Industry: Public Sector, Social Housing
Geographical Location: Greenock, Scotland
Service Provision: Cyber Essentials Renewal and Cyber Essentials Plus Certification
Case Study - Cloch Housing Association
Cyber Essentials certification renewal
and
Cyber Essentials Plus certification.
Project Summary:
Tecnica supported a prominent Scottish Housing Association in progressing from Cyber Essentials Basic to Cyber Essentials Plus certification at the first attempt, strengthening its security posture while protecting frontline housing services.
The Challenge:
The Housing Association needed to renew its Cyber Essentials Basic accreditation and progress to Cyber Essentials Plus without disrupting critical services to staff and residents. It required clear visibility of security gaps, technical remediation aligned to the five core controls, and confidence that controls would withstand independent audit testing.
The Solution:
Tecnica delivered a structured readiness programme aligned to the organisation’s size and infrastructure. A comprehensive gap analysis assessed the environment against the five Cyber Essentials control areas:
- Firewall and gateway security
- Secure device configuration
- User access and privilege management
- Malware protection
- Patch management
A clear remediation roadmap was produced enabling achievement of compliance in a controlled and non-disruptive manner.
Technical Highlights:
Firewall configurations reviewed and hardened to restrict traffic to essential services only.
Windows endpoints aligned to secure baseline configurations, with unnecessary services removed and security policies enforced.
Legacy user accounts removed and privilege levels reviewed.
Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) enforced across cloud services and administrative accounts.
Pre-audit validation checks conducted to confirm control effectiveness prior to independent testing.
Implementation
Tecnica worked closely with internal IT teams and senior stakeholders to implement targeted technical improvements and align cyber security policies with certification requirements. As part of our process, we ensured any changes were deployed in a tested and phased manner, ensuring service disruption was kept to a minimum.
To enable a streamlined route to certification that is aligned to change management best practice, the automations embedded in Tecnica’s purpose built ITSM system, OrcAstra, delivered optimised workflows, enabled collaborative information gathering and validation of technical evidence, and provided a single source of truth for grounding the assessment. Moreover, these automations provide regular maintenance checks ensuring continuous health analyses are performed on the IT estate, greatly minimising the work required for maintaining year-on-year renewal.
Results:
- Successful renewal of Cyber Essentials Basic.
- Achieved Cyber Essentials Plus certification on first attempt.
- Strengthened and independently audited security controls.
- Improved assurance for suppliers, customers and stakeholders.
- Established a structured foundation for ongoing annual compliance and future standard updates.
Customer testimonial:
“The Association had successfully achieved the Cyber Essentials Basic accreditation for several years, however, following an internal audit we decided further assurance was required. Tecnica provided a structured process which allowed the Association to achieve the enhanced Cyber Essentials Plus certification on first attempt. Tecnica’s technical expertise and cyber security awareness in this area was key to the success of the project and the service provided was first-rate.”
Cloch Housing Association – Head of IT and Corporate Services
Summary:
Through a structured readiness assessment, targeted remediation and close stakeholder collaboration, Tecnica enabled a seamless progression from Cyber Essentials Basic to Cyber Essentials Plus. The engagement enhanced security resilience, reduced compliance risk and established a sustainable framework for future certification renewals.
Get in Touch:
If you are planning a Cyber Essentials renewal or preparing for a more advanced audit, contact Tecnica to discuss how we can support your organisation. We provide structured guidance, technical validation and hands on remediation to help you meet certification requirements with confidence while maintaining day to day operational stability.
