Control Assist: A Path to Cyber Insurance Readiness for SMBs

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are increasingly exposed to cyber threats, yet many struggle to secure cyber insurance due to the complexity of the application process and uncertainty around what insurers expect. To address this challenge, the Center for Internet Security^® (CIS^®) and CyberAcuView have partnered to launch Control Assist™, a groundbreaking initiative designed to simplify cyber insurance and strengthen cybersecurity for SMBs.

Bridging the Gap Between Cybersecurity and Insurance

Control Assist is a strategic framework that connects two traditionally disconnected domains: cybersecurity and insurance underwriting. At its core, Control Assist aligns the CIS Critical Security Controls^® (CIS Controls^®) Implementation Group 1 (IG1), a globally recognized standard for essential cyber hygiene, with the most common questions found in cyber insurance applications.

This alignment creates a shared language that enables SMBs to clearly demonstrate their cybersecurity posture, insurers to assess risk with greater precision, and vendors to showcase how their technologies support insurance readiness. The result is a more transparent, efficient, and resilient cyber insurance ecosystem.

SMBs and the Cyber Risk Gap

SMBs face three significant challenges when it comes to managing cyber risk: constrained budgets and staffing, lower levels of cyber maturity, and increasingly sophisticated attackers targeting smaller organizations.

Recent data paints a stark picture. According to the 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, the majority of ransomware attacks now target small businesses, with extortion malware appearing in 88% of SMB breach incidents, more than double the rate at larger enterprises. Ransomware has become one of the most common and costly cyber threats facing SMBs today.

For many SMBs, the path to obtaining cyber insurance remains confusing and resource-intensive. They often struggle to interpret insurers’ security questionnaires, identify which controls matter most, and prove that they’ve implemented effective safeguards.

The result is a disconnect: businesses eager to manage cyber risk but uncertain how to demonstrate readiness, and insurers eager to underwrite policies but facing inconsistent, unstandardized information.

That gap is exactly where Control Assist steps in.

Why Control Assist Matters

Many SMBs lack the internal expertise or resources to navigate the insurance process or prioritize cybersecurity investments effectively. Control Assist offers a practical, actionable roadmap that connects security controls to insurance requirements.

By translating technical cybersecurity practices into terms familiar to insurers, Control Assist reduces confusion, accelerates coverage decisions, and empowers SMBs to take meaningful steps toward both stronger security and smoother insurance access.

Key Benefits Across the Ecosystem

Control Assist delivers tangible benefits to all stakeholders involved in the cyber insurance process:

• Simplifies the cyber insurance application process by mapping technical security controls to familiar insurance questions.
• Reduces risk of misinterpretation or missing information that can lead to delayed or denied claims.
• Guides SMBs toward the most critical investments for defending against common cyber attacks.
• Gives insurers standardized, verifiable evidence of an organization’s security maturity.
• Enables security vendors to demonstrate how their products support insurance readiness.

This shared framework fosters collaboration, trust, and transparency across the cybersecurity and insurance industries, ultimately driving better outcomes for SMBs and the broader digital economy.

Industry Collaboration and Technical Validation

To maximize the impact of Control Assist, CIS and CyberAcuView collaborated with eight leading cybersecurity and technology companies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, FirstWatch Technologies, Safe Security, Spektrum Labs, Palo Alto Networks, and one additional industry partner. These partners mapped their products to the Control Assist question set, identifying which Controls can be automatically validated based on the technology in use.

This mapping allows SMBs to leverage existing tools to verify their security posture, reducing the burden of manual documentation and accelerating the insurance process. The mapping highlights which controls can be technically confirmed using these solutions. Importantly, the absence of a validated answer does not imply that a control is missing; it may simply require manual confirmation.

Control Assist is more than a one-time mapping exercise; it's a foundation for future innovation across the cyber insurance and cybersecurity ecosystem. Some of the opportunities we see on the horizon include:

• Expanded mappings: Extending beyond IG1 to include IG2 and IG3, providing a maturity roadmap for SMBs ready to go further.
• Insurance innovation: Enabling new insurance products and faster underwriting processes for companies that demonstrate IG1 alignment potentially even new incentives or premium reductions.
• Vendor alignment: Encouraging security providers to design “insurance-ready” products that naturally fulfill IG1 safeguards, helping SMBs meet both security and compliance needs simultaneously.
• Ecosystem collaboration: Bringing together brokers, insurers, MSPs, and vendors around a shared framework, creating a unified language for cybersecurity assurance.

We are deeply grateful to our participating vendor partners for helping make Control Assist a reality. Their commitment demonstrates a shared belief that aligning cybersecurity frameworks with insurance processes is not just possible, it’s essential.

Building a More Resilient Cyber Insurance Market

Control Assist is a foundational step toward a more standardized and resilient cyber insurance market. By linking proven cybersecurity practices to the insurance process, CIS and CyberAcuView are helping to reduce friction, improve transparency, and promote stronger risk management across the board.

The CIS Controls are already trusted by tens of thousands of organizations worldwide. Control Assist builds on this legacy by offering SMBs a clear, credible path to cyber maturity and insurance readiness. It also supports insurers in making more informed decisions and helps vendors demonstrate the real-world impact of their solutions.

Supported by Industry Leaders

CyberAcuView is backed by a coalition of leading cyber insurance underwriters, including AIG, AXIS, Beazley, Chubb, The Hartford, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and Travelers. These organizations are committed to improving the cyber insurance experience for policyholders and strengthening the overall resilience of the digital economy. All CyberAcuView activities are conducted under strict antitrust review and guidance to ensure fair and competitive practices.

Control Assist marks a pivotal advancement in making cyber insurance more accessible, understandable, and actionable for small and medium-sized businesses. By aligning the CIS Controls with insurance underwriting questions, this initiative empowers SMBs to confidently demonstrate their cybersecurity posture, prioritize meaningful investments, and reduce the friction often associated with applying for coverage. It also equips insurers with clearer, standardized data to assess risk and supports technology vendors in showcasing the insurance-readiness of their solutions.

As cyber threats continue to evolve, initiatives like Control Assist are essential for building a more resilient and collaborative cyber insurance ecosystem where security and coverage go hand in hand. With support from leading insurers and cybersecurity providers, Control Assist offers a practical path forward for SMBs seeking both protection and peace of mind.