Foreword: Cybersecurity in the age of AI
At GlobalData, we define a theme as any issue that keeps a business leader awake at night. Companies are impacted by multiple themes that frequently conflict with one another. What is needed is an effective methodology that reflects, understands, and reconciles these conflicts.
Our thematic research ecosystem is a single, integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies in all sectors. Viewing the world’s data by themes makes it easier to make critical decisions. Companies that invest in the right themes become success stories. Those that miss the essential themes in their industry end up as failures.
The cybersecurity industry faces a challenge that is anything but business as usual. The prospect of offensive attacks using artificial intelligence (AI) is prompting increases in cybersecurity budgets as organizations try to understand the impact of generative AI on their security. Hacking groups will likely use large language models (LLMs) trained on malware to target their attacks more effectively. AI is already used for threat detection, and its greater adoption will help offset attacks. However, learning how to counter AI-led attacks will take time, and cybersecurity vendors and users will face a bumpy ride for the next two to three years.
Cybersecurity budgets will grow in step with IT budgets in 2024 as organizations come to terms with AI's impact on their operations. PwC’s 2024 Global Digital Trust Insights report states that cyber investments will take 14% of the total IT, operational technology (OT), and automation budget in 2024, up from 11% in 2023.
Overall, GlobalData forecasts that the cybersecurity market will be worth $290 billion by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 13% between 2022 and 2027. Managed security services, application security, and identity and access management will be high-growth areas.
