Long-term support (LTS)
Long-term support is a version of a product that the vendor commits to keep fixing for several years, rather than the shorter period a normal release gets. Cyber Essentials accepts any version that is licensed and supported, so an LTS release helps you pass A6.1 and A6.2 for longer, but only until its published end date.
- Term
- Long-term support
- Also known as
- LTS, LTSC, Long-Term Servicing Channel
- Category
- Devices and software
- Requirement area
- 3. Security Update Management
- Reviewed against
- Requirements v3.3
What does the term long-term support mean in Cyber Essentials?
Long-term support is a version of a product that the vendor commits to keep fixing for several years, rather than the shorter period a normal release gets.
How does long-term support apply to Cyber Essentials?
In plain terms
Compare a short let you must renew every few months with a long lease that has a fixed end date. A long-term support release is the long lease. You install it once and the vendor keeps sending security fixes for years, so you are not forced into a big upgrade every few months. Ubuntu LTS releases, Windows LTSC editions, Office LTSC and Java LTS versions are common examples.
What Cyber Essentials asks
The scheme documents do not mention LTS. What matters is the NCSC definition of licensed and supported software: a vendor "has committed to support by providing regular vulnerability fixes" and "must provide the future date when they will stop providing these". LTS releases come with exactly that kind of published date, which makes them easy to evidence at A6.1 (operating systems) and A6.2 (other software).
For example, Canonical publishes a standard support end date for every Ubuntu LTS release on its release cycle page. Keep that date alongside your device list and plan the upgrade before it passes.
Common mistakes
- Treating LTS as permanent. Every LTS release has an end date, and after it the version is unsupported like any other.
- Running a short-lived interim release on a server by mistake. It reaches end of support much sooner than the LTS release beside it.
- Relying on a paid extension, such as Ubuntu Pro, without being able to show it is active on each machine.
See the Ubuntu and Java support pages, or all supported software. Related: end of support, extended security updates.
Related terms
- End of support (end of life)End of support is the date after which a vendor stops releasing security fixes for a product, so any new flaws found in it stay open for good.
- Extended Security Updates (ESU)Extended Security Updates are a paid programme in which a vendor keeps sending security fixes for a product after its normal end of support.
- MacrosA macro is a small program saved inside a document or spreadsheet that automates tasks, and it can run as soon as the file is opened.
- Mobile device management (MDM)Mobile device management is software that lets an organisation set up, secure and track its phones, tablets and laptops remotely from one console.
- Open-source softwareOpen-source software is software whose source code is published for anyone to use, change and share under the terms of its licence, often at no cost.
- Operating system (OS)An operating system is the core software that runs a device and lets every other program work, such as Windows, macOS, iOS or Android.
Frequently asked questions
Long-term support is a version of a product that the vendor commits to keep fixing for several years, rather than the shorter period a normal release gets.
In the 2026 Danzell question set, long-term support comes up at A6.1, A6.2. Read those questions against the definition above so your answers use the term the way the assessor will.
Long-term support relates to 3. Security Update Management in the NCSC's Cyber Essentials: Requirements for IT Infrastructure v3.3. Read that section for the control your answers must show.
Would you pass the 2026 question set?
Answer 24 yes or no questions, built by the assessors who mark Cyber Essentials, and get a readiness score in about five minutes, with any auto-fail questions you miss flagged first in your results.