Security Training for
Small MSP Teams,
Protect Your Own House First.
Your clients trust you to secure their environments. Your own team, help desk, field techs, engineers, is the attack surface that connects into every client. CMMC, NIST CSF, ISO 27001, and your own client contracts all set expectations for annual training. This program keeps the completion records your clients may ask for.
Your regulatory and contractual requirements
You are responsible for your own team's security awareness, separate from anything you do for clients.
The frameworks that your clients must comply with also apply to your organization as their service provider. And your own client contracts often include explicit training requirements, sometimes more stringent than the underlying regulation.
| Framework | Citation | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| CMMC 2.0 | AT.L2-3.2.1, AT.L2-3.2.2 | Requires organizations to ensure that managers, systems administrators, and users of organizational systems are made aware of the security risks associated with their activities and are trained on policies, standards, and procedures. |
| NIST CSF | PR.AT-1 (Awareness and Training) | All users are informed and trained. The organization provides security awareness training to all personnel and role-based training for personnel with specific security responsibilities, a category that includes your entire technical team. |
| ISO/IEC 27001 | A.7.2.2 (Information Security Awareness, Education, and Training) | Requires all employees and relevant contractors to receive appropriate awareness education and training, with regular updates. For MSPs, this applies to your own staff, separate from the training you may recommend to your clients. |
| Customer Contractual Obligations | Varies by client agreement | Many client contracts, particularly with regulated industries such as healthcare, financial services, and defense, require the service provider to demonstrate that its own personnel complete annual security awareness training as a condition of the agreement. |
This table summarizes key training-adjacent provisions. Consult qualified counsel for contract-specific obligations and framework interpretation.
Why this matters for small MSPs
Attackers target MSPs because compromising one provider gives access to dozens of clients.
CISA, the FBI, and intelligence agencies across Five Eyes countries have issued repeated warnings: MSPs are priority targets for state-sponsored and criminal attackers. Your team's security awareness is not a nice-to-have, it is a condition of operating safely.
Breaches that begin with a compromised MSP
CISA analysis of significant supply-chain incidents, 2023, percentage of major incidents involving third-party access
Average cost of a supply chain compromise
IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report, 2024, third-party / business partner initial attack vector
MSPs reporting a security incident in past 18 months
ConnectWise / Continuum MSP Threat Report, 2024, survey of North American MSPs
What the training covers
Written for technical staff in small MSP teams, not generic office employees.
Your people understand technology. This training acknowledges that, and focuses on the attack scenarios, social engineering tactics, and supply chain risks that specifically target MSP personnel. No basic "what is a password" content. Real scenarios, real tactics, real consequences.
Privileged Access Management
Your technicians hold the keys to client environments. How the principle of least privilege, just-in-time access, and credential rotation reduce the blast radius when, not if, an account is compromised.
Supply Chain Security
RMM tools, PSA platforms, remote access utilities, each is a potential vector into both your environment and your clients'. How to evaluate, monitor, and securely configure the tools your team uses every day.
Client Incident Notification Obligations
If your environment or credentials are compromised, which clients must be notified, and how quickly. Contractual notification windows, state breach notification deadlines, and the documentation your cyber insurance carrier will require.
Social Engineering Targeting Technical Staff
Attackers know that MSP help desk and support staff have elevated access. Real-world examples of convincing social engineering attacks, fake client calls, vendor impersonation, tool-provider compromise notifications, and the verification steps that stop them.
Secure Remote Access and Work-from-Anywhere
Your team accesses client environments from home offices, coffee shops, and co-working spaces. Practical security for remote technical work, VPN hygiene, MFA enforcement, device security, that works for small provider teams.
Documenting Training for Client Audits
Your clients, particularly those in regulated industries, will ask you to demonstrate that your staff completes security training. How to produce the right documentation, how to structure evidence for SOC 2, ISO 27001, and client-specific audit requests.
Recommended for your industry
Recommended training for MSP teams
Not every employee needs every course. Start with the foundational awareness that protects your own team, then add framework-specific courses based on the certifications and contracts you pursue.
Cybersecurity Awareness
Recommended for: Help desk, field technicians, engineers, and account managers who access client systems.
Builds the everyday security habits your help desk, field techs, and engineers need to protect the privileged access they hold across client environments.
Phishing & Social Engineering
Recommended for: All technical and support staff who respond to client and vendor communications.
Provides targeted training on the social engineering that specifically targets MSP support staff with elevated access.
ISO/IEC 27001
Recommended for: MSPs pursuing or maintaining ISO 27001 certification.
Provides framework-specific training for teams pursuing or maintaining ISO 27001 certification and the awareness controls it requires.
This course is not open for enrollment yet.
View course detailsCMMC
Recommended for: MSPs supporting defense contractors or CMMC-bound clients.
Useful for MSPs supporting defense contractors or pursuing CMMC-related work that requires documented security awareness training.
This course is not open for enrollment yet.
View course detailsNot sure where to start? For most MSPs, begin with Cybersecurity Awareness and Phishing & Social Engineering. Add ISO 27001 or CMMC courses based on the frameworks your clients and contracts require.
About your recommended courses
Frequently asked questions about your course recommendations
Our recommendations are built by mapping your industry's regulatory obligations and most common risks to specific courses. We organize them into tiers (Start Here, Highly Recommended, Recommended, When Applicable, and Based on Your Needs) so you can quickly see what's essential, what's broadly useful, and what's conditional on your specific situation.
Documentation for client audits
When your client's auditor asks for proof, you hand them a URL.
Every technician and support staff member receives a dated certificate mapped to CMMC, NIST CSF, ISO 27001, and other applicable frameworks. Each certificate includes a public verification URL that any auditor can type into a browser to confirm authenticity, without creating an account, logging in, or calling anyone.
Manager reports show completion across your entire team. Export as a PDF. Attach to client audit responses, SOC 2 evidence packages, CMMC assessment documentation, or contract renewal submissions. Clean and verifiable.
Also applies to your clients' industries
See the industry-specific training your clients may need.
Healthcare Practices
HIPAA Security Rule training for dental, medical, and chiropractic practices, no small-practice exemption.
View healthcare guideAccounting Firms
FTC Safeguards Rule, IRS Pub 4557, SOC 2, for CPA firms and tax preparers without dedicated IT staff.
View accounting guideMortgage & Real Estate
GLBA compliance and wire fraud prevention for independent originators and small brokerages.
View mortgage guideLegal Practices
ABA Model Rules 1.1 and 1.6, technology competence and confidentiality for small and solo firms.
View legal guideInsurance Agencies
State regulation and NAIC model law training for independent agents and small brokerages.
View insurance guideFinancial Advisors
SEC and FINRA-aligned training for RIAs and independent advisors handling sensitive client financial data.
View financial advisor guideNonprofits
Donor data protection and grant compliance training for small charities and foundations without IT staff.
View nonprofit guide
Enroll your team in four minutes. Protect your own house, then offer it to your clients.
Enroll your help desk, field technicians, engineers, and account managers today. Certificates issued instantly. Publicly verifiable. Completion records ready when a client or insurer asks. Separate partner program available for client delivery.
Fixed annual pricing per person. Cancel any time. Certificates remain valid and verifiable for 12 months. Training and documentation support compliance and contractual obligations, consult qualified counsel for framework-specific interpretation.