Security Questionnaire Examples: 50 Questions You'll Get Asked (And What They Really Mean)

Key Takeaways

• Buyers used to accept that a policy existed on paper. Now they want proof the control runs today and can produce evidence on request.
• Most questionnaires trace back to one of three industry templates, CAIQ, SIG, or VSA, no matter what format they arrive in.
• The 50 examples span six core control areas, access, encryption, endpoints, incident response, vendors, and certifications.
• Technical coverage is the part teams most often overestimate, assuming devices and tools are covered when they're not.
• Building the evidence packet once helps, but continuous compliance keeps it accurate, turning weeks of scrambling into a same-day response.

Sound familiar? The deal was moving fast, right up until the enterprise buyer's procurement team sent over a 200-row security questionnaire spreadsheet. Now your sales rep wants to know why you can't just fill it out today. You don't know for certain that every device carries encryption or every account enforces multi-factor authentication (MFA), and you're about to spend two weeks reverse-engineering your own security posture while the deal cools.

By the time the questionnaire lands, you're already behind. The teams that close these deals fastest can prove their security at the drop of a hat, thanks to months of prep or a system that creates provable, continuous compliance. These teams have already defined what good security looks like for their systems, put the controls in place, and built a packet that proves it before anyone asked.

Security questionnaires typically group these concerns by control area, with each question mapping a specific worry to the evidence that resolves it. Enterprise customers used to accept that a policy existed on paper. Now they expect proof that the control runs today, with evidence they can act on immediately.

Curious what your own environment would show? Book a demo to see what proving your coverage in real time could look like for your team.

The Frameworks Behind Every Security Questionnaire

Many questionnaires draw from three standardized sources, so the questions are similar whether the buyer sends a spreadsheet, a PDF, or a vendor-portal form like OneTrust or a Trust Center link. Cost varies too. CAIQ is free, SIG is a licensed product, and VSA uses a public template.

Framework	Question Count	Most Common Use
Consensus Assessments Initiative Questionnaire (CAIQ) (Cloud Security Alliance (CSA))	283 (v4.1) / 138 (CAIQ Lite)	Cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) buyers
Standardized Information Gathering (SIG) (Shared Assessments)	855 (Core) / Lite version	Regulated industries
Vendor Security Alliance (VSA)	Shorter full questionnaire	Technology companies

Depth scales with vendor risk. A vendor touching production data or personally identifiable information (PII) can expect a deeper review than one supplying a low-risk tool, and that review often becomes the procurement checkpoint sitting between your sales team closing the deal and procurement signing off.

For a lean team, the CAIQ Lite is the easiest way to get ahead of that checkpoint. It maps to 40+ standards, and filing a self-assessment on the CSA STAR Registry gives buyers a public reference they can check without sending you a custom spreadsheet.

Access Control: "Prove Only the Right People Get In"

Every framework probes access control first, because access failures are the fastest path to a breach. Buyers want proof that the company grants access on purpose, checks it on a schedule, and cuts it off the moment someone leaves.

1. "Are role-based access controls (RBAC) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) implemented?" They want MFA enforced across every account, ideally the phishing-resistant kind, using hardware keys or smart cards. Hardware keys use Fast Identity Online (FIDO)/WebAuthn; smart cards use Personal Identity Verification (PIV) for identity checks. Push-based MFA still works as an interim step, using number matching so the person confirms a code at sign-in. For the full rollout, see deploying MFA across every account.
2. "List all systems requiring MFA. Document any exceptions." Do not claim MFA "for all employees and all access" if you can't defend the word "all." One unprotected admin account can turn that claim into a false statement. If a breach later exposes it, the inaccurate answer can carry real legal weight.
3. "How do you manage vendor and contractor access? Provide logs showing deprovisioning." They want automated, auditable offboarding that deprovisions access on its own.
4. "How often are privileged accounts reviewed and by whom?" Buyers will expect the review record, the reviewer, remediation notes, and completion date.
5. "How do you handle employee offboarding?" Buyers expect deprovisioning that flows from your Human Resources (HR) system, with current assignment and recent unassignment records as proof.

