The cybersecurity landscape is constantly shifting, but many real-world threats don’t come from sophisticated zero-day exploits—they come from ignored warning signs, weak processes, and a lack of preparation. In this CyberCall, MSP owner Eric shared a powerful and sobering story of a client ransomware incident that nearly ended in catastrophe. The IT director delayed involving the incident response team and cyber insurance provider, trying to fix the problem alone under cultural and budget pressures. Meanwhile, the client had no network map, no response plan, and compromised backups—clear signs of poor planning. The leadership team had prioritized operational speed over cybersecurity maturity, creating a disconnect that nearly cost them everything.
Eric outlined critical lessons MSPs should adopt immediately. First, follow a framework like the Cyber Defense Matrix to cover all bases—identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover. Second, never skip industry best practices like MFA, segmentation, patching, and robust EDR. Third, treat cybersecurity as a business unit. In this case, the total cost of the breach hit $1.5 million—and that was just the beginning. But this isn’t just a cautionary tale. It’s a growth opportunity. MSPs who frame cybersecurity as a business conversation—not just a tech pitch—will gain deeper trust, align with client goals, and build stronger relationships. By offering incident response planning, business impact analysis, and tabletop exercises, MSPs become trusted advisors, not just vendors.
To turn insight into action, MSPs should update their sales messaging to focus on real-world risk, include mini-incident response onboarding steps, and use stories like Eric’s to emphasize the “what if” scenarios. When security is seen as essential—not optional—MSPs grow, clients thrive, and everyone is better prepared. This story could have ended worse, but the lessons it provides can help MSPs avoid disaster and build long-term succes
