Webinar Recap: Building a Secure Foundation for Cyber Essentials Through Asset and Password Management

The importance of robust cybersecurity practices cannot be overstated in today’s increasingly digital landscape. During our recent webinar, “Building a Secure Foundation for Cyber Essentials: The Role of Asset and Password Management,” we explored how the Cyber Essentials framework helps organizations safeguard against cyberthreats and how effective asset and password management can strengthen your security posture.

This blog post recaps the key takeaways from the discussion, highlighting essential steps for achieving Cyber Essentials certification and how IT asset and password management play a crucial role in creating a secure IT environment.

Understanding Cyber Essentials

Cyber Essentials is a UK-government-backed certification that helps organizations of all sizes protect against common cyberthreats. Implementing its five key controls — firewalls, secure configuration, user access control, malware protection and security update management — lays the groundwork for improved security.

According to research findings from CRN, a media brand of The Channel Company, 85%of surveyed IT leaders in the UK are aware of Cyber Essentials, but only 25% have obtained the certification.

The benefits of achieving Cyber Essentials are clear — 57% of certified organizations reported new business and revenue opportunities, and it has become a prerequisite for some public sector contracts. The certification not only ensures compliance but signals to clients, partners and adversaries alike that your organization is committed to cybersecurity.

The importance of IT asset and password management

Our expert panel, which included Rajan Keshwala, solutions engineer at Kaseya, Ellen Daniel, senior content strategist at The Channel Company, and Victoria Pavlova, UK editor at CRN, highlighted that IT asset and password management are essential components of a secure IT environment. Without clear visibility into your IT assets, implementing the five technical controls of Cyber Essentials — such as firewalls, access management and malware protection — becomes significantly more challenging.

Proper IT asset management provides visibility into the devices and systems in use, who has access to them and how secure they are. This comprehensive understanding is critical for reducing vulnerabilities and ensuring that organizations can effectively protect their IT environments, making compliance with Cyber Essentials standards much smoother.

Equally important is password management. Strong password policies, especially when integrated with multifactor authentication (MFA), offer an extra layer of security, protecting critical systems and data from unauthorized access. While 75% of organizations use password management tools, many still face challenges in finding the right balance between security and user-friendliness.

Survey insights on the impact of Cyber Essentials adoption

CRN’s research findings shed light on how organizations are navigating Cyber Essentials certification and the changes they are making to meet its requirements. Here are some of the key findings:

• Firewall and access controls adoption: About 87% of respondents reported having firewalls in place while 86% had implemented user access controls.
• Strategic changes: Organizations adapting to Cyber Essentials noted significant improvements in cybersecurity strategies, such as introducing MFA, enhancing password management and refining device management.
• Hurdles to certification: About 25% of organizations reported difficulty integrating Cyber Essentials due to resource constraints and aligning with industry-specific requirements.

Addressing documentation gaps to strengthen cybersecurity

One of the most significant hurdles to effective IT asset and password management is incomplete or decentralized documentation. Our survey found that 58% of respondents identified this as a major issue, which directly impacts their ability to manage assets and credentials securely. Without clear, consolidated documentation, organizations struggle to maintain visibility over their IT environments, increasing the likelihood of security vulnerabilities and making it harder to comply with frameworks like Cyber Essentials.

Centralizing documentation and conducting a thorough asset audit are key steps to overcoming this challenge. By streamlining the management of IT assets and credentials, organizations can reduce errors, improve operational efficiency and align more easily with Cyber Essentials’ requirements. A unified documentation system not only helps teams track and secure assets more effectively but also lays the groundwork for broader cybersecurity resilience.

The rise of AI in IT operations

As IT environments become more complex, AI is playing an increasingly significant role in helping teams manage these complexities. Our expert panel noted that AI is quickly gaining traction, with 38% of respondents ranking it as a top priority for the next 12 months. AI technologies, like those used in Cooper Copilot, IT Glue’s AI-powered engine, can automate critical processes — ranging from IT asset management to password policies — by leveraging natural language processing, machine learning and automated decision-making. By streamlining these tasks, AI can help ensure compliance with frameworks like Cyber Essentials, reducing the risk of human error while improving efficiency.

Addressing documentation and password management challenges

IT teams often face significant obstacles in managing IT assets and credentials, which can undermine efforts to secure the environment and comply with Cyber Essentials. The CRN’s survey findings revealed two key challenges:

• Incomplete documentation: A substantial 58% of respondents reported issues with incomplete or inaccurate documentation. This lack of comprehensive records makes it difficult to maintain control over IT assets and meet security standards.
• Password management gaps: Many organizations struggle with implementing effective password policies. While 31% enforce complex password criteria, others still rely on default passwords or outdated practices, increasing their exposure to security risks. Centralizing and strengthening password management is critical for reducing these vulnerabilities.

The power of a centralized source of truth

A centralized source of truth for IT assets offers a solution to these challenges by consolidating physical, digital and virtual asset information into one unified system. The CRN’s survey revealed that:

• 73% of respondents have centralized systems for physical assets.
• 64% track domain name registrations centrally, and 53% manage IP address spaces in a consolidated manner.

Centralizing IT documentation improves visibility, reduces operational silos and simplifies compliance with frameworks like Cyber Essentials. With a unified view of assets and credentials, organizations can more effectively manage security risks, streamline processes and enhance overall control over their IT environment — ultimately laying the foundation for stronger cybersecurity resilience.

Conclusion: Paving the way for Cyber Essentials compliance

In summary, effective asset and password management are critical for building a secure foundation and achieving Cyber Essentials certification. By integrating AI-driven solutions, centralizing IT documentation and implementing robust password management, organizations can not only meet certification standards but also enhance their overall cybersecurity posture.

Ready to take the next step? Book a demo of IT Glue to discover how our documentation solutions can help you streamline IT management and security.