How to have it: When identity, MFA, and device tools are tracked by hand, something eventually slips. Automating that sync keeps MFA and deprovisioning consistent across every tool without anyone chasing it down. MFA should stay enforced on every account through your identity provider, with deprovisioning that fires automatically the moment someone's status changes. Lean teams often break down during offboarding because a single event otherwise requires separate manual updates across Jamf, Microsoft Intune, CrowdStrike, and Okta or Google Workspace, and nobody owns the fix if something gets missed between systems.

Encryption and Data Protection: "Show Your Work"

Encryption claims are easy to write and hard to verify, so buyers push past the yes-or-no answer and ask for specifics they can check against your live configuration.

6. "How do you encrypt data at rest and in transit?" Never just say "we use encryption." Buyers may ask for the exact algorithm, key length, and protocol version. That means Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)-256 at rest, a strong, industry-standard method for scrambling stored data, and Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 or 1.3 in transit, the protocol that encrypts data as it moves between systems.
7. "Are data-at-rest and data-in-transit encrypted (e.g., TLS, AES-256)?" Provide cloud provider configuration showing the settings in force.
8. "What are your policies regarding data retention and deletion?" A standard question, and one a SOC 2 report may not fully cover. You need a clear data retention and deletion policy that data isn't kept longer than necessary and is securely deleted.
9. "Where is customer data stored and processed geographically?" Buyers want a documented data map showing exactly where the company stores and processes customer data, by region.
10. "Which regulations govern your data handling (General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), HIPAA)?" Buyers cross-check this against everything else you answer.
11. "If we leave, how do we get our data out?" Buyers want a documented export process, including data format, timeline, and confirmation that you delete copies after offboarding.

How to have it: A Windows update can silently invalidate a BitLocker key, or a recovery key might never get backed up in the first place, and a control that depends on someone remembering to check for that will eventually miss it. Automated enforcement catches those failures and keeps disk encryption and recovery-key escrow reliable across the fleet. That same continuous monitoring backs the claim "yes, AES-256 at rest" with live configuration.

Endpoint Security and Device Management: "Is It on Every Device?"

A security tool that only covers part of the fleet leaves the uncovered part exposed, so buyers press for exact enrollment numbers instead of a general promise that the company manages its devices.

12. "How do you manage and secure endpoints and devices?" Buyers expect devices enrolled in Mobile Device Management (MDM), subject to compliance policies, with non-compliant devices blocked from access.
13. "Do you employ host-based intrusion detection or prevention?" They're asking whether you run Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), which records endpoint behavior.
14. "How do you ensure systems are up to date with the latest security patches?" Provide a patching policy with enforced deadlines and a way to show compliance across the fleet, or proof that your system automatically patches, like a patch log.
15. "Does your organization have written policies for addressing malware and ransomware?" Buyers want a written malware and ransomware policy, along with evidence that it's enforced, such as EDR alerts or patch logs.
16. "Provide evidence of detection coverage for the systems handling our data." Buyers want a current inventory of every system that touches their data, mapped to its detection tool, kept up to date as systems change.

How to have it: Most teams track enrolled devices manually, but few can prove that count equals every device that should be enrolled. Ask a team what percentage of devices run their security tools and the answer is almost always 100%. It rarely is that high, unless enrollment gets enforced automatically rather than tracked by hand. Automating that enforcement turns the number into something you can prove instead of estimate.

Zip Security, a Built and Managed Security Platform (BMSP), closes that difference by catching cross-tool mismatches most teams miss. Zip compares the device list from your identity provider and MDM against what CrowdStrike itself reports, continuously rather than at deploy time, so a mismatch gets caught the same day it happens instead of at the next audit. When a device drops out of MDM enrollment but CrowdStrike still reports it as healthy, Zip flags the inconsistency and fixes it automatically. It also handles the CrowdStrike purchase itself, since most small businesses can't meet the vendor's enterprise minimums on their own.

Incident Response and Breach Notification: "What Happens When Something Breaks?"

Every vendor eventually has an incident, so buyers focus less on whether it could happen and more on how fast they'd find out and what happens next. They want a named plan, a notification timeline they can hold you to, and proof the plan has been tested.

