Cyber Assurance Group

The Market Is Converging on Readiness

Regulators require it. Insurers price it. Lenders consider it. Customers increasingly expect it.

Cyber readiness isn't just a compliance objective driven by regulators. It has become a common sense business credential. Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are now expected to demonstrate they have taken reasonable steps to protect themselves, their customers, and trading partners.

CyberSimple-IQ™ delivers a compliant foundation through a simple, affordable, managed approach that includes $1.5M+ in financial protection. Everyone qualifies. No exceptions. No underwriting. No deductibles. No hassles.

The Market Shift

Security is a journey. Compliance is the destination.

What was once considered a best practice is now a condition of doing business. Insurers, lenders, regulators, and enterprise customers ask for evidence, not promises, and acquirers increasingly investigate it during diligence.

Our focus is the small and mid-sized business market, where millions of businesses are now asked to satisfy requirements once reserved for large enterprises. They need practical, affordable answers: confidence, not consultants.

CyberSimple-IQ™ activates the controls a business already has and closes the gaps that remain, so compliance can be proven, not debated.

58%
Of cyber-insurance claims stemmed from email scams: business email compromise and wire-transfer fraud.Coalition Cyber Claims Report, 2026
88%
Of small-business breaches involved ransomware, versus 39% at large organizations.Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 2025
1 in 3
Breached small businesses faced a fine large enough to threaten the business's finances.Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report, 2025

Why Insurance Alone Is No Longer Enough

Rates are stabilizing. Coverage is not.

Cyber-insurance pricing has stabilized, and by many accounts premiums are beginning to decline. However, coverage is moving the other way. Policy exclusions keep expanding. Employee mistakes, lapses in required controls, and social-engineering losses are increasingly scrutinized, narrowed, or excluded altogether.

Qualifying for coverage at a fair price is only half the battle. The other half is whether the policy performs when a claim is filed, and that half goes unexamined until it is tested. The conditions that decide a payout live in the fine print: the controls a business agreed to maintain, the records it promised to keep. Few small businesses revisit that language before an incident, and fewer still can produce the evidence it demands after one.

Readiness is what ensures the coverage performs.

This is why it comes first. CyberSimple-IQ™ delivers and documents the controls a policy requires, so there is no debate if a claim is made.

The Cyber Assurance Framework

One model that turns scattered tools into a defensible outcome.

More security tools are rarely the answer. Not for a small business, and frankly not for a large one either. For most small businesses, many of the security capabilities they need are already built into Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. They simply need to be properly activated. The real challenge is ensuring the right combination of tools and controls covers the gaps that regulators, insurers, lenders, customers, and trading partners care about. The good news is that it's a relatively short list — and it actually makes sense. We've built the Framework that identifies those gaps, closes them, and helps small businesses achieve, maintain, and demonstrate cyber readiness.

01
Foundation
Training & Control Activation
02
Validation
Documentation & Certificates
03
Monitoring
Ongoing Security Oversight
04
Protection
$1.5M Warranty Protection
Fitted Insurance™ can be layered and IR capabilities can be added, if necessary.
DOCUMENTED · CYBER · READINESS · ASSURED ·
The Outcome

Documented Cyber Readiness

Cyber readiness is the outcome. It comes from the right controls working together, stays current with set-it-and-forget-it simplicity, and produces the evidence behind it. CyberSimple-IQ™ organizes and delivers it.

CyberSimple-IQ™ is delivered by Cyber Assurance Group.

Distribution Through Trusted Institutions

The trusted introduction does the work.

For banks, MSPs, MSSPs, brokers, and other trusted advisors, CyberSimple-IQ™ is a distribution opportunity, not a new service line. No cybersecurity expertise is required. No technology needs to be implemented. The trusted introduction does the work.

You identify the need, make the introduction, support adoption, and share in the revenue. We handle the rest.

