Cyber budgets lagging behind threats, says IISP

While an increase in business investment is a positive sign that things are looking up, it is evident that security spending has yet to reach a point where it matches the rapidity of cyber threats, according to the Institute of Information Security Professionals (IISP).

Although higher budgets are being assigned to cyber security, the increase fails to match that of cyber threats, say most security pros.

The IISP survey shows that over 65% of its members polled said that budgets for cyber security have increased, but just 15% said that budgets have remained at the same level.

The poll also revealed that 60% of security budgets are failing to keeping up with the rising threat level and just 7% of those who responded believed that the reverse was true.

With over 2,500 IISP members working as security professionals in a range of roles and sectors, the survey results offer an accurate picture of the UK cyber security scene.

Piers Wilson, director of IISP, said:

“In times of financial pressure or instability, as we have seen in recent years, security is often seen as a supporting function or an overhead.

“Security budgets are hard won because they are about protection against future issues, so are a good indication of the state of risk awareness in the wider business community.”

The poll shows that UK firms need to be more proactive when it comes to IT security recruitment. If they continue to turn a blind eye to potential threats, they may find that they ignored just one too many.