17. "Can you describe your incident response plan?" They want a written, formally approved plan that clarifies roles and escalation.
18. "How do you notify clients after a data breach?" Documented notification procedures should specify who gets told and when.
19. "How quickly would we be notified if a breach occurs?" This becomes a contractual service-level agreement (SLA), so answer only what you can commit to.
20. "Have you experienced any security breaches in the last three years?" Buyers cross-check this against public breach disclosures and news coverage, so an inaccurate "no" is easy to catch and hard to recover from.
21. "Have you conducted a security incident simulation in the past year?" They want a tabletop exercise, a practice run where the team walks through an incident scenario, on record.
22. "Do you log electronic access to customer data?" Include retention period, how you protect logs, and whether customers can access them.

How to have it: Some small businesses still operate without a formal incident response plan, so having one can put you ahead. Building and maintaining that plan is on you, often with help from a fractional Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Audit logs and centralized alerting supply the technical evidence underneath it.

A client of Observa, a boutique vCISO firm that runs its clients' security programs on Zip, was hit by a Russian-linked malvertising campaign, where attackers use malicious ads to deliver threats. Zip's automated detection and response blocked it before a single person had to intervene. That kind of concrete incident story answers question 20 with confidence.

Subprocessors and Third-Party Risk: "Who Else Touches Our Data?"

Your vendors' security posture becomes the buyer's risk the moment your product touches their data, so they ask who else is in the chain and how you keep them accountable.

23. "Do you use subprocessors, and if so, how are they managed?" Buyers want a clear list of subprocessors and how you manage each one, since most cloud SaaS products rely on at least a few.
24. "How do you vet your own third-party vendors?" Buyers appreciate seeing you run the same diligence on your suppliers that they run on you.
25. "Are subcontractors required to meet the same security standards?" Provide contracts with subprocessors containing security and breach-notification clauses, plus audit rights.
26. "Can you provide a subprocessor list?" Keep a register current with each subprocessor's function and data location.

How to have it: Keep a subprocessor register with columns for name, product, processing location, and which service uses them. For customer diligence, keep the list available to customers that need it, but you don't have to publish it publicly unless your contracts require that. A gated list behind an access request and non-disclosure agreement (NDA) can balance diligence and exposure while still satisfying buyers.

Certifications and Compliance: "Do You Have the Report?"

A current certification lets a buyer skip dozens of individual questions in one step, so they ask for the report itself rather than taking your word that you hold it.

27. "Are you certified under any frameworks (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA)?" Name every framework you hold, plus any you're actively pursuing, since a vague answer here undercuts the more detailed questions that follow.
28. "Can you provide audit reports or proof documents upon request?" Buyers expect a yes, along with a clear process for sharing the report, such as a signed NDA or secure data room.
29. "In the last 12 months, have you engaged an independent firm for a SOC 2 Type II audit?" They want the report, the observation period, and covered systems.
30. "Has your organization faced regulatory penalties or privacy complaints?" Answer this as directly as the breach-history question, since buyers cross-check regulatory actions against public enforcement databases too.

How to have it: A Type II report for SOC 2 can answer many parts of a security questionnaire, because auditors and buyers check the same control areas. That overlap only holds if the controls behind the report keep running automatically between audits. A report reflects what an auditor found months ago, rather than what's true today. The same automated enforcement covers questions outside the report's scope too, so one continuously running system backs up both the audit and the live answer.

Keeping those controls in place takes ongoing work, both documented processes that survive between audits and consistent discipline as the team grows and turns over. Controls can drift when no one owns that upkeep. Compliance monitors like Vanta and Drata read your security state, but enforcing the controls behind that state is a separate job, and that job decides whether the report you hand a buyer still holds up. Zip built its automated remediation for that job, keeping controls enforced continuously instead of just visible.

The Remaining Questions Follow the Same Pattern

The remaining 20 questions round out the picture by checking whether the business can recover from a disruption, keep tabs on third-party code, train its people, and control what changes in production. The same rule applies throughout, since an answer only holds up if a real control produces it.

