Your business has a managed service provider (MSP). You meet compliance. You haven’t been breached (yet). So you’re covered… right?
Not quite.
We’ve worked with dozens of regulated firms across legal, financial, and public service sectors and have found one thing in common: a dangerous gap between perceived protection and actual risk.
Blow are 5 critical cybersecurity gaps we find in mid-sized firms with basic IT setups.
Having Security Tools ≠ Being Secure
Most MSPs deploy endpoint security software and call it done. But deployment is just the beginning.
Without proper tuning, these tools generate thousands of false positives while missing real threats. Default configurations are built for broad compatibility, not your specific risk profile. Alert fatigue means genuine incidents get lost in the noise.
Most breaches go undetected for an average of 207 days (IBM, 2024), often despite having “enterprise-grade” security tools installed.
Fix:
Security tools need continuous tuning, threat hunting, and expert analyst oversight. Deployment and basic monitoring aren’t enough. Keep at least 12 months of logs to trace and resolve attacks.
Hackers Target Your MSP to Get to You
Here’s what most firms don’t realise: threat actors specifically target MSPs to gain access to multiple clients simultaneously.
CISA advisory AA22-131A warns that sophisticated threat groups routinely compromise MSP infrastructure to conduct supply chain attacks. Your MSP’s privileged access to your environment makes them an attractive gateway for lateral movement across their entire client base.
When your MSP gets breached, you inherit their incident – along with potential regulatory liability.
Fix:
Implement zero-trust principles for MSP access, monitor MSP activities separately, and ensure your incident response plan covers MSP-originated breaches.
Secure Configuration Isn't in Your MSP's Best Interest
MSPs are incentivised to avoid changes that generate support calls. That’s their primary cost centre. Security hardening often conflicts with this business model.
Disabling unused services, implementing strict access controls, or enforcing secure defaults can increase user friction and support tickets. With liability limitations built into most MSP contracts, they’re not financially motivated to prioritise security over operational ease.
The result? Your systems run with “support-friendly” configurations that expand your attack surface.
Fix:
Audit your configurations independently. Security hardening should be a separate engagement from day-to-day IT support.
Patch Management Has Dangerous Blind Spots
You might be updating Windows endpoints, but MSPs often miss critical infrastructure components that fall outside their standard patch management scope:
- VPN firmware with known exploits
- Firewall management interfaces
- Network appliances with default credentials
- Cloud misconfigurations from years ago
- Third-party applications outside the standard deployment
Attackers don’t need to discover new vulnerabilities. They’ll happily exploit year-old security flaws in forgotten systems. Many firms still have them.
Fix:
Comprehensive vulnerability scanning and penetration testing across your entire digital footprint, including shadow IT and cloud resources your MSP might not manage. This will give you clear, actionable insight to reduce exposure and safeguard your business.
Nobody Owns Security End-to-End
If your MSP handles infrastructure, your compliance team handles audits, and various vendors handle different security tools… who’s actually responsible for your security posture?
This fragmented approach creates dangerous gaps. Threats don’t respect organisational boundaries. They exploit the spaces between responsibilities.
Fix:
Even without an internal security team, you need someone with a CISO mindset to map risks, detect gaps, and coordinate your security strategy across all providers.
Want to dive deeper into these threats?
Join our upcoming webinar: ‘The MSP Security Blind Spot: What Mid-Sized Firms Need to Know’
Want to See What Security Gaps Exist in Your Firm?
We’ve builly a free CyberRisk Assessment that reveals exactly what attackers can see about your business from the outside.
✔️ Completely non-intrusive external scan
✔️ Reviewed by expert security analysts
✔️ Delivered within 24 hours
✔️ Includes prioritised remediation steps