A small-business owner ignores most solicitations. They listen to the people they already trust. Ten vendors can warn about cyber risk and be ignored. One recommendation from a trusted advisor drives action.

01
Identify the need
02
Make the introduction
03
Support adoption
04
Share in the revenue

Different institutions, different motivations, the same outcome: readiness for the business, and recurring revenue for the partner.

Banks

Business owners already rely on their bank for financing, fraud prevention, and risk management. A trusted recommendation reaches customers no cold call ever will. When customers are more secure, the bank is more secure.

A recurring, non-interest revenue stream, alongside more resilient borrowers.

MSPs & MSSPs

MSSPs are already in the cyber-readiness business; MSPs keep the technology running. CyberSimple-IQ™ lets both serve the smaller accounts a full engagement can't reach profitably.

Incremental revenue and a larger addressable market, with no new service to build.

Insurance Brokers

Cyber insurance is already part of the conversation. Cyber readiness makes coverage stronger, renewals easier, and outcomes better.

Recurring revenue alongside existing commissions, with better client outcomes.

Franchisors

One addition to the operating playbook. One standard adopted across every location.

Recurring corporate revenue from every participating location.

Trade Associations & Chambers

A valuable member benefit delivered through trusted channels members already engage with.

Recurring revenue on a benefit delivered through channels you already run.

Affinity Groups

A vetted solution from a trusted source, added to an existing portfolio of member benefits.

Recurring revenue on one more vetted benefit in the member portfolio.

BanksInsurance BrokersFranchisors AssociationsChambersMSPs MSSPsAffinity Groups

Solutions

One Foundation. Two Optional Layers.

CyberSimple-IQ™ is the foundation. It helps small businesses achieve, maintain, and demonstrate cyber readiness, simply and affordably. Some organizations require additional risk transfer or recovery capabilities. For them, two optional layers extend that foundation: Fitted Insurance and CyberCSI. Readiness comes first. Everything else builds on it.

Workforce training runs throughout, delivered through CyberSecure My Business™, the small-business program of the National Cybersecurity Alliance. For our distributors, the program is provided at no cost and can be offered as a high-value benefit to the businesses they serve.

Foundation
CyberSimple-IQ™
For small and mid-sized businesses

The managed platform that builds, documents, and maintains cyber readiness for businesses without the time, budget, or expertise to do it alone.

  • Security awareness training. Quarterly, expert-led modules delivered through CyberSecure My Business™, the National Cybersecurity Alliance program.
  • Managed EDR. AI-monitored endpoint detection and response on the machines that matter most.
  • $1.5M warranty. Financial protection built in. Everyone qualifies: no underwriting, no deductibles.
  • Compliance support and documentation. The evidence to demonstrate readiness when an insurer, regulator, lender, customer, or trading partner asks.
  • Readiness validation. Ongoing oversight that keeps controls activated, enforced, and current.

Everything above starts at $50 a month; most small businesses select a package that covers several critical machines (where data is stored, banking transactions happen, etc.) priced at $100 per month.

Optional Layer · Risk Transfer
Fitted Insurance
When additional coverage is required

A flexible, bespoke insurance capability, fully tailored to the business. Use it to fill a gap, enhance existing coverage, or stand on its own, built on the readiness already proven through CyberSimple-IQ™.

  • Fully tailored. Structured as a gap solution, an enhancement to current coverage, or standalone protection.
  • Social engineering. Protection when an employee is deceived into authorizing a payment or releasing funds.
  • Invoice manipulation. Also called reverse social engineering: coverage when a legitimate invoice is altered or spoofed to redirect payment.
  • Computer and funds transfer. Coverage for losses from fraudulent electronic transfers and unauthorized system access.
  • Aligned to readiness. Underwritten against the controls already demonstrated, for higher limits, smoother renewals, and fewer surprises.

Coverage and pricing are quoted to the specific exposure.

