The Rise of Autonomous Cyberattacks on SMBs
MSPs are operating in a threat environment that is becoming increasingly complex and harder to manage. At Kaseya Connect 2026, ChannelPro spoke with Joe Smolarski, CEO of WatchGuard, to discuss the importance of adopting a unified security platform.
For Smolarski, the biggest concern is the complexity and velocity of AI-powered attacks targeting small businesses.
“The overwhelming majority of attacks are happening at the SMB level because (the cybercriminals) get away with it,” he said. Cybercrime, in aggregate, has become “the third largest economy in the world,” from a GDP perspective. The fuel for that raging fire is artificial intelligence.
“Last year, we saw a 1,500% increase in the number of attacks that are coming into our platform. We’re seeing completely autonomous attacks now,” he explained.
The Burden Falls on MSPs
Joe Smolarski (left)
In recent years, small businesses have become the primary target for cybercriminals. It’s not because they offer the biggest payouts individually, but because they’re easier to exploit at scale. That creates significant risk for the MSP advising them, even if the client ignores warnings and security recommendations.
Smolarski believes that the burden falls on IT Providers to not just strengthen their cybersecurity capabilities, but also enforce higher standards for their clients.
“When the client gets hit, the MSP gets blamed. They shouldn’t allow a client to be under their services unless they have the platinum-level cybersecurity. Also, make sure that the client is educated so that all of the necessary levels of protection are adopted,” he said.
Point Solutions vs. Unified Security Platforms
But what constitutes that “platinum” level cybersecurity that MSPs should offer? A key component, according to Smolarski, is protection through a unified security platform. WatchGuard is one of the several channel-focused vendors that bring network, endpoint, identity, and other data points into a single, integrated system. The goal isn’t just better security; it’s faster detection and lower operational costs.
That’s very different from the traditional way MSPs build security stacks, often called a point solution approach. A point solution is a collection of disconnected security tools that each solve a single problem. Although the individual tools themselves may be cutting-edge, Smolarski said that it’s a woefully inadequate approach in an era where threats must be detected, correlated, and stopped in real-time.
So what actually makes a security platform “unified”? And more importantly, what features should technology leaders be looking for to stay ahead of modern threats?
Key Features of a Unified Security Platform
WatchGuard user interface
In a unified security platform, data from across the environment (logins, endpoint activity, network traffic, user behavior, etc.) feeds in real-time. The platform normalizes and structures the data so it can be analyzed together, giving security teams a clearer view of what’s happening across client environments.
Centralized Control and Policy Management
Unified platforms allow teams to define security policies once and apply them consistently across every layer of protection. Rather than maintaining separate configurations for each tool, policies are enforced across the entire environment. That reduces errors, simplifies audits, and makes it easier to adapt to new compliance requirements.
Shared Intelligence Across Security Layers
Because all security services operate within the same platform, they continuously share telemetry and threat intelligence. Activity detected at the network level can be automatically correlated with endpoint or identity signals, giving analysts full context without switching between tools.
This aligns directly with the need for integrated layers that “talk to each other,” enabling faster, more accurate threat detection and response.
Unified Visibility and Operational Clarity
Instead of piecing together insights from multiple dashboards, unified platforms provide a single operational view. Incidents are automatically prioritized with the context that the platform provides, allowing security teams to understand what happened and what to do next.
The result is less noise, faster investigations, and more consistent outcomes.
AI-Driven Detection and Automation
With all security data flowing into one system, unified platforms create an ideal foundation for artificial intelligence. AI can analyze patterns across the entire environment, automate investigations, and accelerate response actions.
Cutting-edge capabilities are essential in today’s landscape, where “you have to have an agentic platform that can fight back at the same speed or greater than the attackers,” Smolarski noted. “The scale of these attacks is massive. You can’t fight AI with human beings. It’s literally impossible.”
By leveraging these capabilities through a unified security platform, MSPs can reduce manual workload while improving both speed and accuracy.
A Single Security Service Plane
Ultimately, a unified security platform transforms cybersecurity into a scalable, repeatable service model. Through centralized control, shared intelligence, and built-in automation, MSPs can deliver consistent, high-quality protection across all customers—without the complexity that comes with managing multiple disconnected tools.
What MSPs Should Prioritize Going Forward
Cybersecurity, according to Smolarski, has reached an inflection point. “The world’s changing very, very rapidly. It absolutely should keep people up at night,” he said.
For MSPs, this shift is also reshaping their role in the market. “You can’t just be a traditional MSP anymore. You have to be a cybersecurity provider and a cybersecurity expert,” he said. That evolution is forcing providers to rethink not just their tools, but their entire service model.
He argues that MSPs must take an integrated approach to cyber defense. Without tight coordination, MSPs are left drowning in alerts. “Noise equals operational inefficiency.”
Despite this, Smolarksi notes that, despite the hypercompetitive nature of the security market, he still doesn’t see smaller managed services providers being pushed out. Instead, vendors can help level the playing field. “They don’t need to build their own SOC (security operations center). They can partner with a company like WatchGuard, and we can do that for them,” he said.
Ultimately, Smolarski’s message comes back to a single idea: consolidation and integration aren’t just a strategic advantage. They’re necessities.
“Platform, platform, platform,” he said. “You need a platform that delivers those capabilities.”
Jonathan Browning is executive director of content and engagement for The ChannelPro Network. He has been a leader in the IT channel for close to a decade. He’s an avid fan and early adopter of technology and believes that the Managed Services industry is the most important driver of economic growth and human innovation.
Images: Nataliya — stock.adobe.com, Jonathan Browning, WatchGuard
