You Shouldn’t Slow Your Cybersecurity Spending
The coronavirus pandemic has changed how most business owners look at a dollar. The crisis has forced millions of businesses to make strategic budget cuts in order to keep going. Even the cybersecurity industry, which has experienced huge growth in recent years, has seen the market for products and services shrink. Gartner, a leading technology research and advisory company, estimates this market will contract by nearly $7 billion in 2020. Today we’ll look at cybersecurity and the reasons why this is not the right time to cut back on your cybersecurity spending.
About the Cybersecurity Market
The cybersecurity industry has flourished as more and more people rely on technology. The market in 2020 was expected to reach around $170 billion, with most spending originating in the United States and Europe. Use of cloud security has increased by 50% since 2016. Other areas that have seen the biggest growth recently are the SIEM/security analytics market, mobile security and threat intelligence.
What’s driven this expansion? It’s no mystery. Cyberattacks cost businesses an estimated $500 billion every year. Cyber threats proliferate as quickly, or even more quickly, than the security systems that have been developed to counter them. The emergence of new sectors (such as FinTech) has also driven demand for cybersecurity innovation and protection.
The Coronavirus Impact
There was a period of over-investment in cybersecurity spending, before some business owners decided that endless spending on cybersecurity and protection wasn’t fully justified by the returns. A market correction is one thing; but no-one in the cybersecurity industry foresaw that the Covid-19 pandemic would cause business owners to cut back on their budgets, including their cybersecurity outlay.
It’s not that businesses had, or have, stopped investing in cybersecurity, because most business owners fully appreciate the need for protect against cybercrime. But what are the odds of a full-scale data breach? Optimistic executives seem to have taken the gamble that cybersecurity spending can be diverted to other areas. Of course, that will only last until a major cyberattack hits – and it may not – but the risk is still significant.
Only Cut Cybersecurity as a Last Resort
These are risky times for businesses, and opening yourself up to a cyberattack isn’t the way to reduce the risks. Even smaller cyberattacks or data breaches can be enough to cripple a previously healthy business or, at best, create a whole lot of additional financial stress. Cyberattacks are always dangerous and in these times they could be more of a threat than ever to the survival of a business.
Let’s talk about your cybersecurity and how to get the best and most effective protection for your business. Give us a call at Quikteks on (973) 882-4644.