If you own an MSP, you’ve probably seen this happen more often than you’d like.
A controller clicks a “DocuSign” email.
An office manager resets their password from a fake Microsoft page.
An owner forwards an invoice change request without questioning it.
No ransomware. No flashy breach headlines.
It’s just phishing, quietly taking thousands of dollars from small and mid-sized businesses every year.
Let’s look at why phishing is so damaging for SMBs and why it remains one of the most profitable attacks for cybercriminals.
The Real Cost of a Phishing Attack (It’s Not Just the Money Stolen)
When SMB owners hear “phishing,” they often think:
“Worst case, we lose a bit of money and reset passwords.”
In reality, phishing costs stack up fast:
1. Direct Financial Loss 💸
- Fake wire transfers
- Payroll diversion
- Vendor payment fraud
- Gift card scams
Even one successful phishing attack can cost between $5,000 and $50,000 (NetDiligence® Cyber Claims Study 2025 Report, n.d.).And insurance claims are often denied if the right controls weren’t in place (Saha, 2024).
2. Downtime and Cleanup 🕒
After the incident:
- Accounts are locked
- Email is audited
- Endpoints are scanned
- Vendors are notified
For a 20–50 user business, that’s:
- Lost productivity
- Emergency MSP hours
- Unplanned IT costs
What seemed like a “cheap” phishing incident can quickly turn into a five-figure disruption (Zensurance: Cybercrime Affects More Than 50% of Small Businesses in Canada, 2025).
3. Trust Damage (The Silent Killer)
This one doesn’t show up on an invoice.
- Clients receive phishing emails from your customer’s domain
- Vendors question payment integrity
- Employees lose confidence in systems
For (Rise in Business Email Compromise (BEC) Scams Targeting US & Canadian Enterprises, 2025) SMBs, reputation is everything, and phishing attacks quietly wear it down.
Why SMBs Are Hit Harder Than Enterprises
Here’s a hard truth that most MSPs know well:
SMBs rely on people, not process
- Fewer approvals
- Shared responsibilities
- A culture of just getting things done
Attackers exploit this perfectly (COST OF A CYBER INCIDENT, n.d.).
Email = the control plane
Most SMBs run on:
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
- Email-based approvals (2024 InsurSec Rankings: Email Security and Financial Fraud Edition, n.d.)
- Email-based password resets
If an email account is compromised, everything else can quickly fall apart.
Security is often reactive
Common phrases we hear:
- “We’ve never been attacked.”
- “We’re too small.”
- “We trust our staff.”
Phishing attacks don’t care how big or small your company is.
They target human behavior instead.
Why Phishing Keeps Working (Despite All the Training)
Even with awareness training, phishing still succeeds because:
- Attacks look exactly like real business workflows
- Messages are sent during busy hours
- Attackers study vendors, invoices, and org charts
This is business email compromise, not just a poorly written message from a random hacker.
The MSP Perspective: Where Things Usually Go Wrong
From an MSP owner’s lens, phishing incidents usually trace back to:
- No MFA on all users
- MFA excluded for legacy apps
- Weak conditional access policies
- No mailbox audit or alerting
- Over-trust in email alone
None of these are advanced hacking problems.
There are basic gaps in identity and email security (Cybersecurity for Small Business, n.d.).
The Hard Truth SMB Owners Need to Hear
Phishing isn’t an “IT problem.”
It’s a business risk problem.
.If email equals:
- Payments
- Payroll
- Client communication
That means email security is the same as financial security.
Final Thought (From One MSP Owner to Another)
Phishing is cheap for attackers and expensive for SMBs.
That imbalance isn’t going away. What can change is how seriously SMBs treat:
- Identity protection
- Email security
- User behavior + The next phishing email is probably already sitting in someone’s inbox. in someone’s inbox.
The only question is whether it becomes a minor alert or a costly lesson.
If you’re an MSP, this is one of the clearest opportunities to:
- Reduce client risk
- Deliver real value
- Have meaningful security conversations that resonate with owners
Phishing isn’t going away, but if it’s not managed, it will keep costing SMBs thousands (The real cost of cyberattacks, 2025).
Jaspreet Singh — Author at MSPinsights.ca | Founder & CEO, Accelerate IT Services Inc.
References
(n.d.). NetDiligence® Cyber Claims Study 2025 Report. https://rsmus.com/content/dam/rsm/insights/services/risk-fraud-cybersecurity/1pdf/net-diligence-cyber-claims-study-2025-report.inline.pdf
Saha, A. (2024). Top 5 Reasons Why Businesses Are Denied Cybersecurity Insurance Coverage. Cabco. https://www.cabco.ca/learning-centre/cybersecurity-insurance
(September 29, 2025). Zensurance: Cybercrime Affects More Than 50% of Small Businesses in Canada. The Canadian Business Journal. https://www.cbj.ca/zensurance-cybercrime-affects-more-than-50-of-small-businesses-in-canada/
(July 31, 2025). Rise in Business Email Compromise (BEC) Scams Targeting US & Canadian Enterprises. Your DMARC. https://support.yourdmarc.com/en/articles/11064110-rise-in-business-email-compromise-bec-scams-targeting-us-canadian-enterprises
(n.d.). 2024 InsurSec Rankings: Email Security and Financial Fraud Edition. https://www.at-bay.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/At-Bay-2024-InsurSec-Rankings-Report.pdf
(n.d.). Cybersecurity for Small Business. Federal Trade Commission. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/small-businesses/cybersecurity
(2025). The real cost of cyberattacks. Microsoft. https://cdn-dynmedia-1.microsoft.com/is/content/microsoftcorp/microsoft/final/en-us/microsoft-brand/documents/SMBCybersecurity-Report-Final.pdf
(n.d.). COST OF A CYBER INCIDENT. https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-10/CISA-OCE%20Cost%20of%20Cyber%20Incidents%20Study_508.pdf