Written by Michelle Wong - Marketing Specialist
Autumn is here again, which means sweater weather, pumpkin spice lattes, and horror movie marathons. For MSPs and IT providers, October also marks Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a global initiative to raise awareness about staying safe online and protecting valuable data.
In 2025, the cybersecurity “spooky season” is scarier than ever. The villains have leveled up with more sophisticated phishing tactics, AI-generated deepfakes, and ransomware attacks lurking around the corner.
So, what does this mean for MSPs and IT teams? You’re not just the IT providers – you’re the first line of defense against these threats. Your clients and end users trust you to keep them and their businesses secure.
Cybersecurity Awareness Month is the perfect time to re-engage clients, refresh their defenses, and remind them why you are their trusted IT partner.
The 2025 Cyber Threat Landscape
Remember when phishing emails were incredibly obvious? Think of the ones from the ‘Prince of Nigeria’ that started with ‘Dear Sir/Madam,’ requesting a wire transfer of $500,000? Those days are long gone. Now, we’ve entered the age of AI-powered cybercrime, where the threats are smarter, craftier, and more convincing.
The Rise of the Machines: AI-powered Scams & Deepfake Attacks
Attackers are now using AI to craft highly realistic emails, texts, WhatsApp messages, fake voices, and even video messages. Generative AI makes vishing (voice phishing), impersonation, and fraud not only easier but nearly indistinguishable from the real thing.
Cybercriminals are now using AI to clone voices with scary accuracy. Imagine getting a voicemail from someone who sounds exactly like your boss asking you to pay an invoice. Plot twist: it's not actually your boss.
Every business, no matter how big or small, is now a potential target for these sophisticated impersonation scams and attacks.
The Human Element: Still Your Secret Weapon
While everyone's talking about AI this and machine learning that, the truth is that cybersecurity still comes down to people making good decisions. While technology is critical, people remain a target. Studies consistently show that poor training amplifies breach risks.
This is where your expertise as MSPs and IT providers shine. You're not just managing servers and fixing printers (we know you do that too, and we appreciate you for it). You're educators and translators, helping clients understand cybersecurity in a practical, business-friendly way. By training end users to spot and stop attacks, you help businesses build a stronger first line of defense.
Cybersecurity Awareness Month Action Plan for MSPs & IT Providers
Here are three practical ways to put Cybersecurity Awareness Month into action with your clients this October:
1. Educate Your Clients About AI-Powered Threats
Your clients need to know that the game has changed. That suspicious email might not have obvious red flags anymore. The text message from the bank might seem legit. The person calling about "urgent payment verification" might sound exactly like their trusted vendor. Help your clients build the mindset that healthy skepticism isn't paranoia – it's survival.
2. Implement the "Core 4" Cybersecurity Practices
Remind clients and end users of four simple but powerful habits:
- Use strong passwords and a password manager: Unique passwords, passphrases, biometrics, or secure password vaults make life harder for attackers
- Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA): But don’t blindly hit “approve.” Always double-check: was that login really you, or was it someone else?
- Recognize and report phishing and scams: Look out for typos, spoofed domains, or “urgent” requests that don’t quite feel right.
- Keep software updated: Hit “update”, get another coffee, and let the security patches and software update.
These aren't new concepts, but in 2025 they're still critical steps that anyone can take to stay safe online.
3. Backup, Test, Restore, Repeat. (Did we mention backup?)
We might be a little biased here, but backups are like your insurance policy against ransomware and data loss. A backup is great, but a tested restore is even better. Make sure to verify that the backup has run, and that you can restore the data from the backup.
Free Resources For Cybersecurity Awareness Month
The National Cybersecurity Alliance and Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have put together some excellent free resources that you can use with your clients.
Head over to StaySafeOnline.org and CISA for downloadable materials, educational content, and a Cybersecurity Awareness Month toolkit that you can customize for your clients.
These resources are perfect for client newsletters, security training sessions, or quarterly security reviews (when you remind clients that yes, they do need to take cybersecurity seriously).
More 2025 IT Holidays + Free Marketing Resources
Check out our blog post on 2025 IT Holidays for more cybersecurity awareness days, and download our free marketing resources to help educate your end users about how they can stay safe in our digital world.
