Canalys: More data breaches in 2020 than previous 15 years despite 10% growth in cybersecurity spending

As cyberattacks increase, it’s hard not to wonder if enterprises are fighting a losing battle. According to a new report by Canalys, companies are spending record sums on cybersecurity, and yet the number of successful attacks is higher than ever.

Canalys’ report noted that “more records were compromised in just 12 months than in the previous 15 years combined.” These are being driven in particular by ransomware attacks that have become more severe, in some cases disrupting hospitals.

These attacks have also caused some companies to shut down and others to put emergency response plans in place to avoid being shuttered.

This carnage is happening despite the fact that cybersecurity investment grew 10% in 2020 to $53 billion.

So what’s going on? Canalys believes that companies are still under-investing in cybersecurity. During the pandemic, other areas of IT grew faster, signaling that enterprises were placing an emphasis on services that would help them remain stable during the pandemic or even grow rather than protect their infrastructure from attack.

Indeed, some enterprises may have increased their vulnerability by responding to the pandemic in ways that ignored their safety policies. But the real culprit may simply have been failing to make security a top priority.

Compared to the 10% growth in cybersecurity spending, cloud infrastructure services grew 33% in 2020, cloud software services rose 20%, notebook PC shipments jumped 17%, Logitech’s webcam increased 138%, and wifi router sales surged 40%.

“Cybersecurity must be front and center of digital plans, otherwise there will be a mass extinction of organizations, which will threaten the post-COVID-19 economic recovery,” said Canalys Chief Analyst Matthew Ball in a statement. “A lapse in focus on cybersecurity is already having major repercussions, resulting in the escalation of the current data breach crisis and acceleration of ransomware attacks.”