MSP technology news headlines for the week of July 27, 2026
Torq is giving MSSPs a new per-customer learning engine with SOC Brain, GTDC research highlights the growing strategic role of distribution, and Dell is simplifying private cloud deployments with Nutanix on PowerStore. Vendors continue rolling out new AI governance, security and resilience capabilities, while fresh research points to growing concerns around identity-based attacks, ransomware and the operational hurdles standing in the way of AI adoption.
If you’re ready for more of this week’s MSP news and partner program updates, scroll on down!
Torq gives MSSPs a per-customer SOC learning engine
Torq introduced SOC Brain, a set of per-customer learning capabilities called Recall, Reflex and Retrospect.
Key quote from the press release:
“Every cybersecurity vendor claims their AI is self-learning, but virtually none are. What the majority do is simply pass cases and hand them to an LLM at the point of decision. That’s nothing more than executing based on memory. Self-learning means reaching new conclusions from that history, and that’s much harder to build. With Torq SOC Brain and its Torq Recall, Torq Reflex, and Torq Retrospect capabilities, the Torq AI SOC Platform truly learns how a SOC thinks, even from the years of history that predate a Torq deployment.” — Ofer Smadari, CEO and co-Founder, Torq
GTDC research quantifies distribution’s growing channel role
GTDC and Channelnomics examined how distributors are becoming operating platforms for enablement, financing, marketplaces, lifecycle services and ecosystem orchestration.
Key findings from the report include:
- 76% of customers see multi-vendor systems support as critical, but only 22% believe IT partners consistently have that capability.
- 70% value AI integration, while 38% see sufficient expertise in the channel.
- The report cites 15%-52% cost savings, 4x-8.5x ROI and execution capability above 80% across key go-to-market functions.
Dell simplifies private cloud with PowerStore and Nutanix Cloud Platform
Dell Private Cloud now delivers a validated Nutanix Cloud Platform experience on PowerStore with automated AHV deployment, NVMe all-flash performance and independent compute and storage scaling.
Key quote from the press release:
“From a partner perspective, PowerStore and Nutanix is one of those combinations that demonstrates its value quickly. Customers get streamlined infrastructure management through Nutanix backed by the performance, efficiency and scalability of PowerStore, making it an attractive option for modernization initiatives.” — Raj Patel, manager of project services & HCI lead, Winslow Technology Group
Armor launches Sovereign AI work platform for regulated industries
The governed AI work platform gives organizations a controlled way to use AI across chat, build, flow and data workflows while keeping policy, spend, secrets and audit controls in one layer.
Key quote from the press release:
“Every AI vendor demos the front end. What companies actually buy is the control underneath: governance, audit trail, authority over every model and every dollar. That’s why we built Sovereign AI.” — Chris Drake, founder and CEO, Armor
Cloud connectivity problems consume 11.5 IT hours a week
A Censuswide survey for DE-CIX found a gap between confidence in AI readiness and the operational burden of cloud connectivity; the data supports managed networking, cloud architecture and private interconnection assessments as labor-saving services.
Key findings from the report include:
- 96% said their network infrastructure will support future cloud and AI initiatives, yet teams spend 11.5 hours a week on cloud connectivity issues.
- 61% already use private cloud connectivity and another 31% are considering it.
- 31% of organizations with 100-249 employees use private cloud connectivity, compared with 71% of organizations with at least 1,000 employees.
Veeam Data Platform v13.1 helps organizations recover clean and fast from cyber disruption
The latest release expands hypervisor support, enterprise application protection, malware scanning, cloud threat detection and recovery readiness across hybrid environments.
Key quote from the press release:
“Cyber risk is dramatically escalating with rapid advancement in frontier models and self-driving AI agents. Resilience will act as a backbone of continued operations and recovering from increasing cyber and AI incidents. With Veeam Data Platform v13.1, customers get stronger enterprise application coverage, and expanded security and recovery readiness.” — Rehan Jalil, president of products and technology, Veeam
Cynet finds stolen identities behind 80% of host breaches
Cynet’s first-half CyOps ECHO report describes a shift from endpoint malware toward stolen identities, abused remote-support tools and social engineering.
