Businesses in Saudi Arabia plan to increase cybersecurity budgets by 12% in the next 3 years

A survey of business representatives[1] conducted by Kaspersky for the IT Security Economics report found that IT budgets for cybersecurity are set to increase over the next three years for both SMBs and enterprises to cover a range of issues. In the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa region, median cybersecurity budgets for enterprises in 2022 were US $7,500,000 with over $18,000,000 allocated for IT in general, while for SMBs the figures stood at $150,000 for IT security and $375,000 for IT in general.

According to business representatives: the TOP-5 factors driving IT security budget increases in organizations in Saudi Arabia are business expansion, the need to boost the level of expertise of IT security specialists, recent cybersecurity incidents, the increasing complexity of IT infrastructure and increased profits.

Budget increases would also help to counter the IT security issues that organizations currently face. This year, almost two thirds (61%) of businesses in Saudi Arabia reported problems with data protection to be the most challenging: they experienced loss or exposure of corporate or customer data. Then followed issues with cloud infrastructure adoption (36%), business process outsourcing (43%), high cost of securing complex tech hardware and software (36%), suffering downtime and loss of productivity (29%) and low cybersecurity skills of employees (9%).

 “Business continuity is ever depending on information security. Nowadays when infrastructure becomes more complex and cyberattacks become more sophisticated, businesses are becoming more cyber aware and better understand the need for protecting every asset inside the organization,” comments Ivan Vassunov, VP, Corporate Products at Kaspersky. “State regulations is another important factor influencing the growing budgets for information security. These organizations require businesses to keep their operations and data secure. Sometimes regulators tighten rules for the whole vertical market or industry.”

To maximize the efficiency of cybersecurity investments and minimize the risk of any attacks and data breaches for businesses, an effective endpoint protection with threat detection and response capabilities should be used. This essential level of endpoint protection is included in Kaspersky Optimum Security framework. For organizations with a mature IT security function, Kaspersky Expert Security framework additionally provides anti-APT, the latest threat intelligence, and dedicated professional training.