The form your insurer sent, question by question

Every fall the same envelope arrives, and it is never addressed to the person who can answer it. The cyber insurance questionnaire asks about things with names most owners have never said out loud: multifactor authentication, endpoint detection, immutable backups, privileged access. The temptation is to check yes and hope. The better way is to know, and to be able to show.

Here is what the questions are really asking. Multifactor means a second step when someone signs in to email, from anywhere, for everyone, including the owner. Endpoint detection means something is watching every computer for behavior, not just known viruses, and someone sees what it finds. Backups means a separate copy of your email and files that a thief who has your password cannot also delete, and that you have restored from at least once. Privileged access means the number of people who can change everything is small and known.

If those four are running, the form takes an afternoon, and the premium is usually lower than last year. If they are not, the form is the least of it. Either way, send it to us before you answer anything. We will fill it in with you and attach the proof, because the controls it asks about are already part of the plan.