Key findings from the report include:
- 80% of host breaches began with stolen identity and did not require endpoint malware.
- 27% of host breaches originated at SSL-VPN gateways.
- The report documents Teams vishing, help desk impersonation, AI voice cloning and abused remote-support tools as initial-access techniques.
DefensX adds browser AI controls for MSP-managed SMBs
DefensX launched an AI Cloud Connector that isolates browser-based AI traffic and announced a growth investment from Elsewhere Partners.
Key quote from the press release:
“We are doubling down on our mission to bring first-class AI governance and security tools to the MSP community and expansive SME space, extending enterprise-grade protection to where work actually happens. There is growing demand for browser-native security, AI governance, and secure agentic workflows. Our solutions will help MSPs turn secure AI adoption into a meaningful new revenue opportunity and help companies of all sizes stay agile, compliant, and resilient by properly protecting their data as workspaces continue to evolve.” — Halis Osman Erkan, founder and CEO, DefensX
KnowBe4 adds simulated vishing to security awareness platform
KnowBe4 added customizable simulated vishing campaigns with local caller ID, personas and multistep scenarios.
Key quote from the press release:
“To build true organizational resilience, security teams can no longer focus solely on the inbox. With our new simulated vishing capability, we are equipping security leaders with the tools needed to train employees across every major social engineering vector to prevent these types of attacks.” — Greg Kras, chief product officer, KnowBe4
Qualys expands AI security with stronger governance to keep fast-moving AI adoption under control
New TotalAI capabilities help CISOs discover shadow AI, monitor model behavior, assess AI risk and prove controls are working across development and runtime environments.
Key quote from the press release:
“With every modern enterprise leveraging AI, the question is changing from ‘Is my AI secure?’ to ‘Can I prove it to my board and regulators?’ TotalAI gives enterprises a single, unified way to assess, govern, and secure AI risk continuously — not through periodic snapshots, but with the real-time clarity and discipline Qualys is known for.” — Sumedh Thakar, president and CEO, Qualys
D&H adds AI literacy and governance enablement for partners
LearnAIR and D&H Distributing partnered to provide AI strategy workshops, role-based literacy certification, governance frameworks, readiness assessments and continuing education.
Key quote from the press release:
“Technology alone doesn’t create transformation — people do. D&H Distributing has spent more than a century helping partners bring transformative technologies to market, making them the ideal partner to help organizations move beyond AI access and into true AI readiness. Together, we’re creating an opportunity for the channel to lead one of the greatest business transformations of our time by helping customers turn AI investments into measurable outcomes.” — Teresa Coats, CEO, LearnAIR
Blacksmith operationalizes GTIA Trustmark work for MSPs
Blacksmith added the GTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark framework to its multi-client Compliance-as-a-Service platform; the integration can reduce the administrative work of pursuing the Trustmark and support a repeatable managed compliance offering.
Key quote from the press release:
“MSPs and solution providers are under constant pressure to prove cybersecurity maturity in a way that is both credible and operationally practical. Our work with GTIA helps turn the Cybersecurity Trustmark into something partners can actively manage inside the same platform they already use to guide client security and compliance programs.” — Mike Zbarsky, Blacksmith InfoSec
HackerOne adds developer-ready remediation and fix verification
HackerOne launched H1 Remediation in general availability to turn validated exploitable findings into developer-ready fix plans and verify that fixes work.
Key quote from the press release:
“H1 Remediation extends the workflow from discovery to verified fix, with exposure duration as a measurable, reportable metric. Closing that gap faster is both an operational improvement and a governance imperative.” — Kara Sprague, CEO, HackerOne
Bugcrowd combines agentic pentesting with human validation
Bugcrowd introduced Savant Pathseeker for continuous agentic testing across an organization’s attack surface with human validation of findings.
