The increasing complexity of Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and the need to improve the level of specialized security expertise, as well as geopolitical or economic uncertainty are the main factors driving investment in cybersecurity for companies. Latin American companies of all sizes, according to the latest edition of Kaspersky’s IT Security Economics Annual Report.
A PWC study claims that the rising interest of companies in cybersecurity Derived from the increased use of digital technologies and the constantly evolving threat landscape has resulted in improvements in IT security. To explore how much companies are currently spending in this crucial field and what their plans are for future investments, Kaspersky conducted 3,230 interviews in 26 countries with companies with more than 50 employees.
The survey suggests that IT budgets will increase again over the next three years in both SMBs and enterprises. Latin America to cover a variety of problems. In the region, the average cybersecurity budget in 2022 was US$7.5 million for companies with US$12.5 million allocated to IT in general, while SMEs invested US$350,000 in cybersecurity de an average of US$750,000 allocated to IT.
Among the reasons for increasing IT security budgets, Latin American respondents pointed to the complexity of the IT infrastructure (57%) and the need to improve the level of specialized security expertise (53%). Potential new risks occurring due to increased geopolitical or economic uncertainty stood out as reasons for investment increases (32%).
The additional budget is expected to help companies in the region address most IT security-related issues. This year, just over half (54%) of Latin American companies consider data protection issues to be the most challenging. The second most important concern highlighted by 38% of respondents was the cost of protecting increasingly complex technology environments, followed by issues with adoption of cloud infrastructure (34%).
“Business continuity always depends on information security. Today, as infrastructure becomes more complex and cyberattacks become more sophisticated, companies are more aware of cybersecurity and better understand the need to protect every asset within the organization,” says Ivan Vassinov, Vice President of Products Corporate at Kaspersky. “State regulations are another important factor influencing growing information security budgets. These organizations require businesses to keep their operations and data secure. Sometimes regulators tighten the rules for the entire market or industry vertical.”
To maximize the efficiency of cybersecurity investments and minimize the risk of any attacks and data breaches for businesses, effective endpoint protection with threat detection and response capabilities must be used. This essential level of endpoint protection is included in Kaspersky Optimum Security. For organizations with a mature IT security function, the Kaspersky Expert Security framework also provides threat detection, the latest Threat Intelligence and dedicated professional training.
To learn more about enterprise IT security costs and budgets in 2022, visit Kaspersky’s interactive IT security calculator. The full “Economics of IT Security 2022” report is available to download here.