IT security splurge surge

Worldwide spending on information security products and services will reach $81.6 billion in 2016, an increase of 7.9 per cent over 2015, according to research and advisory firm Gartner.

Consulting and IT outsourcing are the largest categories of spending on information security, but this is poised to change. In the run-up to 2020, the highest growth is expected to come from security testing, IT outsourcing and data loss prevention.

Other hot spots are likely to include security information and event management and secure web gateways – technologies that support detection-and-response approaches. By contrast, consumer security software, secure email gateways and endpoint protection platforms are becoming commoditized.

"Organizations are increasingly focusing on detection and response, because taking a preventive approach has not been successful in blocking malicious attacks," said Elizabeth Kim, senior research analyst at Gartner. "We strongly advise businesses to balance their spending to include both." ®