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Downloading Your Cyber Essentials Logo: How to Add It to Your Email Signature and Website

Writer: The Assessor Team
The Assessor Team
5 days ago
7 min read

One of the questions we're asked most often after a client passes is: how do I download the Cyber Essentials logo? It's a fair question. You've earned your Cyber Essentials certification and you want to show it off on your website and in your email signature.

The short answer is that there isn't a logo file to download. Instead, IASME issues your Cyber Essentials logo as a BlockMark smart badge, a small piece of code linked to your digital certificate. This guide explains why, then walks you through creating your badge and adding the Cyber Essentials logo to your email signature and website.

If you haven't set up your BlockMark account yet, start with our companion guide: How to Set Up Your BlockMark Account and Access Your Cyber Essentials Certificate.

Why can't I just download the Cyber Essentials logo?

IASME, the NCSC's Cyber Essentials Delivery Partner, issues certificates and badges through BlockMark Registry. According to IASME's BlockMark user guide, the badge is deliberately provided as embeddable code rather than an image file you copy and paste. That design has some real advantages for you and for anyone checking your certification:

  • It's always genuine. The badge only displays while your certificate is active and public. If a certificate expires, is suspended or is revoked, the badge stops showing. This helps stop out-of-date or fake badges circulating.

  • It's verifiable in one click. Anyone who clicks your badge is taken to your digital certificate on BlockMark, where they can check who it was issued to, by whom, the scope and the expiry date.

  • It stays up to date. If the certification mark design is changed, your badge updates automatically everywhere it's embedded.

BlockMark also notes that scheme owners may require the smart badge to be used instead of a pasted image, and may restrict access to an image file of the mark (BlockMark: Smart badges). If you need the Cyber Essentials logo for printed or other marketing material, IASME asks you to contact its Marketing Team at marketing@iasme.co.uk for assistance.

Before you start

  • You'll need a BlockMark account linked to your organisation. If you're not sure, follow our BlockMark account setup guide first.

  • Log in as the recipient of the certificate. BlockMark explains that the badge options appear in the side menu of your digital certificate page when you're logged in.

  • Your certificate needs to be set to public, otherwise the badge won't display.

How to create your Cyber Essentials logo (smart badge)

  1. Log in to BlockMark and open your organisation dashboard.

  2. Select Received Certificates, then open your Cyber Essentials certificate. In Card View, click anywhere on the card. In Table View, click View.

  3. In the Share area, choose Smart badge for email (for your email signature) or Smart badge for website (for your website).

  4. Adjust the settings until the preview looks right. Depending on the badge type, you can change the badge size, remove padding, choose a background colour, show or hide the BM indicator, and pick an alternative image such as a white or mono version where available. The dotted outline only appears in the preview.

  5. Press Create to generate the code.

  6. Copy the code using the Copy embed code button. BlockMark advises against highlighting the code and copying it with your keyboard, because that doesn't always work. You can also download the code as an HTML file or a text file.

A note on the remove padding option: it makes the badge take up less space, but BlockMark warns it may cause formatting issues if the certification mark is ever redesigned with a different shape. If you're unsure, leave it unticked.

Email badge or website badge?

BlockMark offers two versions because emails can do less than websites. The website badge is built on an iframe and shows extra certificate details when someone hovers over it. The email badge is a simple linked image, which is what most email software can display reliably. Use the email version for signatures and the website version for web pages.

Adding the Cyber Essentials logo to your email signature

Please note: the steps below for individual email applications are provided as a courtesy, based on IASME and BlockMark guidance. Email software changes regularly and setups vary between organisations, so please check with your IT support team or your email provider's support pages to confirm the exact steps for your version.

The method that works almost everywhere: the HTML file

This is the most reliable route for most people, including those using webmail. It comes from BlockMark's email smart badge guide.

  1. In BlockMark, download the email badge code as an .html file.

  2. Open the file. It will open in your web browser and show your badge.

  3. Press Ctrl+A (Windows) or Cmd+A (Mac) to select everything, then Ctrl+C or Cmd+C to copy.

  4. Open your email signature settings and paste with Ctrl+V or Cmd+V. The badge should appear as an image.

  5. Save your signature, then start a new email to check it.

Webmail, including Gmail and Outlook on the web

Open your email account's signature settings and paste the badge into the signature box, either directly from BlockMark or using the HTML file method above. You may need to start a new message to see the badge in place.