Optional Layer · Resilience & Recovery
CyberCSI
When additional resilience is required

An on-call incident response team retained before you need it: Fortune 500-grade response at small-business pricing.

  • Tailored IR playbook. A response plan built for your business, not a generic PDF, delivered within five business days of enrollment.
  • Fast human response. A human expert on the line within minutes, with response action inside 60 minutes of your call.
  • 5 IR hours included. Professional remote hours each year for containment, evidence preservation, and insurance-grade forensics.
  • Insurer-ready evidence. Documentation suitable for claims and law enforcement, with you retaining ownership of your data.
  • Predictable cost. Annual contract billed monthly, with a clear menu for any additional hours or services.

Flexible by design; most who need it choose a $100 per month package, rather than the $thousands per month a standalone incident-response retainer can run.

CyberCSI™ · Incident Response

Help that is prepared before you need it.

For most businesses, a cyber incident is a matter of when, not if. CyberCSI is the additional layer for organizations with elevated resilience and recovery requirements: a dedicated response team on standby, a playbook written for your business, and restoration planned in advance, so a moment of crisis meets preparation rather than improvisation. It enhances the readiness CyberSimple-IQ™ already provides, and is particularly well-suited to larger businesses with mission-critical system interdependencies.

Service Commitments
10 min
Human outreach after you enroll: a welcome call and clear guidance on when and how to call.
≤ 60 min
Response underway, clocked from the moment you notify us.
5 hours
Professional IR hours included each contract year, delivered remotely.
Evidence
An insurance-grade evidence pack suitable for claims and law-enforcement.
Before an incident
Get prepared
  1. A short signup and a ten-minute welcome call.
  2. A response playbook tailored to your business, delivered within five business days.
  3. Backups, contingencies, a communications tree, and decision rights agreed in advance.
  4. Your dedicated hotline posted where your team can find it.
During an incident
Rapid response
  1. One call to your hotline at the first sign of trouble.
  2. A human expert on the line within minutes.
  3. Response underway within sixty minutes, prioritizing containment.
  4. Five hours of containment, forensics, and documentation included.

Predictable by design. An annual contract billed monthly, no hardware to install, and transparent pricing for any additional work: digital forensics, crisis communications, remediation, dark-web takedown, or legal coordination. Restoration planning and operational resilience are built in before an incident, so recovery is a prepared capability rather than an improvised scramble. Delivered through geo-redundant SOC coverage aligned with SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001; you retain ownership of your data and evidence throughout.

Why Insurers Care

Readiness is what underwriting now rewards.

Every part of CyberSimple-IQ™ produces something an insurer can act on. Activated controls, training records, monitoring, and documentation are exactly what carriers request during underwriting, renewal, and claims review, which is why readiness is what underwriting now rewards.

Underwriting decisions

Demonstrable controls let carriers price risk on evidence rather than assumption, and reward it.

Policy renewals

A documented posture carries into each renewal, supporting retention and better terms over time.

Risk assessment

Continuous monitoring and retained logs give a current, verifiable view of an insured's exposure.

Claims defensibility

When an incident occurs, the evidence already exists, supporting the claim and the coverage behind it.

What Success Looks Like

A permanent shift, not a passing trend.

A cyber-ready business is more than secure. It can demonstrate its preparedness to insurers, lenders, regulators, customers, and prospective acquirers who increasingly require evidence, not assurances.

The market is converging on readiness. What is optional today will be expected tomorrow and required soon after.

This is not a temporary trend or a passing compliance exercise. It is a permanent shift in how organizations evaluate risk, responsibility, and trust.

  • Security awareness
  • Improved compliance posture
  • Improved insurability
  • Recovery preparedness
  • Greater customer confidence
  • Lasting operational resilience

Leadership

Built by operators.

David R. Bechtel
Co-Founder & President

A builder with multiple exits across industries. Co-founder of Uphold, now one of the world's largest digital-asset platforms, and Curaspan, acquired by Cardinal Health. Founder of Outpost Capital; earlier a Partner at Oak Hill and executive at SunAmerica. B.A., Yale (magna cum laude); J.D., Stanford Law (Order of the Coif).

