Mike Stoveken
Most cyber insurance applications now ask about multi-factor authentication, endpoint detection and response, and tested offline backups, since federal cybersecurity guidance names all three as baseline controls insurers expect before writing or renewing a policy. Fill out the application the way you did three years ago and something will get flagged. Not rejected, necessarily. … Read more
Cyber insurers no longer take an applicant’s word for it. Having multi-factor authentication, EDR, and tested backups in place only helps your renewal if you can also produce records proving each one, on demand, which is a separate project from actually running the controls themselves. I see this gap constantly. A business has genuinely solid … Read more
Antivirus blocks files that match a known threat signature. EDR watches behavior across a device and can isolate or roll back an attack in progress, and that gap in capability is exactly what cyber insurers now probe for separately on renewal applications. Ten years ago, “we have antivirus” closed that line item. Nobody asked … Read more
The first 24 hours of a ransomware incident follow a specific sequence: isolate affected systems immediately, preserve evidence before touching anything further, notify the right stakeholders in the right order, and resist the urge to reboot, wipe, or pay before consulting anyone. Skip a step and recovery gets slower, not faster. Most business owners … Read more
A Microsoft 365 migration moves your mail, files, and identity into the cloud through a phased cutover, not a single flip of a switch. Email keeps flowing to both the old and new systems during DNS propagation, and the full switch happens only once we’ve confirmed everything landed correctly. Ask an IT provider for a … Read more
Multi-location businesses need centralized IT standards with a local point of contact at each site, not a single-office plan stretched thin or disconnected setups running independently. Configurations drift, security policies stop matching, and nobody owns the space between locations once a second site opens. The first location is usually fine. Somebody set up the network, … Read more
HIPAA requires any IT provider handling your practice’s patient data to sign a Business Associate Agreement and build out the Security Rule’s administrative, physical, and technical safeguards, not just print “HIPAA compliant” on a homepage. No federal agency hands out a certificate that makes that true. The compliance lives in the paperwork and the … Read more
Ransomware attackers now hit small businesses harder and more often than enterprises, because weak backups and no monitoring make recovery nearly impossible. The businesses that survive an attempt almost always have one thing in common: something caught it before encryption finished. Not after. During. Ask most owners of a 15-person company why they’d be … Read more
Tax season IT prep means checking five things before January: remote access capacity, tax software licensing and backups, multi-factor authentication on every system touching client data, a written information security plan, and a tested backup restore. Miss one and it usually surfaces in February, at the worst possible time. I’ve walked into two different accounting … Read more
Evaluating a managed IT provider comes down to five checks. A response time guarantee in writing, a documented incident plan, transparent flat pricing, verifiable client retention numbers, and clear terms for who owns your data if you ever leave. Most owners approach an MSP contract the way they approach a phone plan. Skim the pitch. … Read more
