Cybersecurity spending increases despite tough economic environment

Cybersecurity spending continued to grow in the third quarter of 2022, with the segment expanding by 15.9 per cent year-on-year during this time, reaching a total of $17.8 billion, a report by industry analysts Canalys showed this week.

“Many cybersecurity vendors have shifted toward subscription-led business models, which also helped to shield them from the immediate impact of the economic slowdown,” Chief Analyst at Canalys Matthew Ball explained.

“The move to subscription-based platforms and increased focus on upselling existing accounts will sustain revenue growth for cybersecurity vendors over the next 12 months,” Ball added.

American cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks took first place among vendors during this quarter, experiencing growth of 24.9 per cent year-on-year.

The company also managed to expand its market share to 8.4 per cent, up from 7.8 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2021.

Fellow US giant Cisco took second place, recording a growth of 16.7 per cent year-on-year, without being able to increase its market share, however, retaining the 6.9 per cent it had previously captured.

Third place went to US-based technology company Fortinet, which recorded a growth of 29.9 per cent year-on-year, capturing 6.7 per cent of the market, up from the 6 per cent market share it had recorded during the third quarter of 2021.

“The technology sector faces deteriorating economic conditions, increasing uncertainty and greater scrutiny of IT spending, factors that most vendors considered in their forecasts,” Canalys explained.

“Falls in new business, reductions in spending commitments and delays to subscription start dates were worse than expected, which will filter into future results,” the report added.

Meanwhile, according to the report, endpoint security, meaning the practice of securing endpoints or entry points of end-user devices such as desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, was the fastest-growing category, growing by 18.7 per cent year-on-year to reach $2.7 billion.

Finally, network security was the largest category in the cybersecurity market, amounting to $5.1 billion in total, after having experienced a growth of 14.8 per cent.