Impact Media Achieves Cyber Essentials Certification

Impact Media is now Cyber Essentials certified, the UK government backed standard for protecting organisations against the most common online threats. The certification was awarded in September 2026, after our assessment of our systems, devices and processes was verified by an independent IASME certification body.

For our clients, it is another way for us to demonstrate our commitment to your website’s security. It’s is proof from an independent third-party, that the team building hosting and maintaining your website takes security as seriously as design and performance.

What Is Cyber Essentials?

Cyber Essentials is backed by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and designed to guard against the attacks most businesses actually face, such as phishing, malware, and password guessing. To pass, an organisation has to show it has five core technical controls in place:

• Firewalls that secure our internet connections.
• Secure configuration of every device and piece of software we use.
• User access control, so people only have access to what they need.
• Malware protection across our systems.
• Security update management, keeping software and devices patched and up-to-date.

The controls are simple to describe but demanding to maintain for many organisations, which is why the certification carries weight.

Why It Matters For Our Clients

When you work with a web agency, you trust us with a lot. Your website logins, hosting access, customer data, analytics accounts, and sometimes payment integrations too. A weak link on our side could become a risk on yours. We have always been security obsessed, but Cyber Essentials gives you reassurance that:

• Access to your website and accounts is handled through secure, controlled systems.
• The devices our team uses to work on your website are protected and kept up-to-date.
• We follow recognised good practice and standards, not just our own judgement.

It also helps clients who need to show their own supply chain is secure. Many public sector bodies, and a growing number of larger businesses, now ask suppliers to hold Cyber Essentials before they’ll sign a contract. It’s also one of the reasons Impact Media is listed on the UK Government’s G-Cloud 15 framework.

Security Built Into How We Work

Security has always been a core part of how we build and look after WordPress websites, from hardened hosting and regular plugin updates, to backups and uptime monitoring. Certification formalises the same discipline inside our own business.

“Our clients rely on us to keep their websites fast, secure and online. Achieving Cyber Essentials shows we hold ourselves to the same standard we set for their sites” – Martin Coates, Technical Director, Impact Media

Cyber Essentials is renewed annually, so this isn’t a one-off badge to be forgotten about. We’ll be reassessed each year to make sure that our controls keep pace with new and evolving threats.

Talk To Us About Your WordPress Website’s Security

If you’d like to know how your current site measures up, or you’re looking for a web partner who can meet your supplier security requirements, get in touch with the team. We’re happy to talk through how our hosting, maintenance and security solutions can benefit you website.

If you’d like to learn more about our WordPress & WooCommerce Support & Maintenance plans, drop us an email or give James a call.

Our plans provide a holistic solution to your website’s performance, reliability and security, and are inclusive of premium tools and services.