Cyber Insurance Readiness Checklist: MFA, EDR, 24/7 Monitoring
Cyber insurance is no longer a tickbox - in 2026 every carrier asks for evidence of specific controls before issuing a quote. This is the broker-aligned readiness checklist and the right tool category for each control.
The 6 controls underwriters check
- 1
Multi-Factor Authentication
What underwriters want: Enforced on email, remote access, admin accounts, and any system that touches money.
How businesses satisfy it: Enable Security Defaults / 2-Step in your identity provider; add hardware keys for finance roles.
Browse Identity & MFA on marketplace - 2
Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR)
What underwriters want: Modern EDR on every laptop and server, not just signature-based antivirus.
How businesses satisfy it: Deploy a managed EDR (CrowdStrike Falcon Go, SentinelOne Singularity, or Microsoft Defender for Business).
Browse EDR & Endpoint on marketplace - 3
24x7 Monitoring
What underwriters want: Someone watching the alerts overnight - either an in-house SOC or a managed service.
How businesses satisfy it: Most businesses subscribe to an MDR or 24x7 SOC service rather than hire. Brokers accept both.
Browse MDR & 24x7 SOC on marketplace - 4
Tested Backups
What underwriters want: Immutable, offsite backups with a restore tested in the last 12 months.
How businesses satisfy it: Use a 3-2-1 strategy with at least one immutable copy. Run a real restore test quarterly and document it.
Browse Backup & Recovery on marketplace - 5
Security Awareness Training
What underwriters want: Quarterly training plus phishing simulation, with completion records you can show.
How businesses satisfy it: Pick a training platform that auto-tracks completion. Aim for >85% completion per quarter.
Browse Awareness Training on marketplace - 6
Incident Response Plan
What underwriters want: A written IR plan, named contacts, and a tabletop exercise in the last 12 months.
How businesses satisfy it: Use a 1-page IR plan template and run a 60-minute tabletop. The proof of the exercise is what underwriters value.
Browse Incident Response on marketplace
Bring this to your broker meeting
Print this page and walk through each control with your broker before the renewal meeting. Carriers reward proactive evidence - a clean readiness packet often produces a better quote than the same controls discussed verbally.
Frequently asked questions
Is cyber insurance worth it for a small business?
For most small businesses that hold customer data or would lose revenue during downtime, yes. A policy covers incident response, legal and notification costs, and business interruption, which are the expenses that sink a small company after a breach. It is not a substitute for controls: carriers price on the controls you already run, and the six below are what they ask about first.
What security controls do cyber insurance providers require from SMBs?
Identity protection with enforced MFA, endpoint detection and response, tested backups, patching, security awareness training, and a written incident response plan. The six controls on this page are those requirements with the evidence each one needs. Carriers differ at the margins, but a business that can show all six is quotable by most of them.
How do I prove MFA coverage to a cyber insurance underwriter?
Configuration is not proof; enforcement is. Give the underwriter a short evidence pack: an export from your identity provider showing which populations MFA is enforced for, the conditional access or policy rules that enforce it, a list of any exempted accounts with the reason, and the date you last reviewed them. Screenshots of a settings page are the weakest form of this and are often sent back.
Who can help a small business complete a cyber insurance application questionnaire?
A licensed broker or agent with cyber experience owns the application itself and should not be skipped. What they usually cannot produce is the technical evidence behind the answers. That part falls to whoever runs your security program: an internal lead, an MSSP, or a virtual CISO. Splitting it that way is why applications stall less often.
What is the most common reason businesses get declined?
MFA gaps and untested backups. Either no MFA on email, or backups that exist but have never been restore-tested. Both are inexpensive to fix and both are documented as decline reasons in 2026 underwriting reports.
Can I bundle these tools through one vendor?
Yes - several MSSPs offer bundles that cover identity, EDR, MDR, backup, and training under a single contract. The Value Aligners marketplace lets you compare bundles versus point-tools side by side.
Pick the next step
Value Aligners matches businesses to a vetted, trusted MSP for free. Pick the path that fits where you are today.