Cyber security fast becoming investment priority for every business

John McLoughlin

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Providing a secure business environment is every company's key concern and cyber security is fast becoming an investment priority, regardless of industry or size. It is already a higher priority for information-based organisations like professional services firms, banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, telcos, municipalities and power utilities that appear to be ramping up their spending.

These industries are already experiencing paralysing attacks that stop critical services such as electricity and water supply. These crippling cyber attacks will ultimately result in increased spend as they cause unprecedented loss of revenue.

The demand for cyber security solutions is growing rapidly; businesses around the globe are investing heavily in security. Annual global cyber losses are expected to hit US$6 trillion by 2021, with cyber security spending projected to exceed a total of US$1 trillion for the five years leading up to 2021.

This is according to a report from Cybersecurity Ventures that suggests the immediate costs of a cyber attack can be significant, but the damage to a business’s reputation could cost just as much or even more in the long term.

Security expert and J2 Software CEO John McLoughlin says security spend has already started outpacing IT spend. "The global cyber security market is booming, the demand for cyber security solutions is huge.”

He says adoption in South Africa is not yet growing at the same rate, but there is a strong growth in interest and understanding the requirement to do more to protect themselves from cyber threats. “With the ever-increasing cyber security risks and regulations being introduced, business leaders are fast realising that there is more to be protected and serious penalties for not complying."

According to the Worldwide Semiannual Security Spending Guide from International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide spending on security solutions will achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2% over the 2018-2022 forecast period and total $133.8 billion in 2022.

The report says worldwide spending on security-related software, hardware and services is forecast to reach $103.1 billion in 2019, an increase of 9.4% over 2018.

McLoughlin says more regulations and higher customer expectations has caused more companies to further invest in security and this will ensure that the market will keep expanding. "The increased awareness levels of consumer privacy and protection of personal information has raised the bar for companies to improve their security."

Security is taking on a new shape and is being integrated into new business initiatives and used as a competitive advantage. "No one wants to be breached and once consumers are affected, they will fear working with companies they don’t trust," he explains.

"As the world becomes more software-driven and new tech enters the security realm, cyber crime inevitably intensifies. This will grow the security market significantly, it will keep developing and growing, and at an even greater rate than before," he stresses.

IDC predicts the biggest spend will be on managed security services for monitoring and management of security operations centres. The next largest spend category is network security, which includes unified threat management, firewalls and intrusion detection and prevention technologies. Other investments include integration services and next generation endpoint security software.

The security landscape is changing rapidly as businesses worldwide continue to struggle to maintain their own in-house security solutions. They are now turning to managed security service providers (MSSPs) to deliver a wide range of security solutions and consulting services.

“To prepare companies against future attacks and to overcome the security challenges of tomorrow, they need expert analysis, predictive threat intelligence and advanced detection,” he concludes.