# Overview Cyber Essentials is a cybersecurity certification scheme backed by the UK government designed to help organisations protect themselves against common cybersecurity threats. It provides a set of baseline controls to help mitigate the risk of a cyber attack. Being Cyber Essentials certified is often a requirement to take government contracts and other various business opportunities. There are two levels offered: * **Cyber Essentials**: Requires the completion of a self-assessment questionnaire based on the set out controls. * **Cyber Essentials Plus**: In addition to the self-assessment questionnaire, requires an external audit[^1] to be completed. [^1]: An official inspection of an organisation's accounts, typically by an independent body. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://manual.harpe.io/start/cyber-essentials-wiki/overview.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.