UK’s cyber security industry defies tumultuous 2020

Shutterstock

The amount of UK cyber security enterprises surged by 21% in between 2019 and 2020 to number 1,483, with the business as a total bucking wider financial trends to build an supplemental 3,800 total-time jobs.

This recruitment generate represented a 9% growth of the security workforce from 42,855 to 46,683 involving 2019 and 2020, govt figures present, whilst the quantity of corporations grew from 1,221 to 1,483.

Most notably, the sector grew its revenues by 7% final calendar year as opposed to 2019, from £8.3 billion to £8.9 billion, according to the Office for Digital, Tradition, Media and Sport’s (DCMS’) most recent sectoral assessment.

This growth may well not occur as a enormous surprise thinking about the parallel enlargement of cyber threats that corporations have been compelled to confront. Ransomware attacks against UK organisations surged all through 2020, for example, though phishing attacks also exploded in quantity as hackers sought to choose benefit of a lot more staff performing from house.

“The will need for cutting-edge cyber security has never been higher and this resilient sector is growing, diversifying and solidifying its position as a jewel in the UK’s tech crown,” said digital minister, Matt Warman.

“With far more than 3,800 new employment made, firms – substantial and little – are undertaking essential do the job trying to keep people and enterprises protected on the web so we can create again safer from the pandemic.”

While these figures stand for positive signs for the sector, they also represent a slowdown towards advancement involving 2018 and 2019.

Revenue during this period grew by £2.6 billion versus £0.6 billion involving 2019 and 2020. There was a similar slowdown in recruitment and industrial enlargement, with 11,516 new whole-time recruits and 375 new company all through the 2018-19 period of time. Which is in comparison to 3,800 hires and 262 new companies in between 2019 and 2020.

Even so, this slowdown is versus the backdrop of on-off lockdowns and Brexit-pushed stress and anxiety contracting the dimension of the British overall economy by around 10% all through 2020.

The report also highlighted the continued major-heavy composition of the UK cyber security sector, with around two-thirds of its workforce recruited by huge organisations. Similarly, around 74% of revenues ended up accrued by the biggest companies. Conversely, the variety of micro-organisations comprised 57% of all security firms in 2020, with these firms building £217 million in whole earnings.

These figures were being roughly in trying to keep with results released in the earlier once-a-year report – whilst the economic contribution of the smallest organizations nearly doubled from 1.3% to 2.5%, in terms of earnings.

Whilst total investment remained overwhelmingly concentrated in London and the South East, with 85% merged funding in 2020, a slight majority of companies are now dependent exterior of these areas. Although exactly half of all UK security businesses were dependent exterior of London and the South East in 2019, this rose to 54% final calendar year.

CEO of techUK, Julian David, stated this getting was an encouraging change that will probably increase cyber resilience throughout all nations and locations of the UK, as well as sharing the financial prosperity of the sector. He additional regional progress is a single region in which his organisation will proceed to partner with DCMS via initiatives these types of as Cyber Trade.

The conclusions adhere to the announcement of the UK Cyber Security Council, which will standardise the multitude of cyber security teaching and certification programmes across the UK, under the scope of the DCMS. The organisation’s aims include things like fostering competencies and driving even more recruitment across the business, while guaranteeing these processes are as diverse as achievable.

Some parts of this post are sourced from:
www.itpro.co.uk