Cybersecurity only represents 2% of total IT spend last year: Report

According to Canalys estimates, worldwide cybersecurity spending exceeded USD 10 billion for the first time in Q4 2018. Despite the high priority many organizations give to protecting their data assets, endpoints, networks, employees and customers, cybersecurity still only represented 2 percent of total IT expenditure last year.

Total cybersecurity investment in 2018 reached USD 37 billion, up 9 percent from USD 34 billion in 2017. By 2020, total cybersecurity spend is expected to surpass USD 42 billion on an annual basis.

"Over the next two years, the transition in cybersecurity deployment models will accelerate. Customers are changing their IT buying behavior, with the adoption of public cloud, and flexible consumption and subscription services," said Canalys Principal Analyst Matthew Ball.

Canalys data shows that in 2018 traditional hardware and software deployment accounted for 82 percent of the cybersecurity market. The remaining 18 percent was deployment of virtual appliances and agents, procurement through public cloud marketplaces and subscriptions to cybersecurity as a service.By 2020, the proportion from traditional deployment models will fall to 70 percent as newer ways of delivering cybersecurity solutions gain traction.