IT chiefs up security budgets

Pro

The majority of IT chiefs plan to increase their security spend next year, as firms grapple with a growing number of security-related helpdesk calls.

According to a global security survey of 1,000 IT decision-makers by Cisco, 61% of UK CIOs expect to spend more on security technologies next year, while a third said security budgets will grow by more than 10%. Across all 10 nations, including the US, France and Brazil, 67% of respondents planned to increase their security spend.

In emerging IT nations such as China and India, the rise is set to be even higher. Two-thirds of Indian IT chiefs and more than half in China expect to increase their current security budget by more than 10%.

Security issues placing more burden on IT helpdesks could be partly behind the need to increase budgets. The report revealed that 38% of IT chiefs reported an increase in the number of security-related support requests, mainly involving users falling victim to blended spam and phishing attacks via work devices.

Jeff Platon, Cisco’s vice-president of security solutions marketing, said IT is in a “reactive mode” at present, fielding support calls and needing to spend more to protect resources. He added that part of the problem is users lacking the inclination to adopt security best practices. “Understanding the reasons for these trends heightens the urgency for IT to adopt a more progressive, cost-conscious approach to protecting corporate data and employees,” Platon argued.

Read More: security