We’ve achieved Cyber Essentials Plus!

24/09/26

We’re delighted to share that Charity Link has successfully achieved Cyber Essentials Plus certification — a major milestone in our ongoing commitment to protecting the people, partners and communities we serve.

This achievement means more than gaining a certificate. Cyber Essentials Plus builds on the UK Government-backed Cyber Essentials scheme by independently testing security controls on real devices and systems, providing additional assurance that the protections we have put in place work in practice.

For Charity Link, this is the culmination of around 18 months of sustained work to strengthen our IT infrastructure and cyber security. Along the way, we have tackled legacy issues, improved access controls, strengthened our Microsoft 365 environment, embedded data governance measures and increased cyber security awareness across our organisation.

The assessment itself tested key protections including vulnerability management, malware protection, multi-factor authentication and account separation. Achieving Cyber Essentials Plus independently validates the progress we have made and gives our funders, partners, staff and supporters further confidence in how seriously we take cyber security and the information entrusted to us.

It has been a genuine team effort. A huge thank you to our colleagues across Charity Link for embracing changes, completing training and playing their part in strengthening our cyber culture. We’re also incredibly grateful to Better-IT and Turtledove Cyber for their expertise, practical guidance and support throughout the journey.

Cyber security never stands still, and neither will we. This certification is not the finish line; it is a strong foundation from which we will continue to improve our resilience, safeguard information and build trust.

A milestone worth celebrating — and one we’re very proud to have achieved.