Most cybersecurity failures don’t start with an attack; they start with a handoff.

A quiet moment where responsibility shifts from one person, team, or vendor to another, and no one notices the gap it leaves behind. For smaller businesses, this is often where risk lives. Not because people don’t care, but because everyone assumes someone else is handling it.

 

The Most Common (and Costly) Cybersecurity Assumption

One of the most persistent myths we hear is simple:

“IT has cybersecurity covered.”

Sometimes that IT function is internal and sometimes it’s an IT partner. Either way, the assumption creates a problem because IT doesn’t actually own cybersecurity.

IT keeps systems running. Cybersecurity keeps the business secure.

Those are related responsibilities, but they are not the same thing. 80% of cybersecurity has nothing to do with technology. IT is an important part of the cybersecurity plan, just as finance, HR, and other departments are.

 

Why IT (and MSPs) ‘Don’t Got This’—and That’s Not a Knock

IT teams and MSPs do critical work:

• Keeping operations online
• Supporting employees
• Managing day-to-day systems

But cybersecurity requires something different:

• Deciding how much risk the business will accept
• Setting expectations for vendors and partners
• Preparing for incidents before they happen
• Helping to create a ‘Culture of Security’ in the organization, creating accountability across the team
• Ensuring your business is complying with customer, regulatory, auditor, and cyber insurance requirements, then defending your decisions to each

Those are business decisions. When they’re implicitly handed to IT or an MSP, they often don’t get made at all. That’s the handoff failure.

 

Where Handoffs Break Down Most Often

In smaller businesses, we see the same pressure points again and again:

Leadership → IT

Leadership assumes security decisions are being handled. IT assumes leadership will step in if tradeoffs are needed.

IT → MSP

If your business has an internal IT professional or small team, they assume the MSP is covering security holistically. The MSP often assumes their responsibility is uptime and support, not governance or risk ownership.

Business → Vendors

Third-party vendors are trusted, onboarded quickly, and given access with little ongoing review. Risk isn’t transferred; it’s shared.

Employees → Management

Employees notice something odd but aren’t sure if it’s worth escalating, or who even owns the decision.

None of these gaps are dramatic on their own. Together, they create exposure.

 

Third-Party Risk: The Quietest Handoff of All

Third-party Risk is one of the most overlooked handoff failures.

Vendors touch your data, your systems, and your operations. But in many small businesses:

• No one owns vendor security oversight
• Access persists long after it’s needed
• Assumptions replace verification

When something goes wrong, the question becomes: “Weren’t they supposed to be secure?”

That’s not a plan. That’s hope.

 

Why Documentation Alone Doesn’t Fix This

Policies and contracts matter but they don’t fix handoffs by themselves.

What actually fails isn’t the document. It’s the decision path:

• Who reviews risk? How does it change depending on whether it’s Third-party Risk or an inter-departmental hand off?
• Who approves exceptions?
• Who revisits assumptions?
• Who leads when something feels off?

If those answers aren’t clear, documentation just sits on a shelf while risk grows around it.

 

What Clean Handoffs Look Like

Clean handoffs don’t require bureaucracy. They require clarity. 

In businesses, where cybersecurity works quietly:

• One role owns cybersecurity oversight
• IT/MSP responsibilities are clearly defined
• Vendor access is reviewed intentionally
• Employees know exactly where to escalate concerns and are trained to all have a sense of accountability
• Leadership understands its role in decisions and response

That clarity turns potential incidents into manageable events. For more on creating accountability, READ: Why Cybersecurity Accountability for Small Businesses Starts with One Name

For more on how to increase employee cybersecurity awareness, WATCH: Beyond Awareness: Advanced Tips for Securing Your Humans

Where OrbitalFire Fits

At OrbitalFire, we focus exclusively on cybersecurity for smaller businesses. We don’t replace IT, we coordinate them. We do all the hard work for you, sitting above the handoffs to help smaller businesses:

• Clarify ownership
• Reduce Third-party Risk
• Implement processes to help create a ‘Culture of Security’
• Translate cybersecurity into business decisions
• Help you comply with regulatory requirements
• Comply with cyber insurance requirements
• Close the gaps where responsibility gets lost

We protect you from cybercrime, audits, regulations, and yourself by helping to ensure nothing important falls between the cracks.

 

The Bottom Line

Clear ownership beats assumptions every time. Cybersecurity rarely fails because someone dropped the ball; it fails because responsibility got handed off and never landed.

Want help creating a more secure business and creating a ‘Culture of Security’? Contact Us Today for a 15 Minute Cyber Check.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does cybersecurity fail at the handoff?
Because responsibility often shifts between leadership, IT, MSPs, and vendors without clear ownership or decision-making authority.

Does IT or an MSP own cybersecurity?
No. 80% of Cybersecurity has nothing to do with IT. IT and MSPs support systems, but cybersecurity ownership requires business-level decisions about risk, vendors, and response.

How does third-party risk relate to cybersecurity handoffs?
Third-party risk often goes unmanaged when no one owns vendor security oversight, leading to access and exposure gaps.

How can small businesses fix cybersecurity handoff issues?
By clearly assigning ownership, defining escalation paths, reviewing vendor access regularly, and coordinating IT and cybersecurity roles.