Red Hat’s 2023 Tech Outlook report highlights that cybersecurity has emerged as the top priority for investment in the current year, overshadowing innovation. Key points from the report and expert insights include:
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- Top Investment Priority: Cybersecurity is identified as the leading area for investment in 2023, surpassing innovation in significance.
- Broad Investment in Cybersecurity: The need for cybersecurity investment is a priority across various technology categories, including cloud infrastructure, big data and analytics, and automation.
- Specific Funding Priorities: Network security and cloud security are the two primary funding priorities, reflecting the importance of securing data and operations.
- Increased Security Investments: Approximately three-quarters of respondents reported an increase in investments related to securing access by applications to other applications or data sources. This indicates a heightened focus on security.
- Security as Business Imperative: Security investments are not optional but are viewed as essential for protecting businesses against significant risks.
- Network Security Emphasis: Network security is likened to traditional security measures and involves a substantial reliance on traditional networking and security vendors.
- Recognition of Cyber Risk: Business leaders increasingly recognize that cyber risk translates directly into business risk, emphasizing the importance of security investments.
- Role of Human Innovation: Investments in people, including cybersecurity talent, are considered crucial due to the reliance on human innovation and creativity to defend against adversaries.
- Automation and Data-Driven Analytics: Automation and data-driven analytics are essential for handling the vast volume of telemetry collected for rapid attack detection and response.
- Prioritization Challenges: Planning security budgets involves uncertainties and considerations beyond direct ROI. Effective prioritization requires understanding risks and their potential costs.
- Limited Security Talent: IT leaders face challenges in recruiting and retaining security professionals with the necessary skills, leading to a reevaluation of hiring and investment strategies.
- CISO’s Role: The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is seen as a business enabler, and investments should align with business objectives.
- Supply Chain Risk Management: It is noted that despite well-known vulnerabilities and government attention, “third-party or supply-chain risk management” remains a low security funding priority, indicating an area of concern.