{"id":220925,"date":"2026-05-27T02:39:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T06:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/business-boosts-cybersecurity-spending\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T07:15:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T11:15:19","slug":"business-boosts-cybersecurity-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/business-boosts-cybersecurity-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Business boosts cybersecurity spending"},"content":{"rendered":"

Business boosts cybersecurity spending<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.computing.co.uk\/news-analysis\/2026\/business-boosts-cyber-spending<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-05-27 02:39:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.computing.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. <\/p>\n

UK businesses are finally treating cybersecurity as a boardroom priority and increasing spending alongside AI adoption. But how likely are higher budgets to deliver meaningful gains in resilience?
\n Barclays\u2019 Q1 2026 Business Prosperity Index reveals that UK business is increasing cybersecurity investment after having taken a hard look at the extent of resilience in the face of increasing digital threats and the impact of geopolitical instability.
\n The latest findings show cybersecurity is now (finally) a boardroom priority, as organisations balance accelerated AI adoption with growing concerns around cyber exposure, operational disruption and data protection.
\n Low confidence or reduced complacency?
\n The research shows almost seven in ten businesses (68 per cent) plan to increase cybersecurity investment over the next 12 months, reflecting growing awareness of the financial, operational and reputational risks associated with cyber incidents and also possibly the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill which is awaiting its third reading in Parliament and will introduce new obligations for critical and supply chain infrastructure and tighter reporting requirements.
\n The survey found low levels of confidence in firms. Less than a third of firms (29 per cent) believe they are fully prepared to respond effectively to a major cyber-attack. This finding is indicative both of a significant resilience gap across the UK business community but also more realistic thinking from the same people. The last decade has seen staggering complacency from business, local and central government and public bodies about cyber risks. If those with decision making and budget setting power have been shaken out of that complacency that is a good thing.
\n Businesses are particularly concerned about the wider impact of major cyber incidents. Leading fears include damage to customer trust and confidence (28 per cent), operational disruption or downtime (27 per cent), and revenue loss (26 per cent). For large businesses, the primary concern is the loss of sensitive data or intellectual property (33 per cent).
\n AI is creating all sorts of risks
\n Among larger organisations, cybersecurity and AI are now joint investment priorities, with both identified by 24 per cent of firms as key areas for future funding. But, as businesses accelerate digital transformation and AI adoption, some are becoming increasingly aware of the associated cybersecurity implications.
\n While 82 per cent of firms believe their cybersecurity capabilities are keeping pace with technological change, almost half (46 per cent) are concerned that the introduction of new technologies is increasing their vulnerability to cyber threats. More than a quarter of businesses (26 per cent) cited concern around the accuracy and reliability of AI outputs and 24 per cent about the specific data security and cybersecurity risks associated with AI deployment.
\n These businesses are right to be concerned.
\n Helena Sans, Head of Technology, Media & Telecoms, Barclays UK Corporate Bank said to Computing:
\n “Businesses are increasingly prioritising both AI and cybersecurity as they respond to a more uncertain environment. For enterprise IT leaders, the challenge is no longer just adopting these technologies but scaling them in a way that balances innovation with resilience.\u201d
\n Sans continued:
\n \u201cOur latest data shows organisations accelerating investment in AI while strengthening cybersecurity in parallel, recognising that as these technologies become more embedded, security, governance and trust must evolve alongside them.\u201d
\n Carry on regardless
\n There is a tension visible within the Barclays research findings because they show that concern about the risks created by AI, haven\u2019t stopped businesses pushing ahead with it. More than half of businesses (52 per cent) say AI and automation have already improved productivity. Employees are spending less time on administrative tasks (38 per cent), making decisions faster (34 per cent), and focusing more on higher-value work (31 per cent).
\n 61 per cent of businesses are apparently now using agentic AI within their operations.
\n Over the next two years, firms plan to use AI to improve data analysis and forecasting (38 per cent), automate administrative processes (31 per cent), enhance customer experience (29 per cent), and strengthen cybersecurity capabilities (29 per cent).
\n These are interesting findings because they run counter to most of the research into returns on AI spending. Many businesses seem to find it hard to explain or even measure the productivity return from AI spending. Many executives in another recent survey described the impact of AI as \u201cunderwhelming.\u201d
\n It would be interesting if Barclays broke down this research further and showed, for example, how much of that productivity gain was attributable to automation and how much was attributable to generative AI or agentic AI for example. Lumping all these categories together doesn\u2019t tell us that much. There also huge difference between a basic algorithm and an agentic AI workflow.
\n What should enterprise IT leaders take away from these findings?
\n Cybersecurity no longer being treated as an afterthought is positive \u2013 for all of us. But what this research doesn\u2019t tell us is whether businesses can translate rising budgets and rapid AI adoption into measurable improvements in security and productivity.
\n Coding is probably the best way to show that how we define productivity matters.
\n Many organisations will tell you that tools like Claude Code or GitHub CoPilot enable them to ship code faster. Great. But is it better code? More secure? More robust? Until businesses can determine the answer to all those questions it\u2019s very hard to see how they can claim that these tools boost productivity. This is why AI productivity data should always be treated with some caution.
\n We also don\u2019t know whether businesses are balancing the potential of some types of AI with the risks generated by the same technology or fuelled by FOMO, accelerating into a more complex and higher-risk environment without fully understanding the extent of those risks.<\/p>\n

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