Key quote from the press release:
“Point solutions that only give you part of the picture aren’t good enough anymore. Every day, our research community uncovers the next generation of critical vulnerabilities—zero-days, business logic flaws, broken access controls—that automation and AI simply can’t find. We built Savant Pathseeker with our customers, designed around that human edge: bringing agentic discovery, testing, and validation into one place so every layer of offensive security works seamlessly.” — Braden Russell, chief technology officer, Bugcrowd
LimaCharlie announces Cloud Security CNAPP for detection and incident response
The new cloud-native application protection platform brings cloud posture, identity, attack-path and AI security findings into the same detection and response engine security teams and MSSPs already use.
Key quote from the press release:
“Service providers have been asking us for years why cloud security is the one category they cannot build a practice on. The answer was always economics, not technology. Cloud Security is built on the same multi-tenant infrastructure our MSSPs already run their operations on, and it is priced so they can actually sell it.” — Maxime Lamothe-Brassard, co-founder and CEO, LimaCharlie
AttackIQ introduces AVA Agentic OS for Continuous Threat Exposure Management
The agentic operating system orchestrates specialized AI agents to help organizations discover, validate and reduce threat debt across fragmented security workflows.
Key quote from the press release:
“Organizations don’t have a CTEM strategy problem—they have a CTEM execution problem. AVA OS is the operational layer that makes Continuous Threat Exposure Management executable. It coordinates specialized AI agents that continuously perform the work required to discover, validate, and reduce threat debt. The next generation of cybersecurity operations will be built on specialized, mission focused agentic systems.” — Carl Wright, chief commercial officer, AttackIQ
Cowbell launches OMNI, an AI-native decision intelligence system for specialty insurance
OMNI uses specialized AI agents, orchestration and governance to support underwriting, claims, cybersecurity services, customer engagement, product development and operational workflows.
Key quote from the press release:
“Specialty lines are increasingly defined by bifurcation. The market remains highly risk-segmented, requiring more granular underwriting as pricing pressure intensifies and loss costs, litigation, and volatility remain elevated. With OMNI, we are unifying intelligence, automation, governance, and performance measurement into an AI-native Decision Intelligence System purpose-built for specialty insurance.” — Jack Kudale, founder and CEO, Cowbell
Barracuda tracks Logokit phishing as a real-time deception service
Barracuda researchers analyzed Logokit, a phishing service that uses legitimate commercial web services to recreate corporate login experiences.
Key findings from the report include:
- Logokit uses legitimate commercial web services to recreate a target’s corporate login experience.
- The service can exfiltrate captured credentials through Telegram and cloud services.
- Barracuda characterizes it as a real-time deception platform rather than a static phishing page.
Halcyon adds kernel-level prevention of ransomware file encryption
Halcyon introduced File Resilience, or FiRe, which it says stops file-encryption attempts at the Windows kernel before files are modified.
Key quote from the press release:
“Everything we build at Halcyon is guided by one goal: making ransomware a non-event for our customers. We’re continuously expanding our ransomware resilience platform to help organizations stay operational no matter how the threat evolves. With File Resilience, expanded macOS support, and deeper Microsoft integrations, we’re making malicious encryption virtually impossible while making it even easier to deploy Halcyon across modern enterprise environments.” — Scott Stout, president, Halcyon
BlackFog Q2 ransomware report finds undisclosed attacks surged 40% year over year
BlackFog’s Q2 State of Ransomware Report found ransomware activity remains highly active and fragmented, with data exfiltration involved in nearly all disclosed incidents.
Key findings from the report include:
- Undisclosed ransomware attacks reached 2,027 in Q2 2026, up 40% from Q2 2025, despite a 6% decline from the previous quarter.
- Publicly disclosed ransomware attacks rose nearly 16% from Q1 2026, reaching 306 incidents.
- 97% of disclosed incidents involved data exfiltration, the highest rate BlackFog has recorded.
- The services sector saw disclosed attacks rise 221% compared with Q1 2026, while healthcare was the most targeted sector with 81 attacks.
Rapid7 makes Cyber GRC generally available
Rapid7 made Cyber GRC generally available as part of the Rapid7 Command Platform; the unified data model can help service providers reduce duplicate evidence collection and connect security operations to managed compliance work.
