The forecast was made during the online Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit APAC which is being held this week.

Senior research director Richard Addiscott said the focus on security and risk was due to major attacks like the SolarWinds supply chain incident, proposed legislation such as the Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2020 and regulatory obligations

“Many of the conversations we’re having with government and private sector clients in Australia revolve around the Essential Eight, varying state government cyber security frameworks, and regulatory instruments such as APRA’s Prudential Standard CPS 234," said Addiscott.

“However, the road to full implementation is not an easy path, and nor should it be seen as a cyber security panacea.

"Rather than adopting a compliance-centric posture, organisations need to adopt a risk-based approach to security, protecting the organisation from the most critical threats while focusing on business outcomes.”

The company said cyber security was the second priority for new spending, with 67% of Australia and New Zealand respondents increasing investment in cyber/information security, second only to business intelligence and data analytics (73%), according to its 2021 CIO Agenda Survey.