Monday Morning Impact – September 14

Published On: September 13, 2026Categories: Buzz

New Research: Ransomware’s Primary Target Is the Mid-Market

Black Kite, a Boston-based company specializing in third-party cyber risk management, has issued a new market research report suggesting that ransomware criminals are more likely to pursue mid-market targets, as opposed to enterprise targets. Assessing more than 120,000 mid-market organizations across North America and Europe from an attacker’s perspective, the report examines why these companies bear the brunt of ransomware attacks, and draws on disclosed incident data and external attack-surface scans to understand the pattern and what mid-market companies can do to protect themselves.

Black Kite’s analysis of more than 13,000 ransomware incidents with verifiable revenue across North America and Europe from January 2023 to June 2026 found that 73% of those incidents struck mid-market organizations with annual revenues between $10M and $1B. This concentration has proven highly consistent over time: 74.6% in 2023, 72.1% in 2024, 74% in 2025, and 72.3% during the first half of 2026. Even as the absolute number of incidents grew by 44%, surging from 2,320 in 2023 to 3,340 in 2025, the proportion of mid-market targets held firm.

Manufacturing was the most targeted industry, representing more than 25% of mid-market ransomware victims, followed by professional, scientific and technical services, and construction. More than one in four mid-market organizations (28.3%) carried at least one known exploited vulnerability. More than half (54.7%) had at least one significant patch management finding on public-facing software. Nearly half (48.1%) carried at least one disclosed vulnerability with a CVSS score of 8.0 or higher.

Mid-market organizations face a growing challenge, according to the report. They are increasingly targeted by ransomware while also exposed to cyber risk across hundreds of third-party vendors. Both require continuous visibility and rapid response, stretching even well-resourced security teams. Mid-market companies also sit inside the vendor profile of the larger organizations they serve. Regulation on both sides of the Atlantic, from the EU’s NIS2 Directive to U.S. rules like NYCRR 500 and HIPAA, increasingly makes a customer responsible for its suppliers’ security, which puts mid-market vendors under direct pressure to prove their posture.

Channel Impact^®
Partners can leverage this data to help clients identify, prioritize, and reduce cyber risk without requiring enterprise-sized teams or budgets.

TD Synnex Adds Cisco and Microsoft to PartnerFirst Platform

TD Synnex has expanded the vendor reach of its PartnerFirst digital customer experience platform with the addition of data from Cisco and Microsoft. The move is expected to give partners greater visibility, automation and insight across the customer lifecycle.

“Partners don’t need more dashboards. They need better methods to help them identify opportunities sooner, act faster, and grow profitably,” said Reyna Thompson, President, North America, TD Synnex. “The latest enhancements to PartnerFirst give partners greater visibility across the customer lifecycle, automate key workflows, and turn data into action so they can scale their business with greater precision.”

Lifecycle stage analysis with reporting by quantity and value is now live for select vendors including Microsoft and Cisco, alongside personalized views tailored to internal data and PartnerFirst reseller profiles. New campaign management tools enable targeted nurture communications and message tracking across both reseller and end-user audiences, while direct integration with transactional systems allows users to seamlessly access agreement details and take immediate purchasing actions. In addition, opportunity reconciliation capabilities deliver close rates, revenue retention, renewal rates, upsell success, and churn.

In addition, partners are now able to see data and contracts for cloud customers with subscription widgets. Unified quoting is also now available with comprehensive dashboard and reporting analytics. Customers are also now able to purchase and monitor renewals easily and conveniently through a mobile app, currently available for Apple IOS and Android.

TD Synnex PartnerFirst Digital Bridge has also expanded its offerings, with Connectors now live for Salesforce and QuickBooks Online. These integrations streamline workflows by enabling real-time access to pricing, inventory, orders, and key lifecycle data.

“We are seeing immediate impact on customer growth as they leverage PartnerFirst and Digital Bridge,” said Jessica McDowell, SVP, NA Marketing and Digital Success at TD Synnex. “Customers that are regularly transacting across our digital offerings are seeing nearly 30 percent growth on average, outpacing customers not leveraging digital solutions. We know that optimizing features in PartnerFirst helps customers move deals earlier and close faster.”

Channel Impact^®
The enhanced digital experience is expected to give partners greater visibility, automation and insights to accelerate growth.

CompTIA: Technology Occupations Grow Despite Staffing Pullback at Tech Companies

Technology occupation employment increased in August and employer demand for new tech talent remained strong, according to analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics by CompTIA, a suburban Chicago-based industry association.

Tech occupation employment, which includes tech professionals working across all industry sectors, increased by 86,000 workers in August, according to CompTIA.

However, the employment picture within the technology sector moved in the opposite direction. Tech companies reduced staffing by about 14,700 positions, inclusive of both technical and non-technical positions.

Demand for AI skills continues to accelerate, with active job postings requiring AI-related capabilities surpassing 320,000 openings in August, a 4.5% increase from July. The increase aligns with new CompTIA research that indicates employers are moving beyond AI experimentation and increasingly incorporating AI into business operations, creating demand for workers who can apply AI tools, manage AI-enabled workflows, and support AI-driven initiatives.

More broadly, employer demand for technology talent remains healthy. There were nearly 600,000 active technology occupation postings during the month, with 42% representing newly advertised positions. Growth in tech support, infrastructure, project management, and cybersecurity roles suggests employers remain focused on strengthening core technology functions while expanding emerging capabilities.

Professional, scientific and technical services, manufacturing, and administrative support services generated the highest volumes of new technology job postings. Several industry sectors, including retail, wholesale trade, and educational services, also recorded month-over-month gains, underscoring the widespread need for technology talent across the economy.

Channel Impact^®
The latest data may reflect the impact of layoffs disclosed in recent months by US-headquartered tech companies.

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