Singapore information security spending to grow by 10% to S$1.15 billion in 2019: Gartner

Singapore's cyber security spend is expected to outpace the global growth trend in 2019, according to the latest report from research firm Gartner.

Spending on information security products and services in the Republic is projected to rise by 5.1 per cent year on year to hit S$1.05 billion in 2018, and could grow by another 10 per cent to reach S$1.15 billion in 2019. This is up from S$997 million in 2017.

Meanwhile, worldwide digital security expenditure will grow by 8.7 per cent to US$124.1 billion in 2019, after accelerating by 12.4 per cent to US$114.2 billion in 2018, Gartner has forecast.

Citing the recent cyber attack on SingHealth as a lesson on the need to consider sensitive data and information technology systems critical infrastructure, Gartner research director Siddharth Deshpande said in a media statement: "Security and risk management has to be a critical part of any digital business initiative."

The bulk of Singapore's security expenditure is expected to remain in security services, to the tune of a projected S$739 million in 2018, for an annual growth rate of 3 per cent. Gartner has forecast that this will lead spending growth, with a rise of 10.1 per cent to S$814 million in 2019.

Meanwhile, "cloud security is by far the smallest but fastest-growing product category" here, Gartner noted.

It is expected to notch growth of almost 80 per cent in 2018, despite clocking just S$1 million in estimated expenditure. The expansion is then predicted to ease a tad to 70.5 per cent for 2019.

Mr Deshpande said: "Security leaders are striving to help their organisations securely use technology platforms to become more competitive and drive growth for the business."

He added that skills shortages and new rules such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) "are driving continued growth in the security services market", which was also the largest spending category across the globe.

Gartner has found that at least three out of every 10 organisations will keep spending on GDPR-related consulting and implementation services through 2019, after tougher new data rules went into effect in the EU in May 2018.