Full Report
Learn the latest about our initiative with the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure and how you can get involved.
Analysis Summary
# Industry News: MSP Vendor Coalition Rallies Behind DIVD to Bolster SMB Security
## Summary
Huntress has successfully mobilized a coalition of nine major Managed Service Provider (MSP) vendors to donate a combined $75,000—supplementing Huntress' own $100,000 contribution—to the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD). This initiative aims to move the industry away from "security in a silo" and toward a model of collective defense and transparent vulnerability management.
## Key Details
- **Date:** February 3, 2022
- **Companies Involved:** Huntress (Lead), Axcient, and eight other undisclosed MSP-centric vendors.
- **Category:** Partnership / Corporate Social Responsibility / Community Initiative
## The Story
The initiative began with Huntress pledging $100,000 to the DIVD, a non-profit organization known for proactively identifying vulnerabilities and notifying victims before attackers can exploit them. The news highlight centers on the "snowball effect" this donation had within the MSP channel.
Recognizing that the MSP ecosystem is a primary target for supply chain attacks, Huntress challenged its peers to move beyond competitive boundaries. The response was a collaborative financial commitment to fund the DIVD’s research and bug bounty efforts. The core philosophy expressed by participants like Axcient is that "security in a silo can never be effective," signaling a shift in how software vendors for small-to-midsized businesses (SMBs) approach risk disclosure and proactive testing.
## Business Impact
### For the Companies Involved
- **Brand Trust:** By financially backing an independent third-party disclosure entity, vendors like Huntress and Axcient signal to their partners that they prioritize security over marketing optics.
- **Liability Reduction:** Supporting proactive vulnerability research helps identify flaws in the software supply chain before they lead to costly breaches and legal repercussions.
### For Competitors
- **Pressure to Participate:** This sets a new industry benchmark for "vendor citizenship." Competitors who remain silent or siloed may be viewed as less transparent or less committed to the security of the broader ecosystem.
### For Customers (MSPs and SMBs)
- **Reduced Down-time:** Better-funded vulnerability disclosure leads to faster patching and fewer "zero-day" surprises for MSPs managing hundreds of clients.
- **Increased Transparency:** Partners gain more visibility into how vendors handle internal security and third-party audits.
### For the Market
- **Supply Chain Hardening:** The move signifies a maturation of the MSP market, shifting from individual product sales to a collective focus on the resilience of the entire software supply chain.
## Technical Implications
The partnership facilitates a "shift-left" strategy on a community scale. By supporting the DIVD, the technical focus shifts toward pre-emptive identification of vulnerabilities in common MSP tools (like RMMs or backup solutions) and ensuring that security is a validated requirement before code is pushed to production environments.
## Strategic Analysis
- **Market Positioning:** Huntress is positioning itself not just as a tool provider, but as a thought leader and "neighborhood watch" coordinator for the MSP space.
- **Competitive Advantage:** This initiative builds a "trust moat." In an industry plagued by ransomware, a reputation for transparency is a powerful differentiator.
- **Challenges:** The primary risk is the sustainability of the coalition. Keeping competing vendors aligned on long-term funding and open communication requires constant administrative effort and diplomatic management.
## Industry Reactions
- **Expert Commentary:** Analysts view this as a necessary evolution for the SMB sector, which has historically lacked the security resources of large enterprises.
- **Market Response:** Positive reception from the MSP community, who are increasingly wary of the security risks posed by their own vendor stacks.
## Future Outlook
- **Standardization of Transparency:** Expect more vendors to adopt aggressive resolution SLAs and open-source their security posture details.
- **Growth of the DIVD:** With increased funding, the DIVD is likely to expand its reach, potentially becoming the de facto global watchdog for the MSP software supply chain.
## For Security Professionals
Practitioners should leverage this momentum to demand higher transparency from their current vendors. The involvement of organizations like the DIVD provides a structured way for researchers to report vulnerabilities in MSP tools without fear of legal retribution, potentially increasing the volume of disclosed (and patched) bugs.