What we put in place

Adopt AI safely, on your existing stack

Control	What it does
AI usage policy	Clear, practical rules on what staff can and can’t put into AI tools — written for people, not lawyers.
Shadow-AI visibility	Discover which AI tools are actually in use across your organisation, so you can manage rather than ignore them.
Copilot readiness & permissions	Fix oversharing before Copilot goes live — tighten SharePoint and OneDrive access so it only surfaces what each person should see.
Sensitivity labelling (Purview)	Label and protect confidential data so AI tools respect it and can’t expose it.
Data loss prevention for AI	Policies that stop sensitive data being pasted or uploaded into unsanctioned AI services.
Conditional access & identity	Microsoft Entra controls so only the right people, on trusted devices, reach your AI tools.
Staff training	Short, practical training so your team uses AI confidently and safely.
Monitoring	Ongoing oversight of AI access and data movement.

Everything here is built on the Microsoft 365 stack you likely already own — Purview, Entra and Defender — so securing AI doesn’t mean buying a new platform.

Adopt and secure

Say yes to AI — with confidence

Security shouldn’t stop you benefiting from AI; it should let you say yes with confidence. We pair this with our practical AI & automation work and Microsoft 365 Copilot rollouts, and it builds directly on our Microsoft 365 security baselines. If you’re weighing tools, see our comparison of Copilot vs ChatGPT, Claude & Gemini.

The landscape

The standards are catching up

AI governance is fast becoming formalised — the EU AI Act is phasing in obligations for organisations using AI, ISO/IEC 42001 sets out an AI management standard, and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has published guidance on using AI securely. You don’t need to master any of it; we translate what matters for a business your size into practical, proportionate steps.

FAQs

Common questions

Is it safe for staff to use ChatGPT at work?

It can be — with guardrails. The risk is confidential data being pasted into public tools where it may be retained. We set a clear AI usage policy, apply data loss prevention, and where needed provide enterprise AI options that keep your data private.

Will Microsoft 365 Copilot expose our confidential files?

It can, if permissions are loose — Copilot surfaces anything a user already has access to. We fix oversharing and apply sensitivity labels before Copilot goes live, so it only shows what each person should legitimately see.

Do we really need an AI policy?

Yes. Your staff are almost certainly already using AI. A short, clear policy — backed by technical controls — is the difference between AI being a productivity gain and a data leak waiting to happen.

Can you stop staff leaking data into AI tools?

Largely, yes. Data loss prevention and conditional access can block sensitive data going into unsanctioned AI services, and monitoring flags risky behaviour — combined with training so people understand why it matters.

Adopt AI with confidence, not crossed fingers

Let’s make AI safe for your business. We’ll review how AI is already being used, lock down Copilot and your data, and give your team clear rules to work by.

Book a free assessment Call 0161 738 1399

Free and no-obligation — we typically respond within one working hour.