Cyber resilience is as important for your MSP than it is for your customers. Here are three key reasons why cyber resilience is vital to your company as an MSP:

#1. MSPs are major cybercrime targets. In 2020, the United States Secret Service (USSS) warned that MSPs were becoming significant targets for cybercrime across their customer bases at three levels—point of sale operations, ransomware infections and email account compromise. Last year, the Kaseya attack that compromised MSPs was one of the year’s largest cybercrime events. And experts across the cybersecurity spectrum expect attacks on MSPs to increase.

#2. MSPs that are not cyber resilient carry higher risks for their clients. MSPs are targets for one reason—they serve as infrastructure gateways to their clients. When you’re not building your MSP’s own resilience, you’re leaving more openings for cybercrooks to attack your customer base.

#3. Your reputation is on the line. The relationship between your MSP and your clients is based on trust in expertise. Competency—or rather the potential for perceived incompetency—that could accompany a cyberattack that your MSP cannot recover from quickly could put that relationship in jeopardy.

Fully embracing cyber resilience not only gives you an advantage over competitors who don't, but you learn as well. Here are three steps you can take to establish your own resilience:

#1. Follow the recommendations issued by the USSS. The Secret Service warning also included steps your MSP can take to improve its risk profile. We included those steps in our most recent blog.  

#2. Partner with a cyber resilience provider that knows MSPs. If your MSP targets industry verticals, it might be easy to overlook the reality that you are in one yourself. MSPs are unique in many ways. Work with a provider partner that knows how to help you protect your MSP—and your customers within the context of their reliance on you—to minimize risks and maximize resilience.

#3. Be your own customer. Put your own company through the same exercises you run for your customers. For years, many MSPs were the IT industry’s equivalent of car mechanics—they made their clients’ operations purr while attending to their own haphazardly. That won’t fly when it comes to cyber resilience.

Your MSP is a business, too.

So far, we’ve explained why your MSP is a bigger target than most companies and why your exposure is greater within the context of the bad guys attacking your clients through your systems. But your MSP is a business in and of itself and faces the same consequences any SMB faces when suffering a cyberattack. Establishing cyber resilience[CF3] is just good business.

And we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that leading by example helps you close business. There’s no better endorsement for what you sell than using the product yourself—especially when it comes to mission-critical areas like cybersecurity and business continuity.