Sophos's MDR threat intelligence team has a fascinating breakdown of a recent cybersecurity incident in which a Qilin ransomware affiliate (attributed to STAC4365) successfully compromised a managed service provider (MSP) by exploiting a vulnerability in their ScreenConnect Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tool. This breach enabled the attackers to launch ransomware attacks on the MSP’s customers, highlighting the severe consequences of supply chain attacks, as reported on the Daily Cybersecurity blog.
The January 2025 attack used a sophisticated spear-phishing campaign to target an MSP admin, Sophos said. The initial point of entry was a carefully crafted phishing email disguised as an authentication alert for the MSP’s ScreenConnect RMM tool.“
That email resulted in Qilin ransomware actors gaining access to the administrator’s credentials -- and launching ransomware attacks on the MSP’s customers,” the report states.
Be careful out there!
As always, drop me a line at sharon.florentine@cyberriskalliance.com if you have news to share or want to say hi!
Grab your coffee. Here's what you need to know today.
Today’s Tech, Channel and MSP News
1. Climb, Darktrace sign distribution agreement: Climb Channel Solutions will now distribute Darktrace’s portfolio of AI-powered cybersecurity products across North America. Climb Channel Solutions is a global specialty technology distributor focusing on security, data management, connectivity, storage and HCI, virtualization and cloud, and software and application lifecycle. Darktrace's ActiveAI Security Platform provides visibility into security posture and offers real-time threat detection and autonomous response across cloud, email, identities, operational technology, endpoints, and network. Darktrace’s platform and services protect nearly 10,000 customers across all major industries globally.
2. Sherweb launches cybersecurity offering for MSPs: Cloud marketplace and distributor Sherweb this week announced the launch of usecure, an automated human risk management (HRM) platform for MSPs. With usecure, Sherweb’s partners will now be able to automate and personalize ongoing cybersecurity training for individual employees.
3. Kaseya data center expansion: Kaseya is expanding its global footprint with the launch of Microsoft 365 data center support in South Africa. This comes in response to increased partner demand in the market, Kaseya said. Regional partners will benefit from significantly faster backup speeds for critical business data, improved recovery time objectives (RTOs) that meet compliance requirements, and in-region hard drive shipment capabilities to eliminate cross-border delays. Kaseya said it plans to add 15 new data centers worldwide in 2025.
4. ConnectWise leadership appointments: ConnectWise has made three key executive leadership changes to advance its partner-first strategy. ConnectWise said these updates are in line with CEO Manny Rivelo’s focus on elevating the partner experience and building a high-performing leadership team aligned to long-term growth and innovation. Mari-Frances Bentvelzen joins as chief customer officer, Dan Madden was appointed chief financial officer (CFO), and Alan Komet is chief strategy and transformation officer.
5. Pia reorganizes in anticipation of growth: AI helpdesk automation platform Pia announced a strategic reorganization that the company said will position it for its next stage of growth. Pia is restructuring the go-to-market (GTM) division and also making key leadership appointments to accelerate growth and enhance service delivery for MSPs. All GTM functions, including sales, marketing, brand, channel, strategic alliances, partner success, strategy, and revenue operations, will fall under one unified umbrella. Marketing will realign around demand gen, partner marketing, sales enablement, and brand and channel/community to focus on lead development. Sales development will be a standalone function to focus on outbound lead gen and pipeline qualification. Partner success will also move under GTM to emphasize its importance as a revenue-generating function, among other changes.
