ARC achieves Cyber Essential certification

Specialist debt collection agency (DCA) ARC Europe has achieved the Government-backed Cyber Essentials certification following a further upgrade of its internal IT infrastructure and the introduction of an enhanced firewall.

The Cyber Essentials scheme accredits those businesses that display significant levels of cyber security and who have correctly implemented five key controls that prevent up to 80 percent of cyber attacks. The certification acknowledges ARC’s continued commitment to further enhancing its cyber security strategies, protecting client and customer data and online systems and supporting business continuity.

Dewi Fox, Managing Director of ARC (Europe), says Cyber Essentials accreditation has multiple benefits: “We wanted to benchmark our new IT security to ensure that it acted effectively in the face of potential threats, and the response has been extremely positive. Having the certification assures potential clients that we take security seriously, and are committed to protecting data and information,” he adds.

In gaining accreditation, ARC’s IT systems were exposed to an external vulnerability scan to test whether the firm had effective and efficient cyber security measures in five key areas: secure configurations; boundary firewalls and internet gateways; access controls and administrative privilege management; patch management; and malware protection.