According to a new forecast from Gartner, the end-user spending on security and risk management (SRM) in India is forecast to total $2.9 billion in 2024, an increase of 12.4% from 2023.
Indian organizations will continue to increase their security spending through 2024 due to legacy IT modernization using cloud technology, industry demand for digital platforms, updated regulatory environment, and continuous remote/hybrid work.
“In 2024, chief information and security officers (CISOs) in India will prioritize their spending on SRM to improve organizational resilience and compliance,” said Shailendra Upadhyay, Sr Principal at Gartner. “With the introduction of stringent government measures mandating security breach reporting and digital data protection, CISOs are facing heightened responsibility in safeguarding critical assets against evolving cyber threats.”
Gartner analysts are discussing strategies to enhance business resilience by improving threat and exposure visibility, response planning, and risk prioritization at the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, taking place in Mumbai through today.
In 2024, cloud security spending in India is projected to record the highest growth. The adoption of cloud and multi-cloud presents security challenges, causing an increased focus on cloud security by Indian organizations.
“The utilization of multiple software as a service (SaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) cloud providers, along with accessing cloud from homes and other unmanaged locations due to hybrid work arrangements, has further emphasized the necessity for security controls, leading to an increase in cloud security spending,” said Upadhyay.
Spending on infrastructure protection is projected to grow 20.4% in 2024. This is fueled by the expansion of both the endpoint protection platform (EPP) and security information and event management (SIEM) markets, which make up the majority of the infrastructure protection market. Local organizations are seeking a comprehensive SIEM system that can cater to their diverse security and business needs. Furthermore, with the increasing prevalence of remote work, organizations are reconsidering their methods for implementing endpoint security, resulting in increased use of cloud based EPP solutions that incorporate endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities.
Most Urgent Cybersecurity Trends for Indian CISOs in 2024
The emergence of generative AI (GenAI) has caused one of the biggest disruptions in digital and business sectors in the last couple of years. “Through ethical, safe and secure implementation of this technology, CISOs can improve the performance of their security functions and enhance organizational resilience,” said Abhyuday Data, Director Analyst at Gartner.
While managing GenAI presents inevitable challenges, there are also external factors to consider, such as regulatory concerns and the rapid adoption of cloud computing.
To effectively handle the combined impact of these forces and enhance their organization’s cybersecurity program in 2024, CISOs in India must prioritize two top cybersecurity trends:
- GenAI Transforming the Cybersecurity Market: GenAI introduces new attack surfaces requiring changes to application and data security practices and user monitoring. Gartner predicts that by 2025, GenAI will cause a spike in the cybersecurity resources required to secure it, causing more than a 15% incremental spend on application and data security.
- Bridging the Communications Gap with Cybersecurity Outcome-Driven Metrics: Outcome driven metrics (ODMs) are central to creating a defensible cybersecurity investment strategy. They provide a credible and defensible expression of risk appetite that supports direct investment.
