Cyber Security

While this may still be an exaggeration in the SME world, it is increasingly accurate in the enterprise market, where 87% of companies have reported a breach, according to a January 2020 survey by Beaming and Opinium. Cyber crime costs the UK economy an estimated £13bn per annum, and it is no surprise that 80% of senior managers consider cyber security to be a high or very high priority for their business in 2020 (DCMS Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2016-20), with 68% of large companies and 50% of medium-sized companies now having a board member with responsibility for cyber security. The threat, of course, is not just financial, it’s reputational too. Breaches at British Airways, EasyJet, Marriott and Facebook have all made front-page news in recent years, no doubt leading to uncomfortable conversations around the boardroom table. Part of the challenge for business is the ever-changing nature of the threat. Nation state attacks are increasingly common, and AI is now being used to constantly morph source code to disguise its origin.

But business is fighting back. Underpinned by long-term sustainable drivers (there will always be bad guys) the cyber security market is booming, to the extent that skilled labour is now in short supply. Investment is pouring in and defences are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Zero-Trust environments have created strong demand for identity access and management software, while consultancy projects and pen-tests often lead to opportunities for outsourced Security Operations Centres and Managed Detection & Response services, both of which create attractive annuity revenue streams for their providers.