Cybersecurity investment is rising amidst the new normal as employees are accessing a lot of sensitive official data from home network.
One of the top priorities for 2020 has been safety, be it health or the internet. With the unprecedented ballooning of worldwide digitization, this year has been a challenging time even for cybersecurity professionals. However, these challenges come with the promise of results, which in this case is financial growth, even when we are headed towards a global recession.
According to a report by Canalys, a data analytics firm, investment in cybersecurity will grow up to 5.6% YoY in 2020, in the best-case scenario. On the other hand, growth might also be as low as 2.5% YoY if IT firms are forced to work under multiple constraints. Nonetheless, growth will still be seen whether in lower denominations or higher ones, and that is an encouraging prospect on its own.
From a base point of US$40.8 billion, which was the approximate value of cybersecurity investments in 2019, this year might see that number increase to anywhere between US$41.9 – $43.1 billion. Thus, investments will go up at least US$1 billion even this year.
Growth Outlook by Segment
The report evaluated individual growth projections for endpoint security, network security, web and email security, data security, and security analytics. A number of interesting outcomes were observed.
While the growth rate of Cybersecurity investment in network security will be meagre at best and drop into the negatives at worst, it will still be the largest investment segment, claiming 36% of total investments.
In terms of growth driving, endpoint security will show promising results with growth between 5.9 – 8.5%. This is largely due to the increase in remote work, which requires employees to work from personal devices and networks, thereby rendering client and company data accessible through a decentralized fleet of gadgets. Because endpoint security prevents breaches by protecting these devices, companies have and will continue to invest in it this year and in the future. The report, however, mentions that this kind of investment might have already peaked in previous quarters and is less likely to reach the same heights in the latter half of the year.
Web and email security, as well as vulnerability and security analytics, are expected to see the highest percentage of individual growth rate, with the former growing anywhere 7.8 – 10.3% and the latter following close second with an expected range of 7.4 – 10.0%. This is significant because data suggests password phishing has increased during the pandemic and malicious attacks have become harder to detect.
Data security will see a growth of up to 8.5%, hopefully paving a future with fewer vulnerabilities in mechanisms like cloud services, that have also become more widely used than ever before.
Additionally, IT firms are likely to rely on subscription revenue to keep themselves afloat, as companies haven’t yet started cutting costs on the security front of things. However, according to Matthew Ball, Chief Analyst, future projects might be put on the back burner and companies will be less likely to invest in newer projects, or sign significantly smaller deals.
Cybersecurity in the New Normal
The trends projected by Canalys suggest that cybersecurity is a priority for most firms and is an area where costs aren’t likely to get cut in the short run.
Cybersecurity providers like Radware, CyberArk, and Fortinet have seen soaring stock as of the first week of July.
Apart from investing in cybersecurity tools, companies should also train their employees to maintain internet hygiene and be wary of what they click when using their device, at a time when work from home is the norm. Password vulnerabilities, non-secure applications and platforms, and the army of cybercriminals lurking in the shadows to exploit even the slightest of vulnerability make secure online practices even more crucial.
