Channel Brief: MSPs have a bigger role in SMB cyber insurance readiness

While we might not see a lot of chatter about cyber insurance, it has become essential for businesses, especially SMBs. Smaller businesses are facing more cyber risk, but many do not have the internal security teams, tools, or compliance programs that larger companies have. And AI is complicating the picture. AI-related risk is now one of the main reasons small and midsized businesses are buying cyber insurance, according to GlobalData’s 2025 SME Survey. Broker advice remains the top driver, cited by 39% of SMEs. AI-related risk followed at 35.8%, ahead of advice from financial advisors at 33.8%. That shows that more SMEs are thinking about cyber coverage before something happens, rather than waiting until after they are hit by an attack.

The survey also points to a broader shift in buying behavior. Only 27.7% of SMEs said their own cyber incident pushed them to buy coverage, and another 26% cited a competitor getting hit. Advice and risk perception now outweigh direct experience. This is a real change from the old model, where cyber insurance was often treated as something businesses considered after an incident. Now, MSPs may not be telling clients which cyber insurance policy to buy. But they are absolutely part of the readiness conversation. Insurers are asking for stronger controls before they approve or renew coverage, and SMBs need help understanding what those controls are. At the same time, many SMEs are adding chatbots, copilots, and other AI tools without fully knowing what their cyber policies do or do not cover.

And while some businesses may assume AI-related incidents are covered, GlobalData noted that standard cyber policies often exclude losses tied to a company’s own AI tools, such as a chatbot giving incorrect information or legal claims linked to biased AI-driven decisions. For MSPs and channel partners, this is a practical opening around cyber insurance readiness where they can help clients understand where the gaps are, put the right security controls in place, and connect insurance planning to broader managed security, compliance, and risk management services.

This Week's Tech, Channel, and MSP News

10ZiG launches the 10ZiG Fusion Channel Partner Program: 10ZiG Technology has launched the 10ZiG Fusion Channel Partner Program to help partners build endpoint modernization practices around thin clients, zero clients, device repurposing and endpoint management. The program includes a new partner portal with deal registration, demo requests, sales tools, technical support, product information, training materials and marketing resources. The program supports 10ZiG’s broader portfolio, including RepurpOS device repurposing software, PeakOS and the free 10ZiG Manager endpoint management platform, giving partners more ways to help customers extend device lifecycles, reduce management complexity and modernize endpoint environments without forcing full hardware replacement.

Xurrent has launched Xurrent iPaaS: Xurrent has launched Xurrent iPaaS, a built-in integration platform included in every Xurrent subscription at no additional cost. The platform is designed to help corporate IT teams and enterprise MSPs connect Xurrent with systems such as ServiceNow, Jira, Okta, ClickUp, and Google Drive, so AI agents can take action across workflows instead of only making recommendations. Xurrent said the iPaaS supports use cases such as account provisioning, access management, incident routing, CMDB enrichment, and syncing work between ITSM and development tools. Xurrent is positioning the new iPaaS as a native ITSM integration layer that can help service providers automate more customer workflows without adding separate third-party integration tools or custom development.

Absolute Security joins Pax8 Marketplace: Absolute Security has joined the Pax8 cloud marketplace as it pushes further into the MSP market, giving partners access to endpoint resilience capabilities designed to keep critical management and security tools installed, operational and recoverable. The company’s technology is embedded at the firmware level, which allows MSPs to manage and recover devices even when the operating system is not functioning. Through Pax8, MSPs can trial, provision, bill and manage Absolute’s technology from a centralized platform, making the offering easier to package into managed security, compliance and recovery services.

Bocada and Backblaze partner for unified backup: Bocada and Backblaze have partnered to bring unified backup observability: Bocada and Backblaze have partnered to bring unified backup observability to Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage environments through a new Bocada Cloud integration. The integration lets MSPs and IT teams connect Backblaze B2 accounts to Bocada Cloud to monitor storage consumption, track backup performance, identify unprotected assets and generate reports across multi-vendor backup and storage environments. For MSPs, the partnership is aimed at reducing the manual work tied to backup monitoring, alerting, and reporting across cloud and hybrid customer environments.