- Career Development
how to become a cyber advisor
Cyber Advisors help organisations implement Cyber Essentials effectively and improve their cyber resilience through practical, hands-on support. To become an NCSC Assured Cyber Advisor, you must demonstrate both technical knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge in real-world business environments.
What is the assessment process?
The Cyber Scheme has been licensed as an Assessment Provider by IASME, who are operating the scheme on behalf of the NCSC. NCSC assured Cyber Advisors will have to pass our assessment. This measures your:
- Knowledge and understanding of the Cyber Essentials’ technical controls
- Competence in providing practical, hands-on support
- Ability to understand and work with small and medium sized organisations.
The assessment process is made up of three elements: multiple choice test; questions requiring short form written answers and a face-to-face discussion with an assessor.
The assessment tests your knowledge of the Cyber Essentials Standard and the practical skills required to implement any recommendations made to organisations who wish to meet the Standard.
To successfully complete the assessment, candidates must:
- Achieve a minimum score of 80% in the multiple-choice section.
- Achieve a combined average score of 75% across the written-answer and discussion sections.
To become a Cyber Advisor, you will need to:
- Pass this assessment, at which point you will be issued with a Certificate of Competence in Cyber Essentials Implementation
- You will then need to provide IASME with that evidence here.
- Once that is submitted, you will be required to sit an online induction training course with IASME, which will take you through the essential elements of the scheme and be followed by a simple test of understanding.
PREPARING FOR SUCCESS
Cyber Advisor assessments are designed to test more than technical knowledge. They assess whether you can apply Cyber Essentials requirements in a way that is practical and meaningful for an organisation.
Before sitting the assessment, you should ensure you are familiar with the Cyber Essentials Standard and have experience of implementing its requirements in real-world environments.
A few tips that can help improve your chances of success:
The multiple-choice and written-answer sections assess different skills. Make sure you answer the question being asked and provide responses in the appropriate format.
One of the skills being assessed is your ability to explain technical requirements to non-technical audiences. Responses should be written as though you are advising the customer described in the scenario rather than another cyber security professional.
Avoid simply repeating Cyber Essentials requirements. Demonstrate how you would interpret the standard and provide practical recommendations that are appropriate for the organisation in the scenario.
The discussion section is designed to simulate a customer meeting. You should be prepared to explain recommendations, answer questions and adapt your communication style to suit the customer’s level of understanding.
What Happens After You Pass?
To become a Cyber Advisor (Cyber Essentials), you should now contact IASME, who are the NCSC’s Delivery Partner for the Cyber Advisor scheme, and provide them with a copy of your certificate. IASME will then take you through the next steps on your journey to becoming an assured Cyber Advisor.
The company you work for also needs to meet the requirements, as well as sign a licence, to become an Assured Service Provider, before you are assured to deliver the services of the scheme. Please click here for more details.
Please be aware that all Cyber Advisors must be based in the UK or Crown Dependencies.
Once a candidate has successfully completed these steps, the company they work for can become an NCSC Assured Service Provider (ASP).
Are you ready to take the exam?
Before sitting the assessment, you should have familiarised yourself with the following:
The Cyber Scheme has been licensed as an Assessment Provider by IASME, who are operating the scheme on behalf of the NCSC. Candidates must book their exams directly with The Cyber Scheme.
Book your assessment
£600 +VAT
Exam Accessibility
The Cyber Scheme believe everyone should have access to our exams. We are available to discuss any concerns you have and are more than happy to make reasonable adjustments for any candidate who requires them during examinations.
These reasonable adjustments are to ensure you are given an equal opportunity to demonstrate the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviours required. We recognise that not all disabilities are visible.
We have a range of reasonable adjustments we can offer depending on what difficulty you might face. If you request an adjustment which we are unable to offer, we will give you a reason why we cannot offer it. This might be because it maps to a key Knowledge, Skill or Behaviour that we have to assess against within the certification. If that is the case, we will tell you which aspect we think would not be properly assessed.
There may be background noise during an assessment. Please bring (or ask for) ear plugs / ear defenders or listen to music if background noise is likely to affect your concentration.
Mobility
Access to all of our facilities is suitable for people with mobility issues. Should any other special facilities be required please get in touch at time of booking. For some reasonable adjustments, such as access to a disabled parking space, we will need to see supporting documentation around the condition to allow us to apply for this access for you. No information will be retained or stored once the request is validated.