Cybersecurity is one of the sectors that has consolidated the most in the last year, according to a study carried out by Acció and the Agència de Ciberseguretat de Catalunya. Currently, a total of 361 companies operate in this field, with a combined turnover of 820 million euros and 6,900 jobs.
The study concludes that companies in this sector in Catalonia are mainly SMEs (83%), while 13% of the total are startups and 29% are exporters. It also highlights that almost 56% of companies bill more than one million euros and 23% more than ten million euros. Likewise, close to 15% have women on their boards of directors, above the European average.
Globally, it can be concluded that 77% of cybersecurity companies are located in the United States, although countries such as Israel, the United Kingdom, and Canada also stand out. The cybersecurity market is expected to be worth around 164 billion dollars in 2024.
The evolution of this sector cannot be understood without the current context. The pandemic has driven changes in the reality of citizens and has also accelerated the digital transformation of companies, many of which have opted for teleworking. Furthermore, in a scenario of reduced mobility, Internet consumption has increased considerably.
This panorama has accelerated the need to introduce digital security tools. In this regard, it is expected that 79% of companies globally will increase spending on cybersecurity in the short term, since three out of four companies expect an increase in cyberattacks.
The FBI estimates that cyberattacks have increased by 400% since the beginning of the pandemic. This upward trend has been reinforced by the increased use of e-commerce, digital communication networks, and remote banking operations, among others. It is estimated that in 2021 there will be a global cyberattack every 11 seconds, a figure that has increased significantly in recent years, as in 2016 it was every 40 seconds.