Cyber insurance applications and renewals can involve technical questions about how a business protects accounts, devices, backups and remote access. Requirements vary by insurer and policy, so the safest approach is to prepare accurate evidence rather than guessing or treating a checklist as insurance advice.
Prepare evidence before the questionnaire arrives
Keep a short technical-control register that records what is implemented, who owns it and where supporting evidence can be found.
Common technical areas worth reviewing
- MFA: Microsoft 365, remote access, administrators and other important cloud services.
- Endpoint protection: security software, EDR where appropriate, device inventory and monitoring.
- Patching: supported operating systems, applications and network devices.
- Administrator access: separate privileged accounts and regular privilege reviews.
- Backups: scope, separation, retention and evidence of restore testing.
- Email security: phishing/BEC controls and staff verification procedures.
- Remote access: secure VPN/remote tooling, MFA and controlled vendor access.
- Incident response: documented contacts, escalation and recovery actions.
Do not overstate your controls
Technical answers should be accurate and supportable. “Yes, we have MFA” may not tell the whole story if exceptions exist. “Yes, we have backups” may not be enough if critical Microsoft 365 or application data is outside the backup scope. A readiness review is an opportunity to identify those gaps before they become an incident—or a difficult renewal conversation.
Use the review to improve security, not just complete paperwork
Many of these controls also align with good-practice guidance from ASD and Microsoft. Treat the questionnaire as a prompt to strengthen resilience rather than a one-time administrative task.
What FabSys can provide
A FabSys technical readiness review can document current controls, collect available evidence, identify gaps and propose remediation actions. The final insurance application remains the responsibility of the business and its insurance advisers.
A practical next step
Turn the checklist into a business-specific action plan.
FabSys can review your current environment, identify the highest-impact gaps and explain the next actions in plain English. You can use FabSys for a focused assessment or project even if another provider already supports your IT.
Official guidance & further reading
These external resources provide authoritative background for the controls discussed above.
- Australian Signals Directorate — Essential Eight ↗
- Microsoft — Microsoft 365 for business security best practices ↗
- Australian Signals Directorate — Set up and perform regular backups ↗
- Australian Signals Directorate — Cyber security incident response planning ↗
- Australian Signals Directorate — Preventing business email compromise ↗
Common questions
Does FabSys provide cyber insurance advice?
No. FabSys provides technical readiness support. Policy wording, disclosure, coverage and insurance advice should come from your broker, insurer or appropriate adviser.
Can FabSys help us answer an insurer questionnaire?
FabSys can help verify and document technical facts about your environment, identify gaps and implement improvements. The business should ensure final questionnaire answers are accurate and approved appropriately.
What if we already have an IT provider?
FabSys can provide an independent technical second opinion or evidence review without requiring a change of provider.