Redefining resilience: Why MSP security must evolve to stay ahead

Managed service providers (MSPs) that offer cybersecurity solutions are in a unique position. They are trusted to protect their customers’ operations from malicious cyber activity, yet at the same time, they are also a high-value target for threat actors seeking to gain access to their systems and the businesses they protect.

For MSPs, a breach not only risks damage to revenue and operations but can also have a lasting impact on reputation. As the industry grows more competitive and regulations and insurance requirements become stricter, MSPs must protect themselves as much as they protect their clients.

This urgency has only increased with the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (CSRB), recently introduced into Parliament, which sets clear expectations for organizations providing or supporting critical national infrastructure.

Heightened external pressures now mean a single breach can irreparably damage customer trust. Strong cybersecurity, built on advanced protection measures, skilled employees, and proactive, layered defences, is now critical.

The death of basic endpoint protection

Cybercriminals are growing more sophisticated, carrying out advanced attacks that are faster, more targeted, and technologically complex than ever before. Traditional defences, such as basic endpoint protection, are no longer enough to combat them.

This landscape has made layered security and proactive threat hunting vital. Combining advanced phishing protection, ransomware remediation, and AI-driven security creates a multi-layered defence that detects and prevents attacks before they can escalate into a full-scale breach.

For many MSPs, this also now includes strengthening continuous detection and response capabilities – often through managed detection and response (MDR) – to identify, investigate, and contain threats that bypass initial defences. MDR supports a more proactive posture by combining automated analysis with human expertise, ensuring suspicious activity is assessed quickly rather than relying solely on reactive alerts.

In parallel, MSPs that embrace proactive threat hunting shift their positioning from reactive response to active discovery, seeking out hidden or anomalous behaviour rather than waiting for alerts to fire.

Given their central role in the supply chain, this approach is critical, and MSPs must assume threats may come from any direction. The CSRB reinforces this reality by broadening the scope of national cyber regulation and bringing more service providers, including MSPs, into sharper regulatory focus. The death of “basic” endpoint protection is here. Future-proofed, advanced security is now the only viable path to protecting customers and maintaining credibility in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.

Closing the cybersecurity skills gap

Despite its growing sophistication, technology alone isn’t enough. Tools, no matter how advanced they are, can be deemed ineffective if the people behind them aren’t properly equipped to use them to their full potential and respond confidently to a breach.

Unfortunately, the cybersecurity skills gap is now one of the biggest challenges MSPs face. Competing with large-scale cyber companies that often have the ability and budget to offer more enticing employee packages continues to prove a significant hurdle.

As demand for specialist expertise rises, MSPs are struggling to fill roles that manage modern, complex environments. As a result, existing teams are stretched thin, expected to defend broader attack surfaces with fewer resources and rapidly evolving skill requirements.

This shortage can dramatically increase risk. Overextended teams are more likely to miss subtle indicators of compromise, delay routine security tasks, or become overwhelmed by alert noise, creating the openings that attackers are constantly on the lookout for.

MDR can also help out here by taking on consistent monitoring and the initial investigation of threats. This helps to reduce the everyday cyber admin burden on overstretched teams, allowing them to focus on higher-value work like client support, strategic planning, and improving service quality.

MSPs can also look to channel-first partners who offer comprehensive support to bridge this skills gap. These partners can also offer bespoke training programmes, through e-learning platforms and face-to-face consultant-led training, to ensure employees are supported beyond tick-box exercises.

By working with cyber companies that tailor to the specific needs of the MSP, employees are more likely to build practical, lasting cyber hygiene habits.

Regulations and requirements are reshaping MSP security

Governments are placing greater emphasis on resilience through demanding improved data protection, clearer incident reporting, and stronger oversight of supply chain risks.

The CSRB exemplifies this shift. By focusing on the interconnected nature of modern digital operations, it recognises that critical national infrastructure is only as secure as the MSPs, datacentres, and service providers underpinning it.

At the same time, insurers are tightening their criteria. Continuous monitoring, privileged access controls, and clearer security processes are increasingly prerequisites for cover.

Premiums continue to rise, but organizations that implement stronger controls, including XDR, MFA, and vulnerability scanning, have seen reductions of up to 75%, proving that mature security directly supports insurability.

For MSPs, strengthening detection and response capabilities is no longer just about risk management. It’s becoming essential for meeting regulatory expectations, satisfying insurers, and supporting clients with their own compliance obligations.

Future-proofing cybersecurity

Across the channel, the role of the modern MSP is changing. Growing regulatory expectations, tightening insurance requirements, and increasingly sophisticated threats mean providers can no longer rely on basic protection to secure either their own environments or those of their customers.

Advanced, layered security, proactive threat hunting, and well-trained teams are essential to deliver the level of resilience clients expect. But given the talent constraint that MSPs are being challenged with, working with channel-first cyber companies is becoming necessary as they seek to bridge the skills gap and provide more robust training for employees.

What’s more, by investing early in prevention-first approaches, MSPs strengthen their own defences, support customer compliance, and position themselves as trusted, long-term advisors in an industry where confidence and capability are critical to sustained success.