Recession takes toll on security budgets

Firms are looking to save money by cutting technology investments but not staff numbers

Nearly three-quarters of security professionals think the recession has had a somewhat or significant impact on their purchasing of technology, according to new research conducted by security certifications organisation ISC2.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the research on Friday, ISC2 European managing director John Colley said preliminary results indicated that a further 72 per cent of IT security professionals said their budgets had been reduced in the past six months due to the downturn.

However, the budget cuts do not appear to have impacted staff numbers. Of the third of respondents to the survey who were responsible for hiring staff, 43 per cent said they were looking to hire additional people over the coming months.

"It looked like personnel would be affected by the recession, but actually it has been the technology side that seems to have been affected, with investment continuing on the people side," said Colley.

He added that a reduction in budget for technology purchases should not necessarily put firms at greater risk, although it may mean tougher times ahead for the vendors.

"You would hope that if they are well organised then cancellation of projects is done on a priority basis rather than with a finger in the air approach," he said.

Colley will be presenting at the Infosecurity Europe show in London next week, focusing on results of separate research that show that many firms are still failing to master security basics, partly because of poor staff training.