The findings in the 2026 OpenText Cybersecurity Threat Report: MSP Perspective reinforce this shift. The report highlights how AI-enabled phishing, identity abuse, ransomware, and supply chain attacks continue to reshape risk for organizations of all sizes. For MSPs, these trends create new challenges, but they also create opportunities to deliver strategic security guidance, strengthen customer relationships, and differentiate through expertise.
A changing threat landscape requires a new security mindset
Malware continues to rise, with small and medium-sized businesses experiencing significant increases in infection rates. Supply chain risks are also growing, with many organizations impacted through third-party vendors and partners. For MSPs, this means the responsibility extends beyond protecting customer environments. MSPs must also secure their own operations, tools, and platforms.
The biggest mistake organizations can make in 2026 is treating security as a collection of disconnected tools. Attackers do not operate in silos. They move across email, identity, endpoints, cloud apps, vendors, and backups. MSPs need to help customers think the same way.
Ransomware remains one of the clearest examples of why prevention and recovery must work together. Backups are essential, but they are not a complete ransomware strategy by themselves. Many attacks now include credential theft, data exfiltration, lateral movement, and pressure tactics designed to disrupt operations even when backups exist. MSPs should help customers build resilience before an incident, not just recovery plans after one.
Phishing is also becoming harder to spot. AI makes it easier for criminals to create polished, personalized messages at scale. That means organizations cannot rely on user awareness alone. MSPs should pair training with technical controls across email security, DNS protection, endpoint detection, identity safeguards, and response workflows.
The MSP security playbook for 2026
To help customers navigate this environment, MSPs should focus on building a comprehensive security foundation:
Protect identity first
Identity remains a primary target for attackers. MSPs should prioritize strong authentication, conditional access policies, reduced administrative privileges, and secure account recovery processes. Identity is now one of the most common paths into the environment. MFA, conditional access, least privilege, admin separation, and strong recovery processes should be baseline controls, not advanced options.
Adopt layered protection
No single product will stop every attack. MSPs need layered defenses that work together across email, endpoint, DNS, web access, backup, awareness training, and monitoring. Effective protection requires coordinated defenses across email security, endpoint protection, DNS and web filtering, security awareness training, and isolated backup environments.
Prepare for AI-driven risks
As businesses adopt AI tools and agents, MSPs must help customers manage new permission and access risks. AI systems should follow least-privilege principles, with controlled access and continuous monitoring. The risk is not just that attackers use AI. It is also that businesses adopt AI tools faster than they secure them. MSPs should help customers understand what data AI tools can access, who approved them, and whether those tools follow least-privilege principles.
Strengthen operational resilience
Resilience is where MSPs can clearly differentiate. Standardized tooling, repeatable response playbooks, tested backups, clear escalation paths, and centralized visibility help MSPs move faster during incidents and deliver more consistent outcomes for customers.
Turn cybersecurity expertise into a competitive advantage
The MSPs that stand out in 2026 will be the ones that translate threat intelligence into business outcomes. That means helping customers lower risk, prepare for audits, support cyber insurance requirements, reduce downtime, and make smarter security investments.
Cybersecurity is no longer just a technical service. It is a trust-building opportunity. MSPs that can explain the threat landscape clearly and turn that knowledge into action will be better positioned to retain customers, expand services, and become true strategic advisors.
Explore the latest cybercrime trends, security best practices, and opportunities shaping the future of cybersecurity in the 2026 OpenText Cybersecurity Threat Report or learn more about the findings for MSPs in the 2026 OpenText Cybersecurity Threat Report: MSP Perspective.
