Businesses in the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa plan to increase cybersecurity budgets by 11% in next 3 years

A survey of business representatives¹ conducted by Kaspersky for the IT Security Economics report found that IT budgets for cybersecurity are set to increase over the next three years for both SMBs and enterprises to cover a range of issues. In the Middle East, Turkiye, and Africa (META) region, median cybersecurity budgets for enterprises in 2022 were US $7,500,000 with over $18,000,000 allocated for IT in general, while for SMBs the figures stood at $150,000 for IT security and $375,000 for IT in general.

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According to business representatives, the TOP-5 factors driving IT security budget increases in organisations in the META region are business expansion, geopolitical and economic risks, increasing complexity of IT infrastructure, recent cybersecurity incidents and the need to boost the level of expertise of IT security specialists.

Budget increases would also help to counter the IT security issues that organisations currently face. The survey showed that almost two thirds (62%) of businesses in the META region reported problems with data protection to be the most challenging: they experienced loss or exposure of corporate or customer data. Then followed issues with cloud infrastructure adoption (42%), high cost of securing complex technology hardware and software (35%), business process outsourcing (33%), suffering downtime and loss of productivity (30%) and low cybersecurity skills of employees (12%).

“Business continuity is ever depending on information security. Nowadays when infrastructure becomes more complex and cyberattacks become more sophisticated, businesses are becoming more cyber aware and better understand the need for protecting every asset inside the organisation,” comments Ivan Vassunov, VP, Corporate Products at Kaspersky. “State regulations is another important factor influencing the growing budgets for information security. These organisations require businesses to keep their operations and data secure. Sometimes regulators tighten rules for the whole vertical market or industry.”

To maximise the efficiency of cybersecurity investments and minimise the risk of any attacks and data breaches for businesses, an effective endpoint protection with threat detection and response capabilities should be used. This essential level of endpoint protection is included in Kaspersky Optimum Security framework. For organisations with a mature IT security function, Kaspersky Expert Security framework additionally provides anti-APT, the latest threat intelligence, and dedicated professional training.

To learn more insights about IT security costs and budgets in businesses in 2022 visit the interactive Kaspersky IT Security Calculator. The full report “IT Security Economics 2022” is available to download here.