If even mighty Microsoft could fall victim to a hacker, chances are most companies will face systems security breaches at one time or other. But businesses aren’t doing much about it, according to a study by research firm Datamonitor. Over half of all corporations worldwide spend less than 5% of their IT budget on securing their networks – an oversight that could seriously hamper e-commerce initiatives. Global revenue from business and consumer Internet commerce is projected to surpass $6 trillion by 2005, but neglecting systems security could brake that growth.
Companies pay $15 billion a year in unauthorized access costs, but spend only $8.7 billion on technologies and services to shore up security. However, Datamonitor expects that amount to reach $30.3 million by 2005 as businesses begin to recognize the value of protecting their IT investment. Spending on services to safeguard online security will treble from an estimated $4.3 billion in 2000 to $11.9 billion in 2005.
Contact Datamonitor at One Park Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10016-5802; phone: (212) 686-7400; e-mail: [email protected].