December 6, 2011 - UK firms are expected to have invested up to £3 billion in IT security by the end of the year, new research has shown. A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed that the global investment in cyber security is expected to increase by ten per cent every year over the next three to five years. The research found there to be a number of reasons for this rise; new technologies such as mobile and cloud have led to a greater number of vulnerabilities while there is also larger amount of regulation requiring personal data to be secure.

Barry Jaber, director of PwC's UK-based security industry leader, said: "Growing threats and awareness, and changes in technology such as mobile devices and cloud computing are key drivers of spending growth in the cyber security market. This will underpin future deal activity."

Further findings from the study revealed that the UK is now the biggest investor in cyber security in Europe and the third biggest in the world after the US and Japan.