Cybersecurity Finances Experience Minimal Increase over the Past Five Years

Article Title: Security Budgets and Team Sizes: A 2025 Overview

In a recent report by IANS and Artico, the state of security budgets and team sizes was thoroughly examined. The survey, conducted between April and August 2025, polled 587 security executives from a diverse range of companies.

The budget allocation breakdown for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) remains relatively stable, with staff salaries, software, outsourcing, project budgets, hardware, and training each receiving a portion of the budget. According to the findings, on average, CISOs spend 39% of their budget on staff salaries, followed by 29% on software and 12% on outsourcing.

However, the report reveals a drop in the growth of security budgets this year. While the security budget as a percentage of IT spending grew steadily from 8.6% in 2020 to 11.9% in 2024, this year saw a decrease to 10.9%. Just 47% of CISOs reported any increase in budget this year, down from 62% in 2024. Additionally, 39% had stagnant budgets, compared to 26% last year.

The reduced budget growth has had an impact on the size of security teams. Nearly all (89%) of the CISOs surveyed reported low or understaffed security teams, citing hiring and budget constraints as the primary cause. This has led to delays and cancellations of security initiatives, causing morale issues, increasing the risk of noncompliance, and elevating organizational risk in general.

The growth of security team sizes has fallen to its lowest level in four years, at an average of 7%. The lowest annual security budget increases were observed in healthcare, professional and business services, and retail and hospitality. Conversely, growth rates were higher than average in financial services, insurance, and tech.

The researchers attribute this reversal to a rebound in core IT spending, driven by AI and increased cloud infrastructure investments. However, they also note that global market volatility, fueled by ongoing geopolitical tensions, and business uncertainty around global tariff policies, and fluctuating inflation and interest rates, have restricted budgets.

Despite the challenges, around half (47%) of firms have kept their team size flat, with just 45% able to add to their headcount in 2025. This highlights the ongoing struggle to maintain and grow security teams amidst budget constraints.

In conclusion, while the security budget as a percentage of revenue slowed marginally, indicating that, on average, company revenue grew faster or at roughly the same pace as security budgets, the overall picture suggests a need for increased focus on budget allocation and team size to ensure the security of organisations.