Passing the Cyber Insurance Questionnaire: A Checklist for Central Florida Small Businesses
Updated: Sep 7
Cyber-insurance renewals have become a security audit. Carriers ask the same eight questions, and answering "yes" without the control in place is the fastest way to have a claim denied. Here is what each question means in practice and what it takes to answer honestly.
The eight questions and what "yes" requires
Multifactor authentication on email: every account, including shared mailboxes and executives, and ideally phishing-resistant methods rather than text codes
Multifactor authentication on remote access and admin accounts: VPN, remote desktop, Microsoft 365 admin roles
Endpoint detection and response: a monitored EDR agent on every computer and server, not just antivirus
Email security: filtering for impersonation, malicious links and payment-fraud language
Backups that are offline or immutable, tested with an actual restore, covering Microsoft 365 as well as servers
Security-awareness training with phishing simulations and records
Patching within a defined window, with evidence
An incident-response plan that names who does what in the first hour
The two answers that get checked
Adjusters focus on multifactor authentication and backups because they are the controls that decide whether a ransomware claim gets paid. If your MFA has exceptions or your backups have never been restored, expect the questionnaire to be the least of your problems.
How long it takes
For a business already on Microsoft 365, the full list can usually be implemented in 30 days. Multifactor authentication and conditional access are a week of careful rollout; endpoint detection and email security deploy in days; backups and training run in parallel. The documentation takes the longest and is the part most businesses skip.
Get a written answer before the renewal
Protronix Tech offers Central Florida businesses a free IT and security evaluation: we check the network, backups, Microsoft 365 configuration and your current questionnaire answers, and hand you a short written report showing exactly what would need to change. No obligation, and it makes the renewal conversation with your broker a lot shorter.
Related from Protronix Tech: managed IT and security services and what managed IT costs in Orlando.
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