Protection
Can you help with our cyber insurance renewal?
Yes. The questionnaire is usually the first time a business discovers what it does not have, and we would rather find that together than have the insurer find it.
Answered by Nate Weigel, Protection Director
Buying a business? Ask the IT questions before the letter of intent. Every unlicensed seat and untested backup is a cost you inherit.
IT due diligence Gold Star survey"Tyler was quick and helped us fix the issue so we could get back to work!"
Jessica, engineering firmMeet TylerWhat the insurer wants now
Five years ago a cyber policy was a form and a premium. Now it is a questionnaire with conditions: multi-factor authentication on email and remote access, tested and offline backups, endpoint detection, patching, staff training. Answer no to the wrong one and the premium doubles, the coverage shrinks or the application is declined.
Answering honestly matters
A claim can be denied if the application said yes to something that was not true on the day of the incident. That is the real risk in a rushed renewal. We answer in your name with what is actually in place, and if something is not, we say so and give a date.
What we do
Read the application with you before it is due. Confirm each control is actually on, not just purchased. Fix the small gaps before the deadline; multi-factor and backup testing are usually a week's work. Put the larger ones on the roadmap with dates the insurer can see. Keep the evidence, because next year they will ask again.
Talk to your agent too
Your insurance agent knows what the underwriters are rejecting this year. Between their view of the market and our view of your systems, the renewal stops being a surprise.
Where we did this
Multi-factor on email but not on the remote gateway is a locked front door with the back door open. Do all of them.
Multi-factor everywhere Small businessYour cyber insurance questionnaire is a security audit you sign. Start it ninety days before renewal and every answer can be yes.
Answering the questionnairePeople also ask
How warm is too warm for our server room?
Equipment is designed for roughly 18 to 27 degrees Celsius, 64 to 81 Fahrenheit, measured at the front where it draws air in. The number that matters is not the one on a Tuesday afternoon; it is the one at 2am on a Sunday.
The full answerWhere should our server actually live?
In a space with airflow, stable power, no water above it and a door that locks. Heat is the most common environmental killer of business equipment, and the room that is fine in March is a different room in July.
The full answerWhat is a server room reorganization, and is it worth paying for?
It is making the room possible to reason about: inventory, cable management, labelling at both ends, documentation, power and airflow. It turns a two-hour outage into a twenty-minute one, and it is far cheaper scheduled than done in an emergency.
The full answer
"Thanks Jim! As usual, you made it a quick and thorough task. All is good now!"
Client, 2024 surveyMeet Jim- A technician who knows your setup takes every request. Not a dispatcher, not a queue.
- Every closed ticket is surveyed and a partner reads every response.
- 99.5% of surveys come back positive.
- Family-owned since 2005. 21 years in the same corner of Wisconsin, not going anywhere.
"Another great job by Midwest IT. Our company just loves your fast response to our issues."
Client, 2024 surveyTalk to a partner, not a sales script.
Tell us what is going on. A partner will call you back the same business day, look at what you have, and tell you honestly whether we are the right fit. No pricing pressure, no pitch deck.