31. "What are your recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO)?"
32. "How frequently is the disaster recovery plan tested?"
33. "Do you have redundant infrastructure to prevent single points of failure?"
34. "What data center providers do you use, and in which countries?"
35. "Are your data centers certified (e.g., ISO 27001)?"
36. "Do you run vulnerability scans, and how often?"
37. "Do you conduct annual penetration testing?"
38. "Which third-party components execute in your production runtime?"
39. "How is that inventory continuously monitored?"
40. "Do you provide regular security training for employees?"
41. "Do you run background checks on new hires?"
42. "Do your employees have awareness of social engineering attacks?"
43. "How do you protect against browser-based threats and malicious extensions?"
44. "Can customers manage their own encryption keys?"
45. "Do you employ network-based intrusion detection?"
46. "How are backups handled and tested?"
47. "How are data subject access requests, the requests people make to access, correct, or delete their personal data, handled?"
48. "Do you have a formal change management process?"
49. "Is production data used in non-production environments, and is it authorized?"
50. "How do you monitor for anomalous login patterns and account takeover?"

Answering this batch well means matching each question to the person who owns it. HR and IT usually handle training, background checks, and security awareness, often with help from a fractional CISO. Your own team owns change management and how production data gets used outside production. The technical controls, encryption, MFA, EDR, monitoring, browser security, are worth double-checking against a live inventory before you answer, since teams routinely assume coverage that isn't there.

Build a Packet Ahead of Time

The fastest way to answer any future questionnaire is to make your security easy to prove at any given time, thanks to automated security controls instead of records scattered across engineering, legal, HR, and founders. In a competitive deal, speed signals maturity and accuracy signals trust, and both help close it.

If you're handling security questionnaires manually, you'll want to assemble this before the next questionnaire arrives:

• A one-page security overview stating your architecture and data locations, plus the controls buyers ask about most often.
• A SOC 2 Type II report, paired with an evidence bundle of sample access reviews and vulnerability scan summaries. Include the incident response procedures buyers typically ask for.
• A shareable incident response process summary, separate from your full internal runbook.
• A subprocessor list, gated behind an access request.
• Live evidence showing MFA enforcement and endpoint coverage, with encryption status ready to pull.

The better way is to achieve continuous compliance with Zip Security. Zip enforces MFA, endpoint coverage, and encryption continuously, logs every fix it makes, and notes what changed, when, and why. That audit trail makes pulling live evidence possible in minutes, timestamped proof instead of a screenshot taken the morning the questionnaire arrives.

Customers spend an average of 30 minutes a month on hands-on Zip work, since enforcement and evidence collection run on their own the rest of the time. That's the shift from building a new packet every time a buyer asks to having one that's always current.

Lean teams can turn a months-long questionnaire scramble into a report they pull on demand. Get a quote to see how lean teams can get secure in 14 days or less.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a security questionnaire usually take to complete?

A reactive team can spend months tracking down evidence across engineering, IT, and HR. A team with a pre-emptive packet already assembled can turn most questionnaires around in a single review cycle. A team whose compliance is continuous can pull a report in minutes with next to no prep work.

What's the difference between a SOC 2 report and a security questionnaire?

A SOC 2 report is a third-party audit of controls over a set observation period to determine whether they meet the requirements of the SOC 2 security framework. A questionnaire is the buyer's own checklist, and it often asks questions the SOC 2 report doesn't cover, such as subprocessor lists or breach history. The two are complementary rather than interchangeable.

Do small companies need to answer every question on an enterprise questionnaire?

Most customers scale questionnaire depth to vendor risk, so a low-risk vendor may see a shorter form than one touching production data or personally identifiable information (PII). Don't skip questions on a received questionnaire without buyer sign-off.

Can compliance tools like Vanta or Drata answer these questions for me?

They can supply evidence from what's already configured, but they read and report on security state rather than enforce it. If a control has drifted, such as a device that fell out of endpoint enrollment, those tools may still show a passing status, leading to false reporting.

What happens if a questionnaire answer turns out to be inaccurate?

Signed questionnaire answers can become part of the contract record. If a stated control wasn't running as claimed and a breach traces back to it, the inaccurate answer can trigger contract termination rights, a breach-of-warranty claim, or a denied cyber insurance payout, all well beyond the cost of the lost deal.