For David Setzer, trust isn’t a feature—it’s the foundation. Long before AI entered the cybersecurity conversation, Setzer was already helping MSPs build systems that earned confidence through consistency, transparency, and purpose.
As founder and CEO of Mailprotector, Setzer has spent 25 years evolving email security from a reactive process into a proactive discipline. In his MSPi Primecast conversation with Joey Pinz, he explains why today’s biggest cybersecurity threat isn’t just technology—it’s misplaced trust.
Here are four insights MSPs can draw from his journey to strengthen protection and relationships alike.
✦ 1. Trust Must Be Engineered, Not Assumed
Email was built on a dangerous assumption: that everyone online can be trusted. In a world of deepfakes, AI-authored phishing, and global threat networks, that model no longer works.
Setzer’s solution is mathematical. Mailprotector’s Shield platform uses behavioral analytics to determine what’s normal for each user and organization, creating a “probabilistic trust” map. By shifting from static rules to adaptive intelligence, MSPs can finally secure systems designed around real behavior—not blind faith.
✦ 2. Efficiency Is the True Competitive Advantage
Cybersecurity has become asymmetric warfare: attackers send millions of emails at near-zero cost, while defenders spend heavily to block a fraction of them.
Setzer urges MSPs to embrace efficiency as a security strategy. By combining automation with gateway-level defense, providers can prevent more threats with less waste. “Speed and precision,” he says, “will always outperform complexity and cost.”
✦ 3. AI Is a Tool—Not a Teammate
AI can replicate tone, grammar, and context with frightening accuracy, making phishing messages nearly impossible to distinguish from real ones. Even Setzer admits he once came seconds away from clicking on one himself.
That’s why Mailprotector doesn’t rely on AI to scan every message; instead, it uses it selectively to identify risk patterns. For MSPs, the lesson is clear: AI should amplify human judgment, not replace it. Automation should reduce noise, not remove responsibility.
✦ 4. Purpose Is the Strongest Security Policy
Behind every line of code, Setzer believes, lies a moral choice—to protect, to respect, and to serve. His leadership principles at Mailprotector—pursue excellence, own your work, finish strong, stay curious—are more than slogans; they’re operational safeguards.
For MSPs, living those values translates directly to customer confidence. “If your client’s data matters to them,” Setzer reminds, “it’s valuable to someone else.” Protecting it is both a technical and ethical obligation.
🧠 The MSP Takeaway
In an era of machine-speed deception, trust can no longer be assumed—it must be earned, measured, and maintained.
David Setzer’s vision for Mailprotector is more than an email security strategy—it’s a blueprint for every MSP striving to balance innovation with integrity.
The future of cybersecurity isn’t about fighting smarter code; it’s about building stronger trust.