Key quote from the press release:
“Preemptive security goes beyond detecting and responding to threats. Organizations need to continuously understand where risk exists, whether controls are working, and where action is needed before gaps become incidents. By bringing GRC into our platform, Rapid7 Cyber GRC connects what teams detect, what they fix, and what they can prove, turning compliance from a point-in-time exercise into an active part of security operations.” — Corey Thomas, executive chairman, Rapid7
Horizon3.ai extends NodeZero to web application pentesting
Horizon3.ai expanded NodeZero into production-safe autonomous web application pentesting.
Key quote from the press release:
“Legacy web application security tools are notoriously noisy. They flood teams with theoretical findings that lack context or business impact,” said Snehal Antani, Co-Founder and CEO of Horizon3. “The first generation of AI-driven web app pentesting performed well in cyber ranges, Capture the Flag (CTF) labs, and on bug-bounty leaderboards, but it wasn’t built to run safely against real enterprise production systems. Until now, no technology could chain vulnerabilities across application, infrastructure, cloud, and identity at scale.” — Snehal Antani, co-founder and CEO, Horizon3.ai
Prophet introduces AI Detection Engineer to find and close coverage gaps
Prophet AI Detection Engineer builds a live MITRE ATT&CK coverage map from existing detections and investigations, then authors, tunes and backtests detection changes for the SIEMs security teams already use.
Key quote from the press release, learn more in the blog post:
“Security teams have known for years that detection engineering is essential, but they haven’t had the people or the time to do it continuously. AI Detection Engineer turns detection engineering from an occasional project into a continuous operational capability. Because Prophet AI performs the investigations, it understands which detections matter most, which gaps create the greatest risk, and where teams can make the biggest improvements. Organizations remain in complete control while AI handles the work that never seems to fit into the day.” — Grant Oviatt, co-founder and vice president of product, Prophet Security
SnapLogic introduces new SnapGPT agentic assistant for the integration lifecycle
The new SnapGPT adds agentic planning, generation and operational intelligence to help enterprise teams move from business intent to production faster.
Key quote from the press release:
“Three years ago, we pioneered Generative Integration with the industry’s first GenAI-powered integration copilot, enabling users to create integrations through natural language. Today, SnapGPT brings that vision forward into the era of Agentic Integration, helping teams across the entire engineering lifecycle – planning with confidence, high quality spec-driven development, understanding and refactoring existing assets, and optimizing operations through AI purpose-built for enterprise integration.” — Jeremiah Stone, CTO, SnapLogic
Sumo Logic accelerates agentic AI platform with new executive leadership
Chris Malone joins as CEO and Conor Burns as CFO to help scale Sumo Logic’s AI-first platform for security and cloud operations teams.
Key quote from the press release:
“Sumo Logic has a clear market advantage: a trusted AI-first platform, a strong partner ecosystem, loyal customers, and employees who are passionate about the mission. Telemetry will fuel the agentic era, and Sumo Logic sits at the center of that, translating massive amounts of data into the context AI agents need to act with confidence. Our Dojo AI agents use that foundation to help customers stop modern threats and improve system performance by putting AI to work across security and observability.” — Chris Malone, CEO, Sumo Logic
Former OpenAI go-to-market leader Zack Kass to headline Build IT LIVE 2026 in Jersey City
IT By Design’s annual MSP leadership conference brings more than 500 MSP founders and decision-makers to Jersey City for operator-led sessions, an AI Accelerator and a closing event at the New York Stock Exchange.
Key quote from the press release:
“Understanding AI was never the bottleneck for this industry. Knowing how to build the team and the culture around it is. That’s the gap we built this event to close.” — Sunny Kaila, founder and CEO, IT By Design
Full agenda and details here.
As ChannelPro’s online director and tech editor for over a decade, Matt Whitlock has spent years blending sharp tech insight with digital know-how. He brings more than 25 years’ experience working in the technology industry to his reviews, analysis, and general musings about all things gadget and gear.
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