Benjamin W. Wurts
Co-Founder & President

More than three decades across insurance, reinsurance, and structured finance. Former executive with Johnson & Higgins, advising Fortune 500 companies on risk management and serving on the firm's Bermuda Executive Committee. Managing Director of San Blas Capital Markets. FINRA Series 7, 63, and 79; ARM and CPCU.

Thomas G. Finn
Chief Innovation Officer

Technology-commercialization experience spanning MIT, Cambridge, and Carnegie Mellon. A decade building cybersecurity ventures originating from Unit 8200. Participated in the Medigate acquisition and helped pioneer the pairing of cybersecurity controls with financial-protection programs.

Advisory Network
Michael Butcher
Compliance & Licensing

Designated Responsible Licensed Producer. Co-founder and COO of Beneplace, acquired by EBG.

Jim Enelow
Insurance Distribution

EVP and Chief Growth Officer of Vault. Former leadership roles at Acrisure, Zurich, and Marsh.

Jamie Hole
Underwriting & Reinsurance

Founder of Cincinnati Re. Former Managing Director at JLT Re and Towers Watson Reinsurance.

Tom Riley
Agency Distribution

Founding President and COO of AssuredPartners, acquired by Arthur J. Gallagher.

Resources

Knowledge & reference materials.

White papers, program summaries, and regulatory reference documents for distribution partners and prospective clients. This is where our compliance guidance, cyber-readiness education, and insurance insight will continue to be published.

White Paper
The Cyber-Readiness Opportunity

Why readiness has become the credential small businesses must demonstrate, the data behind the shift, and how distribution partners turn it into recurring revenue.

Download the paper
White Paper · Banking
The Community-Bank Cyber Opportunity

Cyber loss exposure, program economics, and return on participation for community and regional banks, with documented loss-avoidance data and regulatory context.

Download the paper
Compliance
Regulatory Landscape Summary

An overview of current and emerging compliance requirements affecting small and mid-sized businesses across key industries.

Request PDF
Case Study
Distribution Partner Case Study

How an institutional distribution partner activated the program, and the outcomes achieved across their client base.

Request PDF
White Paper · Insurance Brokers
The Broker Cyber-Renewal Opportunity

Why client coverage increasingly fails at claim time, what closes the gap before renewal, and how brokers turn readiness into stronger renewals and recurring revenue.

Download the paper
Industry Update
Coming soon

Periodic briefings on the convergence of compliance, insurance, and lending requirements.

The product is not insurance.
The product is not training.
The product is not monitoring. The product is cyber readiness.

About Cyber Assurance Group

The company behind the Framework.

Cyber Assurance Group is a managing general agency focused exclusively on cyber risk.

Through CyberSimple-IQ™, we bring training, monitoring, compliance support, documentation, managed EDR, and a $1.5M warranty into a single readiness platform, with Fitted Insurance and CyberCSI as additional layers when an organization's requirements run higher.

We deliver that platform to the small and mid-sized business market through the institutions those businesses already trust. Our partners make the introductions; we deliver CyberSimple-IQ™; together we produce the readiness the market now demands, at the scale it requires. Workforce training is delivered in partnership with CyberSecure My Business™, a program of the National Cybersecurity Alliance.

Schedule a Conversation

Thirty minutes is usually enough.

The question is no longer whether action is required; it is how to deliver meaningful outcomes at scale, through trusted relationships, without new operational burdens. If your organization is evaluating that challenge, a short conversation is usually enough to determine fit.

Email
info@mycagi.com
Phone
(912) 268-0123
Headquarters
115 East Putnam Avenue, 2nd Floor
Greenwich, CT 06830
LinkedIn
/company/cyberassurancegroup
CT License
3003480616

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