A1.13: Can IASME contact you if you suffer a breach?
Can IASME and their expert partners contact you if you experience a cyber breach?
Source: IASME Cyber Essentials Danzell question set v16.3
A1.13 asks whether IASME and its expert partners may contact you if you experience a breach, so they can learn how well the controls protect certified organisations. There is no right or wrong answer and neither choice affects the result. If you agree, IASME asks you to email security@iasme.co.uk when a breach happens, and the information is kept confidential.
Is A1.13 an automatic fail?
No. A1.13 records information about your organisation and is not marked against a technical requirement, so no answer to it fails the assessment. Inaccurate or contradictory details may be returned by the assessor for correction.
- Answer type
- Yes/No a Yes/No question
- IASME guidance
- We would like feedback on how well the controls are protecting organisations. uk if you do experience a cyber breach.
- Requirement enforced
- Section A1 collects the details that appear on the certificate and shape which later questions are shown.
- Outcome if non-compliant
- Not marked against a requirement; inaccurate details may be returned for correction
What does A1.13 ask?
A1.13 asks: “Can IASME and their expert partners contact you if you experience a cyber breach?”
A1.13 asks whether IASME and their expert partners can contact you if you experience a breach. The guidance explains the purpose: feedback on how well the controls are protecting organisations.
If you answer Yes, IASME asks you to email security@iasme.co.uk if a breach happens. IASME and its partners will then contact you to find out more, and all information will be kept confidential.
How should you answer A1.13?
A1.13 has no single compliant answer. Answer it accurately for your organisation today; this is what each answer means.
- Answer Yes if you are willing to report a breach to IASME and be contacted about it afterwards.
- Answer No if you would rather not; it does not affect the assessment.
- If you answer Yes, add security@iasme.co.uk to your incident response contact list so the commitment is not forgotten.
What mistakes do applicants make with A1.13?
A common mistake with A1.13: assuming a No lowers your chances; it does not.
- Answering Yes and then having no incident process that would remember to contact IASME.
- Confusing this with your insurer's incident line; if you take the included insurance, the policy has its own notification route.
- Treating the question as a statement that you have had a breach; it is not.
How do you get A1.13 right?
Work through these steps before you enter A1.13 in the portal:
- Choose Yes or No; if Yes, add security@iasme.co.uk to your incident response contact list.
How do assessors check A1.13?
Where to go next
Other A1 questions
- A1.11A1.11Yes/NoHave you read the 'Cyber Essentials Requirements for IT Infrastructure' document?Yes/No
- A1.12A1.12Yes/NoHave you spoken to an assured NCSC Cyber Advisor to help with your application?Yes/No
- A1.14A1.14Multiple choiceWhere did you hear about Cyber Essentials?Multiple choice
- A1.15A1.15Yes/NoCan IASME contact you for research purposes?Yes/No
Frequently asked questions
A1.13 in the 2026 Danzell Cyber Essentials question set asks: "Can IASME and their expert partners contact you if you experience a cyber breach?" It is a Yes/No question.
A1.13 asks whether IASME and its expert partners may contact you if you experience a breach, so they can learn how well the controls protect certified organisations. There is no right or wrong answer and neither choice affects the result. If you agree, IASME asks you to email security@iasme.co.uk when a breach happens, and the information is kept confidential.
No. A1.13 records information about your organisation and is not marked against a technical requirement, so no answer to it fails the assessment. Inaccurate or contradictory details may be returned by the assessor for correction.
No. A1.13 is opt-in. If you agree, IASME asks you to email security@iasme.co.uk when you experience a breach, and the information is kept confidential.
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.
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