Cybersecurity Budgets Set to Soar in 2024 

In a sign that cybersecurity is being taken seriously by businesses, over two-thirds of IT security decision-makers have reported an increase in cybersecurity budgets for 2024.

Findings from a new survey of 200 security professionals conducted by Infosecurity Europe found that 69% of those surveyed cited that they have seen, or will see, their cybersecurity budgets increase between 10-100% in 2024.

Of those, almost one in five (19%) are seeing, or expect to see budgets increase between 30-49% over the coming year.

However, 15% of IT decision-makers highlighted that their security budgets had decreased, or will, in 2024.

Just 4% had seen or expect to see no change in their budget for 2024.

It is positive that budgets are, overall, increasing, however one member of Infosecurity Europe’s advisory board cautioned that spending will likely only increase on tools that are already in place.

“One major consideration for cybersecurity spending in 2024, is the forecast, and in some cases significant increase in licences and associated support costs compared to 2023, either through direct price increases or the more insidious practice of licensed product scope manipulation,” said Ian Hill, CISO, UPP Corporation, and member of Infosecurity Europe’s Advisory Council.

Hill noted that the continued rise in cyber professionals’ salaries makes outsourcing to an MSSP a more viable proposition for many businesses.

“SaaS in particular is seeing notable price increases, with many businesses ‘locked-in’ and with little choice but to bite the bullet,” explained Hill.

Mun Valiji, CISO, Trainline, and member of Infosecurity Europe’s Advisory Council, added that despite mounting macroeconomic pressures there is a continued pragmatic budgetary spend on cybersecurity.

“The fast-changing threat landscape and tightening regulatory pressures have in the main seen security budgets benefiting from much-needed increases which is positively received,” he said. 

For those who plan to increase cybersecurity budget in 2024, cloud security and incident response will see the biggest injection, with 47% noting that up to 20% of the additional investment will be spent in those areas.

Other findings on cybersecurity spending included:

• 46% said 1-20% of their spend will go towards MSSP outsourcing and antivirus solutions
• 45% of respondents said the same amount of spending will go on identity security management
• A further 44% are willing to invest between 1-20% of their budget on education and training
• 43% of respondents are willing to invest the same amount of their budget on managed detection and patching
• 41% are considering investing the same budget in AI-enabled cyber tools and consolidation

Email security and threat exposure management seemed to be at the bottom of the priority list, with only 40% saying they would invest between 1-20% of their additional budget in these areas.

During Infosecurity Europe 2024, the keynote conference will offer a panel discussion comprised of industry leading CISOs who will highlight how they manage their budgets against economic headwinds.

It will offer a vital platform for CISOs and cybersecurity professionals to glean insights on topics such as articulating the costs of cyber tools and communicating a business case to secure more for their budget.

Nicole Mills, Exhibition Director at Infosecurity Group, added: “Cybersecurity is all-encompassing and no business, organisation or individual is devoid of risk. The industry continues to grow, threats evolve and so too do the innovative products developed to protect against them. The conference provides a springboard for industry leaders, experts and vendors to join heads and join forces, to collaborate and share experiences and knowledge.

“Peers come together to debate and discuss critical topics to find solutions to problems and put solid cybersecurity strategies in place. This year, Infosecurity Europe 2024 will continue to forge a future of innovation, collaboration, and resilience,” she said.

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