MSPs and cybersecurity: The time for turning a blind eye is over

Results of a Vade report highlight the prevalence of Managed Service Providers (MSPs), with 96% of organizations either currently outsourcing at least some of their needs to MSPs or planning to do so in the future. The report also analyzes the successes and pitfalls of email security solutions and where MSPs may have an opportunity to reach into the market.

Conducted by Vanson Bourne, the survey includes findings from interviews of 500 IT decision makers (ITDMs) across organizations with 10-1,000 employees.

69% of respondents said a serious breach had bypassed their current email security solution and 92% said they would be willing to listen to email security suggestions made by MSPs. This is just one area where MSPs can help remediate flaws that leave SMBs vulnerable to attacks and can play a crucial role in guarding against complacency.

The report explores the importance of cybersecurity and the key reasons behind this drive, how MSPs are primed to take advantage of that increased importance and why ITDMs need to spread their focus across all areas of cybersecurity.

“Decision makers are in agreement that cybersecurity is extremely important, and it’s only going to become more important as the sophistication of cyberattacks increases,” said Georges Lotigier, CEO of Vade. “However, we also found that even though confidence in cybersecurity is high, that bullishness may be misplaced. IT decision makers are seeing more attacks in the last year than they have previously.”

Key findings

• Cybersecurity is increasing in importance – 91% of ITDMs said cybersecurity will increase in importance over the next two years, and 63% cited the increased sophistication of cyberattacks as the key driver behind their focus on cybersecurity.
• The time for the MSP is now – 96% of organizations are either currently outsourcing at least some of their needs to MSPs or planning to in the future. Threat monitoring and intrusion (43%), cybersecurity consulting (37%) and firewall management (36%) are the three most important services to them.
• Attacks are on the rise – 79% of ITDMs agreed that the number of cyberattacks their organization experienced increased over the past 12 months, facing an average of 8 cyberattacks over the same time period. Malware (40%), password cracking (35%) and phishing (34%) were the most common cyberattacks. Small businesses were also more likely (35%) than enterprises (11%) to experience zero-day exploit attacks.
• Cybersecurity decision makers still confident – 94% of ITDMs have a high level of confidence in their organization’s ability to completely defend themselves against all types of attacks, with 51% saying they are completely confident. However, 68% agree that their organization’s security solutions are not as advanced as they could be.
• Email security may be overshadowed or misunderstood – 69% of ITDMs said a serious breach has bypassed their current email security solution. 77% of respondents reported their organization uses the built-in security features offered by their email provider (e.g., Microsoft 365, G-Suite, etc…).

“While some of these findings may be alarming, it’s important that as an industry we understand how we’re prioritizing cybersecurity and how we can utilize and strengthen the resources we have, like MSPs, to help smaller businesses,” Lotigier said.

“The good news is, the vast majority of organizations say that they both invested more in cybersecurity over the past 12 months and will continue to do so over the next 12 months. It’s clear that organizations know the significance of the threats they face and are willing to increase their spend as a result.”