A new survey of some 1,000 MSPs, MSSPs, and other cybersecurity partners in the U.S. and UK found that their business customers are continuing to drive higher demand for cybersecurity services in the last 12 months, even as some customers are unsure that existing technologies can solve their security issues.
The study, conducted by email security and management vendor EasyDMARC, found that 62% of the respondents reported customer-driven cybersecurity revenue growth over the past 12 months, which caused 41% of the MSP and MSSP respondents to expand their cybersecurity offerings in response over the same period.
But the survey also shows there are challenges for MSPS and MSSPs in meeting that growth, including that only 54% of customers expressed their confidence in existing security protections and 52% of customers saying they have concerns about the cost of increased security protections.
“We are also seeing a shared anticipation that AI-driven cybersecurity threats are only going to get more threatening,” Mike Anderson, the global channels director of EasyDMARC, told ChannelE2E. “With the growth of deepfake impersonations and AI-generated phishing emails, businesses are looking towards cybersecurity vendors to address these rapidly evolving cyber threats and phishing tactics.”
The EasyDMARC survey also found that some two-thirds of the MSPs and MSSPs who responded said that focusing more of their business on cybersecurity would be a competitive advantage for their businesses. Two-thirds of the respondents also said they expect email providers like Google and Yahoo to introduce mandatory email authentication (including DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), SPF (Sender Policy Framework) for more users in the future, which will also affect their businesses.
What MSPs, MSSPs, Partners Should Know
“While it is not surprising that cybersecurity spending is on the rise, it is interesting to see that customer demand is driving this growth,” said Anderson. “Fifty-eight percent of respondents reported an increase in customer requests for cybersecurity support, suggesting that as this upward trajectory will continue, MSPs and MSSPs are looking at a significant revenue opportunity.”
And as large-scale cyberattacks have continued to be in the headlines throughout 2024, said Anderson, “businesses are becoming increasingly aware of their own technological vulnerabilities and are keen to strengthen their defenses. Ultimately, this research highlights just how vital cybersecurity has become to business strategy with businesses now recognizing cybersecurity as a competitive advantage.”
Still Room for Improvement
Anderson said that the survey data shows that MSPs and MSSPs are making strides in providing more services in the cybersecurity marketplace but that the research shows that more can still be done to help customers. “Despite their efforts, more than a quarter of MSP and MSSP respondents expressed minimal or no confidence in their client's ability to withstand a cyberattack,” said Anderson.
That is where protections like DMARC, DKIM, and SPF services can help, he added. “With AI-generated phishing emails becoming increasingly sophisticated and hard to detect, businesses cannot afford to rely solely on their staff vigilance to fend off cyber threats,” said Anderson. “MSPs play a crucial role in educating businesses and helping them implement cybersecurity measures like DMARC effectively. It is also not enough to simply implement these tools – they must be configured correctly to offer real protection.”
That includes things like using strong controls, including the DMARC p=reject policy in system setup, which rejects emails that fail the DMARC check, said Anderson. “Although DMARC implementation is growing, the p=reject policy, its strongest form protection against phishing, remains the least adopted across industries.”
Some 39% of the MSP and MSSP respondents in the survey said that their customers exhibit a lack of urgency or awareness of cyber risks, while 39% also said that their customers had difficulty recognizing the immediate benefits of additional protections.
EasyDMARC provides a cloud-native B2B SaaS service that provides email security and deliverability protection to MSPs, MSSPs, and other partners to serve their customers. The email authentication platform streamlines domain management and provides organizational control, domain grouping, access management, and more capabilities on a scalable platform with a flexible pay-as-you-go pricing model.
