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 Explained

What is EDR — and how is it different from antivirus?

You may have been told antivirus isn’t enough any more, and that you need “EDR.” Here’s what that means, in plain English.

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Quick answer

EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) is next-generation security for your computers and laptops. Traditional antivirus looks for known viruses; EDR watches the behaviour of your devices in real time, spots suspicious activity (even brand-new threats), and can automatically isolate a device and roll back an attack. For today’s threats — ransomware, fileless attacks, stolen credentials — EDR is far more effective than antivirus alone, which is why it’s now expected for Cyber Essentials and cyber insurance.

The difference

EDR vs antivirus

	Traditional antivirus	EDR
Looks for	Known viruses (a “wanted list”)	Suspicious behaviour, even brand-new threats
Reacts	After infection	In real time, as it happens
Can it isolate a device?	No	Yes — automatically, to stop spread
Can it roll back an attack?	No	Often, yes
Good against ransomware?	Limited	Strong

Why it matters

The threats have changed

Modern attacks often don’t use a “virus” at all — they abuse legitimate tools, stolen passwords and brand-new malware that antivirus has never seen. EDR catches the behaviour, not just the signature, which is why it stops things traditional antivirus misses. It’s now effectively expected to pass Cyber Essentials and to satisfy cyber-insurance questionnaires.

Managed EDR

EDR plus a team watching it

EDR is most powerful when it’s managed — monitored by a team (or SOC) who respond when it flags something, day or night. That’s part of our 24/7 monitoring and wider cyber security services. Want to see where you stand today? Try our free risk scan.

FAQs

Common questions

What is EDR?

EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) is advanced security for computers and laptops that monitors device behaviour in real time, detects suspicious or brand-new threats, and can automatically isolate a device and roll back an attack.

What’s the difference between EDR and antivirus?

Antivirus looks for known viruses from a list; EDR watches behaviour and catches new and fileless threats, reacts in real time, and can isolate devices and reverse damage — far more effective against modern attacks like ransomware.

Do I still need antivirus if I have EDR?

EDR typically includes and replaces traditional antivirus — it does everything antivirus does and much more. You don’t run both separately.

Is EDR required for Cyber Essentials?

Cyber Essentials requires effective malware protection, and modern EDR is the standard way to meet that bar. Insurers increasingly expect it too.

What is managed EDR or MDR?

Managed EDR (sometimes called MDR) is EDR monitored and responded to by a security team or SOC around the clock, so threats are actioned immediately rather than just logged.

Is your endpoint protection up to the job?

Get a free risk scan, or talk to us about managed EDR and 24/7 monitoring.

See our cyber security Call 0161 738 1399