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Worldwide spending on information security and risk management technology and services is forecast to grow 12.4% in 2021, to reach $150.4 billion, according to the latest forecast from Gartner, Inc. Security and risk management spending grew 6.4% in 2020.

Gartner analysts said the strong growth rate reflects continuing demand for remote worker technologies and cloud security.

"Organizations continue to grapple with the security and regulatory demands of public cloud and software as a service," said Lawrence Pingree, managing research vice president at Gartner. "Looking ahead, we’re seeing early market signals of growing automation and further adoption of machine learning technologies in support of AI security. To combat attacks, organizations will extend and standardize threat detection and response activities."

In the Gartner 2021 CIO Agenda Survey, cybersecurity was the top priority for new spending, with 61% of the more than 2,000 CIOs surveyed increasing investment in cyber/information security this year.

Security services including consulting, hardware support, implementation and outsourced services represent the largest category of spending in 2021, at almost $72.5 billion worldwide (see Table 1).

Table 1

Information Security & Risk Management End User Spending by Segment, 2020-2021 (Millions of U.S. Dollars)

Source: Gartner (May 2021)

The smallest but fastest growing market segment is cloud security, particularly cloud access security brokers (CASB).

"The pace of client inquiry indicates that CASB is a popular choice for cloud-using organizations," said Mr. Pingree. "This is due to the growing popularity of using non-PC devices for interacting with core business processes, which creates security risks that can be mitigated effectively with a CASB. CASBs also enable safer interaction between SaaS applications and unmanaged devices."

Integrated risk management (IRM) technology is also seeing robust double-digit growth resulting from risks highlighted during the global pandemic crisis.

"Areas of significant risk driving near-term demand include the advent of new digital products and services and the related health and safety uses, as well as third-party risks such as customer data breaches or supply chain attacks," said John A. Wheeler, senior research director at Gartner.

Gartner clients can read more in the report "Forecast: Information Security and Risk Management, Worldwide, 2019-2025, 1Q21 Update."