After a solid 2020, in which spending on security and risk management technology grew by 6.4 percent, 2021 looks set to continue on the same track.
The latest report from market analysts Gartner states that worldwide spending in the field is expected to grow by 12.4 percent this year and hit $150.4 billion.
This spending is fueled by two key drivers – remote working technology and cloud security (opens in new tab).
“Organizations continue to grapple with the security and regulatory demands of public cloud and software as a service,” said Lawrence Pingree, managing research vice president at Gartner. “Looking ahead, we’re seeing early market signals of growing automation and further adoption of machine learning technologies in support of AI security. To combat attacks, organizations will extend and standardize threat detection and response activities.”
Cybersecurity as the top priority
For new spending, cybersecurity remained the top priority, the report further stated, saying that of the 2,000 CIOs surveyed for the report, almost two-thirds (61 percent) prioritized investing in cyber/information security.
That includes consulting, hardware support, implementation and outsourced services, an industry worth almost $72.5 billion at the moment. The smallest (but fastest-growing) market segment is cloud security. More precisely – cloud access security brokers (CASB).
“The pace of client inquiry indicates that CASB is a popular choice for cloud-using organizations,” said Mr Pingree. “This is due to the growing popularity of using non-PC devices for interacting with core business processes, which creates security risks that can be mitigated effectively with a CASB. CASBs also enable safer interaction between SaaS applications and unmanaged devices.”
The growth of Integrated risk management (IRM) technology is also in double digits, fueled by Covid-19 induced risks.
“Areas of significant risk driving near-term demand include the advent of new digital products and services and the related health and safety uses, as well as third-party risks such as customer data breaches or supply chain attacks,” added John Wheeler, senior research director at Gartner.
