{"id":931,"date":"2026-10-08T07:01:44","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T12:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cmitsolutions.com\/anaheim-ca-1127\/?p=931"},"modified":"2026-10-08T07:16:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T12:16:59","slug":"cyber-insurance-renewal-it-controls-southern-california-smbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cmitsolutions.com\/anaheim-ca-1127\/blog\/cyber-insurance-renewal-it-controls-southern-california-smbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyber Insurance Renewal Coming Up? 8 IT Controls Southern California SMBs Should Review First"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cyber insurance renewal can reveal problems that have been sitting unnoticed in your IT environment for months.<\/span><\/p>\n

The renewal form may ask whether your business uses multi-factor authentication, protects employee devices, maintains secure backups, trains employees against phishing, and has a plan for responding to a cyber incident. If you answered those questions a year ago, you may assume the answers are still the same. <\/span>That is worth checking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Employees have changed. New software has been added. People may be working remotely. An old administrator account may still be active. A backup process may have changed without anyone updating the documentation. <\/span>For businesses reviewing cyber insurance requirements for small businesses, the renewal period is a good time to compare what your policy asks for with what your IT environment actually does. Here are eight areas to review before submitting your renewal application.<\/span><\/p>\n

What should a small business review before renewing cyber insurance?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Start with the controls that protect your business from common entry points and help limit the damage if an attacker gets through.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
IT control<\/th>\nWhat to check<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Multi-factor authentication<\/td>\nIs MFA enabled for email, remote access, cloud applications, and administrator accounts?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Endpoint protection<\/td>\nAre company computers and servers protected and monitored?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Email security<\/td>\nAre phishing messages, malicious links, and suspicious attachments being filtered?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Patch management<\/td>\nAre security updates being installed consistently?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Backup and recovery<\/td>\nAre important files backed up, protected, and tested for recovery?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Privileged access<\/td>\nDo employees and vendors have only the access they need?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Security awareness training<\/td>\nAre employees trained and is completion documented?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Incident response<\/td>\nDoes everyone know what to do if a cyber incident occurs?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

These are common IT controls for cyber insurance, although the exact requirements vary by insurer, policy, industry, and business risk. The important part is knowing what your business actually has in place.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Multi-Factor Authentication<\/b><\/h2>\n

A password alone should not be the only thing protecting access to business systems. <\/span>Multi-factor authentication, or MFA, adds another verification step when someone signs in. That could mean approving a notification through an authentication app or entering a temporary code. <\/span>Most business owners understand the value of MFA by now. The problem is that MFA is sometimes only enabled for part of the environment. <\/span>For example, your employees may use MFA for Microsoft 365 while a remote access tool or an administrator account is still protected by a password alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

During your cyber insurance renewal checklist, check MFA across:<\/p>\n