With the COVID-19 pandemic paving the way for more online work and socialisation, cybercrimes including data breaches, phishing, and ransomware attacks, have also increased as a result.
In response to this, 68% of major organisations, public and private, plan to increase their cybersecurity spending as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to research by LearnBonds.
In 2017, both private and business online users around the world spent US$34 billion on cybersecurity solutions. Before the coronavirus outbreak, this amount was forecast to hit US$42 billion in 2020, the study said.
Due to the increased opportunities for cybercriminals during the COVID-19 crisis, cybersecurity spending is predicted to increase by the end of the year. Aside from ramping up cybersecurity spending as the top IT priority this year, around 55% of major organisations also said that they will increase investment in automation, according to a HFS Research survey conducted in April. Smart analytics was in third place at 53%.
Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to see a drop in spending, with 23% of major enterprises saying they plan to cut back investments on these technologies. Blockchain will also experience a reduction in spending, with 18% of interviewed firms said they would downsize their IT budgets in this category.
