Thursday, October 14, 2004

Operational Risk driving increased spending...

The latest surveys from PwC ASIA paints a rosey picture for a rise in Information Security spending.

About 67 per cent of information technology executives in Asia say they will increase spending on security, compared with a global average of 64 per cent in PwC's survey of 8,000 companies conducted this year.


There are four key areas driving this and 1SecureAudit has already figured this out:

Governance

Compliance

Liability

Reputation


Gartner and IDC also have some interesting predictions for growth in these areas.

Worldwide technology spending, including on telecommunications, will grow by 5.4 per cent to US$2.38 trillion (HK$18.56 trillion) this year, according to research firm Gartner.

However, global spending on business continuity and IT security solutions, at US$70 billion last year, is growing much faster, and will reach US$118 billion by 2007, according to International Data Corporation figures.


Operational risks are at the heart of all of this growth, especially in ASIA where Basel II is taking hold.

``Governance and compliance issues are driving the need for information security,'' partner Rick Heathcote said. ``In Hong Kong, we have observed that in order to comply with new laws and regulations such as Basel 2 [an international standard for capital requirements], personal data privacy laws and anti-money laundering obligations, companies are recognising the need for enhanced security and internal control.''


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