IT security spending set to take greater share of overall budget

The organisation’s Web Security Trends Survey Q4 2008, conducted online among 200 IT and security professionals, reveals IT security budgets increasing this year, even though overall IT budgets are under pressure. Key findings include 38% of all respondents stating that they do not expect a change in their 2009 IT budgets, while 34% indicated that they expect them to be slightly smaller. Additionally, 34% indicated that their IT security budgets for 2009 will increase, suggesting a general trend that organisations will allocate a larger part of their IT budget to IT security. 43% of all respondents expect their IT security budget for 2009 to remain the same. “Organisations are trying to get the most out of their spending and reduce the total cost of ownership of their IT investments,” says Yuval Ben-Itzhak, Finjan chief technology officer. “While 2008 saw IT security departments facing new challenges in protecting valuable business data against an increasing wave of attacks, 2009 is adding a further economic challenge to the mix,” he adds.