Data Security Now 10 Percent of IT Operating Budgets, Study Says

A new study from Forrester Research says IT security budgets are on the rise, increasing to 10 percent of IT operating budgets in 2008. Does this reflect a growing awareness of data breaches?

In an article on the Network World website, Jon Brodkin says the study shows budgets have increased to 10 percent from eight percent last year. The survey also found that 21 percent of security decision-makers expect to increase IT security spending in 2009, compared with six percent who expect security spending to decrease. The rest will keep their security budgets stable.

Those are impressive numbers in this economy, analyst Khalid Kark said in a keynote during Forrester’s Security Forum in Boston. “I remember when the security budget was less than four percent of the IT budget,” Kark said. “This number is amazing. In this tough economic time, three out of four of us are saying we’re going to keep this 10 percent budget and one in five of us are saying we're going to increase this budget in the next 12 months. Wow, that’s great.”

However, Brodkin says that there may be a downside for security-minded IT professionals, in that more money brings greater scrutiny. “An organization-wide focus on security also brings higher expectations, and sometimes conflicting expectations from the various departments in a business,” Brodkin says.

Among the survey’s other findings is that security has been the top priority for CIOs for four straight years, and 30 percent of security decision-makers surveyed report having a “dotted-line relationship” with the board or CEO. Another 19 percent report having such direct links to the executive committee.