The MSP Minute ⏱ Monday 18 May 2026
For Managed Service Providers worldwide. Today... Microsoft Exchange has an actively exploited zero-day... a big managed services report landed... and a small Mediterranean island just made history
🔴 Microsoft Exchange has an actively exploited zero-day… and there's no permanent patch yet
If you manage on-premises Exchange for any clients, heads up on this.
Microsoft disclosed CVE-2026-42897 on Thursday. It’s a cross-site scripting vulnerability in Exchange Server 2016, 2019, and Subscription Edition that’s being actively exploited in the wild.
An attacker sends an email; if the recipient opens it in Outlook Web Access, arbitrary JavaScript executes in their browser session. From there, an attacker can steal session cookies, spoof content, or perform actions on behalf of the user. Exchange Online is not affected. BleepingComputer
A permanent patch is still in development. In the meantime Microsoft has issued automatic mitigations via its Exchange Emergency Mitigation Service. If you have EEMS enabled, it should have applied already.
🟡 New data: 98% of companies say AI is now a core managed services requirement
KPMG’s 2026 Managed Services Outlook, published last week and based on surveys of 1,224 senior leaders involved in managed services decisions, gives one of the clearest reads yet on where the market is heading.
98% of respondents say AI implementation is now a critical managed services capability. And AI management is expected to become the single largest area of managed services investment over the next two years, say 56% of respondents. ChannelE2E
How does that change your AI plans going forward?
🟢 A small Mediterranean island just became the first country in the world to give every citizen free AI
Malta, a country smaller than most cities with a population of just 574,000, announced on Saturday that it has struck a world-first deal with OpenAI.
Every Maltese resident and citizen gets a free year of ChatGPT Plus. The catch: they have to complete a government-backed AI literacy course first, developed by the University of Malta, covering what AI is, what it can’t do, and how to use it responsibly. OpenAI
No national government has done this before. Could you imagine this happening where you live??
Hokey doke, that’s Monday done. We’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow morning. See you then.