A prospective client recently came to us facing a challenge that’s becoming all too common—they received a lengthy cybersecurity questionnaire from a potential customer and had no idea how to respond. The outcome? A 'High dollar' contract hung in the balance, dependent on their ability to demonstrate mature cybersecurity standards.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a rare scenario. Many small and mid-sized businesses are underprepared for these requests, lacking a clear cybersecurity strategy, policies or awareness of compliance standards. The risk? Missed revenue opportunities, failed audits, or exposure to serious cyber threats.
A mature cybersecurity approach includes:
- Security Risk Assessment (SRA)
Most compliance frameworks require an annual security review and roadmap to show a pattern of continuous improvement year over year. A full penetration test may be overkill for many businesses but by conducting an annual review is wise and something your IT provider should offer. - Regular Technology Alignment Meetings
For most businesses, just aligning with best practices will eliminate 99% of threats but the process isn’t automatic. Regular meetings with your IT service provider should include audits of antivirus software on all devices, firewall rules and licensing checks, tickets for security alerts and enforcement of multifactor authentication across all employee accounts. - Compliance Automation
Automation and compliance are actually a bit of an oxymoron because if you are subject to higher levels of compliance, like HIPAA, CMMC, NIST, CIS or the like, it is an ongoing process to get aligned and stay aligned. You should have a platform that helps track standards required, policies and the roadmap for improvement. By leveraging tools like a web-based compliance platform, it will streamline efforts—reducing manual work and maintaining continuous oversight. - Regular Access Audits
Let’s face it, team members come and go and many IT Service providers do not have good systems and processes in place to make sure that employees cannot request access from IT to files or systems they should not have access to. At a minimum, every company should do an annual access review to ensure former employee accounts don’t still have access, verify no sensitive files have been shared externally without expiration, and that no employees have been given access to files they shouldn’t see or don’t need to do their job following the principal of least privilege (people should only be given access to the minimum amount they need to do their job).
How Ascend Helps Businesses Navigate Cybersecurity Compliance
At Ascend Technology Group, we work alongside our clients to provide clarity and confidence around cybersecurity. In this case, it starts at onboarding where our team conducts a thorough cybersecurity assessment to help the client:
- Understand their current security posture
- Establishing a roadmap for improvement over time
- Alignment with best practices, cyber insurance requirements and any compliance standards they may have to meet.
But our support doesn’t stop there. Quarterly meetings with a technical account manager is key to providing ongoing, strategic solutions that ensure continuous alignment, prepare businesses not just for a questionnaire—but for long-term resilience.
Don’t Let Compliance Uncertainty Cost You Business
If you're unsure how to respond to a cybersecurity questionnaire—or where your business stands on compliance—you're not alone.
At Ascend, we provide the expertise, tools, and support to help you protect revenue, reduce risk, and respond with confidence.
Let’s talk. Schedule a consultation with our team and make sure your business is always ready for what’s next.
