SeedPod Certified | What It Means for You

Your IT provider is SeedPod Certified. Here’s what that means for you.

Not every managed service provider is built the same. Some treat security as an afterthought. Others cut corners on the controls that protect your business data, your systems, and your clients. SeedPod Certified MSPs have gone through a rigorous vetting process conducted by a team that spends every day underwriting cyber risk. We know what a secure IT partner looks like because we see what happens when one falls short. If your MSP earned this certification, they met a standard that most never bother to pursue.

security controls verified across 8 categories

baseline requirements before controls are reviewed

100%

reviewed by active cyber insurance underwriters

Baseline requirements — all three required

Cyber insurance coverage

Maintains at least $1M in Tech E&O / Cyber insurance so there is a financial backstop if something goes wrong.

Managed service agreement

Has a robust Managed Service Agreement in place that clearly defines scope, responsibilities, and liability.

Incident response plan

Maintains a documented Incident Response Plan so your business is not making decisions in the dark during a breach.

Security controls your MSP has verified

Beyond the baseline requirements, certified MSPs must satisfy specific technical and operational controls across eight security domains. These are the same controls underwriters evaluate when assessing whether a business is insurable and at what price.

Identity and access

3 controls

MFA on all accounts

95% or more of licensed accounts enrolled

MFA enforced on admin and remote access accounts specifically

Unique accounts with strong passwords and local admin rights disabled

Regular employees do not have local admin on their devices

Endpoint and network security

6 controls

Endpoint protection (EDR or MDR) deployed

80% or more of devices covered, minimum threshold

No high-risk third-party app permissions (OAuth)

No applications with excessive permissions connected to your environment

Application isolation and containment solution deployed

Intrusion detection software deployed

VPN for remote access on a segmented network

All devices catalogued and network-mapped regularly

Email security

1 control

Email security platform in place

Active platform such as Defender for Office 365, Proofpoint, or Mimecast

Backup and recovery

5 controls

Daily or continuous off-site / cloud backup

No backup is an automatic decline for certification

At least one backup stored completely off-line (air-gapped)

Immutable backup in place

Cannot be tampered with, modified, or deleted

Recovery time objective documented

Within 24h / 25 to 48h / 49 to 130h / 130h+

Quarterly restoration tests with documented evidence

Patching and software hygiene

2 controls

Patch management program in place

Automatic with verification preferred; manual acceptable

End-of-life / end-of-support software identified and segregated if present

End-of-life software must be disclosed and isolated

Encryption

1 control

Encryption deployed for data at rest, in transit, and on mobile devices

Governance and policies

2 controls

Written Incident Response Plan, regularly tested and updated

Designated CISO or security leadership equivalent

Training and social engineering controls

4 controls

Annual employee security awareness training

Formal and documented preferred

Written procedures for authenticating vendor and bank account change requests

Phone callback to pre-determined number on file

Written callback procedures before processing any wire transfer

Applies to all requests including from owners and executives

Annual phishing / BEC training for employees with wire transfer or AP authority

Your IT provider is SeedPod Certified. Here’s what that means for you.

Security controls your MSP has verified

Want to see if your business qualifies for better coverage?