Survey: Economy Forces Many to Slash, Freeze Security Staff

Current economic conditions are having a negative impact on the majority of security budgets, according to a survey conducted by CSO. Many respondents indicated hiring freezes or staff reductions were necessary due to the financial crisis (For a different report on security spending see: IT Security Spending Up For Some).

CSO polled security-decision makers in over 100 companies about their spending plans for the coming year to gauge the impact current economic conditions are having on budgets. Of the 159 respondents, 64 percent indicted that the economy was having a negative impact on security spending. Another 19 percent said the economy currently had no impact. Just 6 percent said the crisis was having a positive impact on their organization's security budget (See: 5 Tips for Managing Security in a Recession).

Security budgets will decrease for 35 percent of respondents and remain the same for 42 percent. Just 23 percent thought spending would increase in the coming year. Those numbers are a switch from last year's CSO poll when more respondents expected to increase security spending. In 2008, 38 percent of respondents planned to increase their security budget and just 24 percent expected to see a decrease in spending.

John McReynolds, enterprise security administrator with Crossbeam Systems, a manufacturer of security system software in Boxborough, Mass., said his firm is actually in the minority that plans to spend more on security in the coming 12 months.

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

• Email
• Print
• Share
  • Slashdot
  • Digg
  • Stumble
  • Reddit
  • Newsvine