Helping small businesses with free, hands-on cyber consultancy
Cyber Advisors are offering free 30-minute consultations to help small businesses get started with cyber security.
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Cyber Advisors are offering free 30-minute consultations to help small businesses get started with cyber security.
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If you’re a small business, cyber attacks may feel like something that only large companies need to worry about. Companies with bigger budgets, more customers – and more to lose. And since you’re focused on keeping customers happy, managing cashflow and your day-to-day business, investing in cyber security can seem more like a costly distraction than a priority.
The reality is that smaller businesses are frequently targeted, precisely because they’re less likely to have cyber protections in place. In other words, no business is too small to be a victim of cyber crime. In fact, in 2025, 65% of medium and 46% of small organisations reported a cyber breach or attack.
We also know from our own research that many smaller organisations believe that cyber security is too complicated, too expensive, and doesn’t address the real-world risks that small businesses face. To help address this, we introduced Cyber Advisors in 2023, a network of cyber security consultants who’ve been assured by the NCSC to work specifically with smaller organisations.
Cyber Advisors aren’t just technical specialists; they understand how to apply the advice from the experts at the NCSC in a way that’s practical, realistic and relevant for smaller businesses.
For smaller organisations with limited in-house expertise, knowing where to start can often feel like the biggest hurdle. So many Cyber Advisors are now offering a free 30-minute consultation for small or medium-sized business (SMEs) who are looking to get started with Cyber Essentials, the government's baseline for cyber security. This no-strings-attached, introductory consultation can make all the difference, providing you with an opportunity to ask questions and demystify what can sometimes feel like a complex area.
Since the option of a free consultation was introduced, over 760 small organisations across the UK have reached out to us. This has already led to well over 150 small organisations successfully gaining Cyber Essentials certification through this route alone, with more well underway.
If you decide to use a Cyber Advisor, you will benefit from expert insights that explain how the 5 steps that make up Cyber Essentials can be applied to your organisation using practical, achievable steps. Whether it’s understanding security controls, identifying quick wins or avoiding common pitfalls, the consultation will help your organisation move forward with confidence.
Cyber Advisors can also help you with other free tools from the NCSC. The Early Warning service, for example, warns you about potential viruses and vulnerabilities on your network, so you can act on them before they become bigger problems. If you employ a Cyber Advisor, they will also be able to help set up Early Warning, and use the alerts you’ll receive to improve your cyber security.
Another tool, the NCSC’s free Cyber Action Toolkit, is a new way of providing advice in a way that engages small businesses, and more importantly, encourages you to take action. As you work through the toolkit, you’ll build layers of protection around your organisation which defends against common cyber threats such as email hacking, data breaches and ransomware.
Ultimately, initiatives like these demonstrate that cyber security is within reach for organisations of all sizes, working across all sectors. With the right support, small businesses don’t need to tackle cyber security alone. You can confidently take practical steps to protect your operations, customers, and data with the support and expertise that’s perfectly tailored to you.
For cyber security from the experts. Book 30 minutes free with an approved Cyber Advisor.