A recent study conducted by IDC France shows that 70% of French companies with more than 500 employees increased their spending on cybersecurity during the year 2021, compared to 45% in 2020. Spending on protection solutions reached €3.9 billion and are expected to grow by another 400 million euros in 2022.
70% of companies increased their cybersecurity budgets in 2021
This report produced for the consulting firm mc2i leaves no room for doubt. Increases in cybersecurity budgets continue in France. French companies have become aware of the risks associated with cybercrime. The study shows that 88% of companies with more than 500 employees questioned consider that “the likelihood of them being exposed to cyber threats has increased over the past two years”. As a result, 70% of these same companies have increased their spending to secure their infrastructure.
Cybersecurity: behind venal attacks, espionage and sabotage
Guillaume Poupard, Director General of ANSSI, states that “the year 2021 was undoubtedly the subject of a professionalization of cyberattacks”. To deal with this, Eddye Dibar, Senior Research Analyst at IDC, is convinced that over the next two years, “both private sector companies and public organizations will focus their efforts on combating targeted attacks such as ransomware”. For him, this will require technological investments, particularly in automation and artificial intelligence.
Detection and management of cyberattacks: the first subject to invest in according to experts
Despite this good protection dynamic, the study reveals that 40% of companies still remain “unarmed” against cyberattacks. 38% of companies surveyed have not defined procedures in the event that they are targeted. However, it is the first subject to be treated when it comes to cybersecurity. Experts believe that all businesses should pay much more attention to detecting and dealing with cyberattacks. This is the first area in which to invest according to the IDC France report.
Next comes employee awareness of cybersecurity. On this point, 55% of respondents to the survey expect to increase their spending in the coming months. To date, only 43% of French companies believe that at least 75% of their employees have been made aware of cybersecurity. However, according to the cybermalveillance.gouv.fr report published on March 8, many companies remain highly exposed to cyber threats, foremost among which are ransomware.