Cyber security for UK construction and property firms.

BEC fraud targeting project payments and subcontractors is the most costly risk, with attackers impersonating suppliers or clients to redirect large project payments to fraudulent accounts. Ransomware locking up project files and drawings, loss of unmanaged laptops and devices left on site, and supply-chain compromise through contractors and suppliers with weaker security are also significant threats. Construction is particularly exposed because teams are distributed across multiple sites, often using personal or shared devices with limited oversight, and large payments move regularly between main contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, creating repeated opportunities for payment fraud.

Cyber Essentials verifies that your business has five fundamental technical controls in place — including firewalls, secure configuration, access control, malware protection and patch management — through a self-assessment questionnaire reviewed by an independent assessor. For construction firms, this is increasingly a prerequisite for tier-1 and public-sector contracts, so we typically start by reviewing your current setup against the five controls, close any gaps, then support you through the questionnaire and certification. Cyber Essentials Plus adds a technical audit for firms needing a higher assurance level, often required for larger public-sector or supply-chain contracts.

Construction firms handle high-value project payments, sensitive client and personnel data, and increasingly need to demonstrate security credentials just to be considered for tier-1 or public-sector contracts. A BEC fraud incident can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds in a single fraudulent payment, while ransomware locking project drawings can delay work and trigger contractual penalties under JCT or NEC terms. With teams spread across multiple sites and relying on mobile devices, the attack surface is larger than in a typical office-based business. Investing in cyber security protects both project delivery and the contracts your business depends on.

Cost depends on the number of sites, mobile devices and office staff involved, so we scope pricing after understanding your setup on a short call rather than a generic quote. Cyber Shield awareness training for office and site-based staff starts at £0.99 per user per month on the Team plan, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card required. Endpoint protection, email security and Cyber Essentials are quoted per device or per user monthly, and we'll always give you a transparent proposal so you know exactly what you're paying for before work starts.

Endpoint protection and email security can typically be deployed across office and mobile devices within one to two weeks, since our agents work independently of site network infrastructure. Cyber Essentials certification usually takes two to three weeks from starting the self-assessment. For firms with several sites and a mix of company and personal devices, a full rollout including device enrolment and staff training can take four to six weeks. We prioritise email security and MFA first, since these address the highest-risk exposure — payment fraud — before extending full coverage across every site.

Yes. Smaller contractors and property firms are just as exposed to BEC payment fraud as larger firms, often more so, since a single fraudulent payment can be proportionally more damaging to a smaller business's cash flow. Many smaller subcontractors are also now required to hold Cyber Essentials to work within larger main contractors' supply chains. We scale our services to fit smaller teams and budgets, prioritising the protections that reduce the most risk — email security, MFA and Cyber Essentials — without requiring an in-house IT security team.

The clearest benefit is reduced exposure to payment fraud, which is the most financially damaging risk in construction. You also gain the ability to bid on tier-1 and public-sector contracts that require Cyber Essentials, protection for project files and drawings against ransomware, and consistent device security across scattered sites and mobile teams. Staff become better at spotting supplier-impersonation attempts after awareness training, reducing the human error that causes most fraud. Overall, it protects both cash flow and contract eligibility, two things that directly affect a construction business's ability to keep operating and growing.

General IT support for construction firms typically focuses on keeping office systems, project software and networks running, but rarely extends to 24/7 monitoring, BEC-specific email security or Cyber Essentials support across distributed sites and mobile teams. Many construction firms only discover this gap after a fraudulent payment goes through unnoticed. We work alongside existing IT providers rather than replacing them, handling the security-specific work — monitoring, email security, Cyber Essentials and incident response — while your IT provider continues supporting day-to-day systems and site connectivity.