September 18, 2025
Cyber Insurance Requirements: What CFOs in NJ & NYC Need to Know Before Renewal
If you're a CFO in Northern New Jersey or New York City, chances are your cyber insurance renewal form has gotten a lot longer in the past year. Insurers are tightening requirements, premiums are rising, and policies are coming with more exclusions than ever.
Here's the bottom line: if your company can't prove it meets your policy's security requirements, every day, for every user, you risk a denied claim after an incident. In today's threat landscape, that's not a risk you don't want to take.
At Integrated Business Systems (IBS), we help commercial real estate firms (CRE) and other businesses navigate these changes so their insurance coverage actually works when they need it. Let's break down what you need to know before your next renewal.
Why Cyber Insurance Requirements Are Changing
Cyber insurers have seen a surge in costly claims: ransomware payouts, wire fraud losses, data breach settlements. They're responding by:
- Raising premiums and deductibles
- Adding more specific security requirements
- Demanding proof of compliance before and after a claim
- Excluding common incidents if security controls weren't in place
For CFOs, this means your renewal isn't just about signing a form, it's about being able to demonstrate continuous compliance with your policy's technical and procedural requirements.
The MFA Requirement: No Longer Optional
One of the first questions you'll see on a renewal questionnaire: Do you use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)?
Saying "yes" when MFA is only set up for some employees (or just certain systems) can leave you exposed. Many denied claims come down to this gap. To remain compliant:
- Apply MFA everywhere: Email, VPN, cloud apps, property management software, remote access tools.
- Include every user: Executives, accounting, property managers, vendors—no exceptions.
- Document it: Keep evidence that MFA is active and enforced company-wide.
In short, if MFA isn't universal, your insurer may treat it as nonexistent.
The Cyber Insurance Compliance Checklist for CFOs
Before renewal, confirm you can check off these boxes:
- MFA enforced for all accounts and systems
- Endpoint detection & response (EDR) deployed on all devices
- Data encryption at rest and in transit
- Regular security awareness training for all employees
- Documented incident response plan
- Quarterly vulnerability scans and remediation logs
- Backups tested and isolated from the main network
At IBS, we provide a cyber insurance compliance checklist tailored to your specific policy, industry, and IT environment. This makes renewals smoother and reduces the risk of a post-incident denial.
What Happens If You Don't Meet Requirements?
A cyber claim denial can be catastrophic, especially in CRE and related industries, where one breach can affect hundreds of tenants, vendors, or clients. Without coverage, you could face:
- Out-of-pocket forensic investigation and legal fees
- Regulatory fines for violations of laws like the NY SHIELD Act or NJ's new PII rules
- Business interruption losses during downtime
- Reputational damage that impacts leasing and renewals
One IBS client avoided these issues by having full documentation of MFA, encryption, and security training when they filed a ransomware claim. Their insurer paid in under 30 days. Without that proof, it could have been a $400,000 hit.
How IBS Keeps NJ & NYC Businesses Coverage-Ready
As part of our compliance services, IBS helps CFOs:
- Review cyber insurance requirements line-by-line
- Implement and monitor required security controls (like MFA and encryption)
- Collect compliance evidence for audits and claims
- Provide ongoing policy alignment so you're not scrambling before renewal
We work with CRE firms daily, so we know the systems you rely on—MRI, Yardi, RealPage—and how to secure them in a way that satisfies insurers without slowing down operations.
Don't Wait Until Renewal Season
Meeting cyber insurance requirements isn't something you can do in a week. Insurers expect year-round compliance and proving it after the fact is much harder than tracking it in real time.
If your renewal is coming up, or you just want to make sure your coverage will actually pay out when you need it, let's talk.
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