Brewed Fresh Daily

Despite an anticipated downturn in corporate IT spending next year, CIOs still plan to invest more in security architecture, according to META Group's 2003 Worldwide IT Benchmark Report. The IT research and consulting firm predicts 55 percent of companies will spend 5 percent or more on security, up from 33 percent in 2001. Howard Rubin, META Group executive vice president and author of the trends report, says last year's terrorist attacks still influence security investments. "As recent events have heightened awareness of exposure to internal and external security threats, finding room in the budget for a security architecture is imperative." The report is based on survey data collected from a panel of 25,000 IT professionals from 34 countries.