Protective DNS and content filtering company DNSFilter Inc. today launched an expanded partner program for managed service providers, restructuring its channel into three tiers as new company research found most MSPs are struggling to keep pace with the security their clients need.

The program replaces a flatter structure with three levels that scale support to a partner’s commitment. Select Partners get access to DNSFilter’s multi-tenant platform, the Partner Edge Portal, white-label campaign assets, self-paced training and volume-based pricing with no application or contract.

Accelerator Partners, available by invitation or application, add a named account manager, sales engineer support for demos and proofs of concept, co-marketing funds and an annual business review. Strategic Partners, the top tier, receive custom enablement, joint selling, co-branded marketing and a dedicated DNSFilter team aligned to their revenue goals.

The launch is paired with survey data that frames the commercial case. DNSFilter’s 2026 MSP research, based on responses from 100 senior cybersecurity and information technology professionals at U.S.-based managed service providers, found that 85% of MSP leaders admit there is a security capability they cannot effectively deliver today. Nearly half named security tool licensing costs as the single biggest obstacle to growing security revenue, ahead of an unmanageable tech stack at 26% and training overheads at 23%.

Artificial intelligence now tops the list. The biggest emerging threat over the next 12 to 18 months, named by 58% of leaders, is AI-generated phishing and social engineering. Identity-based attacks ranked second at 42%. That bucket includes credential theft and multifactor authentication bypass.Supply chain and third-party compromise drew 33%. Another 26% pointed to autonomous AI agents, ransomware and vulnerabilities in connected and operational-technology devices.

The research also pointed to a reporting gap. DNSFilter said 47% of MSP leaders cannot effectively deliver security posture reporting for compliance or cyber insurance, the second-largest capability gap behind advanced threat detection. For providers serving finance, healthcare, manufacturing and legal clients, the company argues that gap represents both a risk and missed revenue.

The program builds on DNSFilter’s largest MSP investment to date last year, when it acquired Zorus and launched CyberSight to spot phishing infrastructure and lookalike domains before they reach client networks. More than 6,000 MSPs use the company’s tools today.

“Our research makes the commercial reality facing MSPs impossible to ignore, but the flip side of that is a real opportunity we want to help our partners capture,” co-founder and Chief Executive Ken Carnesi said. “When our partners succeed, more businesses get protected.”

The company is based in Washington, D.C. and says its content filtering and protective DNS reach more than 45,000 organizations. DNSFilter has raised nearly $62 million in venture capital funding, including two rounds led by Insight Partners.

Image: DNSFilter