In Gmail, Google's help pages explain that signatures are found under Settings, then See all settings, then the Signature section. Remember to click Save changes at the bottom of the page.

Microsoft Outlook

BlockMark notes that adding image code to an Outlook signature can be awkward and varies between versions. Outlook for Mac should work with the HTML file method above. For the classic Outlook desktop app on Windows, which stores signatures as files on your computer, IASME and BlockMark describe this method:

  1. Create a new signature in Outlook with a simple name such as "newsig", following Microsoft's signature instructions.

  2. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Users\{YOUR USERNAME}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Signatures.

  3. Right-click the newsig file, choose Open with, then Notepad.

  4. Delete everything in the file, paste in your BlockMark email badge code, and save.

  5. Start a new email using that signature to check the badge displays. You can then add your usual details by editing the signature in Outlook.

If you use the new Outlook for Windows or Outlook on the web, try the HTML file method instead, and check with your IT support team if the badge doesn't appear.

Apple Mail

  1. Open Mail and go to Mail > Settings (called Preferences on older versions of macOS), then select Signatures.

  2. Choose the account you want to edit, then select the signature.

  3. Untick Always match my default message font.

  4. Paste the badge code from BlockMark into the right-hand box.

Don't worry if the preview only shows an empty box. BlockMark explains that the real badge appears when you compose a new email. See Apple's guide: Create and use email signatures in Mail on Mac.

Exclaimer and other signature management tools

BlockMark confirms email smart badges work with Exclaimer, but the code needs to be pasted into two separate settings boxes. BlockMark's badge dialogue prepares the two portions for you, each with its own copy button. If your organisation uses a different signature tool, ask your IT team to add the badge centrally.

Sending the badge code to a colleague or IT provider

If someone else manages your email signatures, don't paste the code into the body of an email to them. BlockMark warns that the badge can embed itself and become hard to extract. Instead, download the code as an HTML or text file and send that.

If your security settings block .html attachments, send the .txt version. Your colleague can save it, check its contents, then rename it from .txt to .html and follow the HTML file method above.

It's also worth adding colleagues to your BlockMark account so more than one person can access the badge. IASME recommends this in case the original account holder isn't available later.

Adding the Cyber Essentials logo to your website

Copy the Smart badge for website code and paste it into the HTML of the page where you want it, using your website's HTML or code embed feature. You can adjust the size by changing the width and height of the iframe. IASME suggests checking the hover popup isn't hidden once embedded. If a web developer manages your site, send them the code file. Full steps are in our BlockMark account setup guide.

What happens when you renew?

Each Cyber Essentials renewal is issued as a new certificate with a new number. BlockMark's current guidance says that when a certificate is renewed, the badge remains visible and automatically links to the newer certificate, so nothing needs updating (BlockMark: Smart badges).

Older IASME guidance says you may need to replace the embed code after renewal. If your badge doesn't reappear once your renewal is certified, simply create a fresh badge code from your new certificate and replace the old one in your signature and website.

Troubleshooting

  • The badge isn't showing. Check your certificate is still valid and set to public. The badge won't display for expired, private, suspended or revoked certificates.

  • Recipients can't see the badge. The email badge loads as a remote image, so some email software hides it until the recipient chooses to show images.

  • My badge has disappeared but my certificate is still valid. Contact IASME Customer Services, as advised in IASME's FAQs.

  • I want to add it to our LinkedIn company page. IASME notes that LinkedIn organisation pages can't currently display certificates or badges. They can only be added to personal profiles.

  • My BlockMark account says it's limited. This usually means you've joined an organisation account that someone else set up. The account owner needs to accept you.

Is the badge safe to use?

BlockMark states that its smart badges set no cookies, and that the email badge image contains no analytics tags, tracking pixels or fingerprinting. BlockMark only keeps simple counters showing when and how often a badge is displayed (BlockMark: Smart badges).

Need help?

If you're a Get Cyber Certified client, your assessor is happy to point you in the right direction. For BlockMark account issues, contact IASME Customer Services through iasme.co.uk/contact-us or on 03300 882 752.

Still working towards Cyber Essentials certification? Take a look at our Guidance for applicants to find out how to get Cyber Essentials and what to expect.

Sources and further reading

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