Security budgets set for major rise after Covid

Most businesses believe their cybersecurity budgets will rise after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report from NCC Group and Opinium.

Based on a poll of 500 cybersecurity decision-makers, the report states that cyberattacks against businesses rose in all areas over the last 12 months. Phishing, malware, impersonation and fraud have become more common since lockdown forced businesses to send employees home.

For the poll’s respondents, the ever-changing post-pandemic threat landscape is their biggest challenge. Despite the hardships and challenges, however, cybersecurity investment will comprise just a quarter of overall IT spend for the year.

Looking ahead into 2021, businesses believe that having a strategic plan and a roadmap will be most beneficial, as well as managed support and proper assessment of current cybersecurity postures. Further, they expect remote working, cloud computing and digital transformation to grow as trends in the year to come.

For most of 2020, businesses acted frugally to guard against the economic effects of the pandemic. However, as we move into 2021 and companies are forced to embrace the “new normal”, spending will rise to better support the workforce.

Cybersecurity is one of the main pain points businesses will look to address with increased investment.

“It’s encouraging that organizations are taking on new initiatives and increasing cyber budgets, but it’s crucial that they invest wisely,” said Ian Thomas, Managing Director at NCC Group.

“By assessing their current security posture, securing digital transformation projects and ensuring they can monitor, detect and respond to threats quickly, organizations can increase their resilience against cyber threats now and in the future.”

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