Cybersmart has released the findings from its second annual CyberSmart MSP Survey, which focuses on the security of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and their customers.
The 2025 report revealed that 69% of MSP leaders globally admitted to being hit by multiple breaches over the past 12 months, despite remaining confident in the security of the MSPs they work for.
Shockingly, almost half (47%) of those surveyed experienced three or more breaches in the last 12 months.
The 2025 research, conducted by OnePoll, features insights from 900 MSP leaders from the UK, France, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, with customers of varying sizes ranging from 1 to 250+ employees.
Cyber confidence: Perception vs. Reality
Despite the fact that 69% of MSPs experienced multiple cyber breaches in the past year, over three-quarters (76%) of respondents reported either complete or above-average confidence in their organisation’s cybersecurity posture.
While confidence can be a positive indicator, this highlights a potential disconnect between perceived readiness and actual resilience to cyber threats.
However, given their role as cybersecurity providers and advisors to their clients, it is worth noting that most MSPs do display above-average levels of cyber confidence, especially when compared to other businesses.
Additionally, the number of MSPs who described their cyber confidence levels as average or above (96%) has remained consistent with the results in 2024. 97% of those we surveyed last year rated their cyber confidence levels as ‘fair’ or ‘great’.
What’s more, outside the 20% who categorised their cyber confidence as complete in 2025, most MSPs (80%) recognised there was some room for improvement, indicating the importance of continued education and the need for consistent and timely guidance.
“As attack attempts on MSPs rise, it can be easy to blame overconfidence. However, most MSP leaders do have above-average cyber knowledge as part of their job, no doubt because of the supporting and advisory roles they play for customers,” said Jamie Akhtar, CEO and Co-Founder of CyberSmart. “What these results really show is that the majority of MSP leaders are willing to engage with the wider community to improve their cybersecurity posture, protecting themselves and their customers from attacks.
“Ultimately, to stay ahead of attackers in this constantly changing discipline requires the right partners, latest resources and best-in-breed security tools.”
Customer Confidence
Interestingly, MSPs also reported high levels of confidence in their customers’ cybersecurity awareness. The vast majority (93%) said they felt confident in their customers’ overall cyber posture. In fact, 45% assessed their customers as having above-average confidence, while 17% described them as completely confident.
These results are broadly consistent with last year’s findings, when 86% of MSPs felt their customers had a ‘great deal’ or ‘fair amount’ of cyber confidence.
In 2025, that figure remains high, with 85% of respondents saying their customers have at least average cybersecurity knowledge, and a combined 53% rating them as above average or expert level.
Approaching the changing regulatory landscape
Additionally, a significant number of MSPs feel ready to help customers through cyber incidents and the changing regulatory landscape. However, for many, there is an untapped opportunity to get ahead of regulations and offer guidance and services to help customers comply.
Notably, only 39% of MSPs felt they were ready to offer a solution or guidance to customers in meeting increasing cybersecurity regulations, like the NIS2 directive, the EU AI Act and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
Cyber Confidence: Where MSPs see the path forward
When asked which measures MSPs believe are the most likely to help improve cyber confidence, three were identified above the others:
- Continuous monitoring (51%),
- Employee cybersecurity training (51%),
- Proactive risk management (48%)
CyberSmart aims to help organisations achieve “Complete Cyber Confidence”, defined as an organisation’s trust in its ability to protect its digital assets, data, and systems from unauthorised access, cyber-attacks, and data breaches.
To read the full report, visit here.
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