CISO budgets increase with identity and data protection top priorities
A new study from RSAC finds most CISOs’ budgets increased between 2024 and 2025 and their top areas of investment for 2025-2026 are identity and data protection.
While 76 percent of CISOs report that their budgets for 2024-25 had increased, just 12 percent saw their budgets decrease.
Nearly a quarter of CISOs select identity and access management as their number one area for increased investment over the 12 months starting from Q2 2025. Among Fortune 1000 CISOs 32 percent choose identity as their top investment priority. Data protection is the second most popular top investment area at 15 percent.
The report also looks at the stresses of the CISO role. Among Fortune 1000 businesses 60 percent report that their mental or physical health has been affected by being a CISO. Cybersecurity team members are in the same boat with a 2024 study finding that a worrying 78 percent of respondents were at serious risk of burnout.
Personal liability for security breaches is a major worry, particularly for CISOs of smaller companies 47 percent of whom report that they’re not indemnified.
When it comes to executive responsibility 60 percent of CISOs still report to the CIO or the CTO. It’s sometimes thought that in larger organizations the CISO sits higher up the corporate ladder but the data doesn’t support this. In Fortune 1000 businesses 67 percent are two layers below the CEO, though 57 percent report to the board at least quarterly.
The findings also show that turnover among cybersecurity teams has been low, 67 percent say they’ve seen less than five percent turnover as of Q2. However, RSAC believes that this reflects a soft jobs market rather than high levels of satisfaction. Salaries remain the biggest challenge to retaining security staff, with dissatisfaction with benefits and lack of training opportunities also figuring prominently.
You can see highlights on the RSAC site though the full report is only available to members.
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