Panic there, duty here: How companies invest in IT security

While compliance is the main reason for IT security investments by German companies, in other countries it is about protecting business processes and the reputation of organizations. Over the past two years, Argentina has experienced ransomware attacks and major data leaks that have appeared in the press and which my contacts — IT managers and IT integrators — remember vividly. They told me about the complaints of patients, citizens and staff, as well as service outages.

The ransomware attacks on the “El Cruce” hospital^{1 2}, the “Stamboulian, Hidalgo y Rossi” laboratories³ and the data leaks of various government agencies in Argentina in May 2026, March 2026 and October 2025 ^{4 5} have contributed to IT managers at large electrical retail companies, data centre operators and manufacturers of industrial chemical products recognising the need for IT security processes and solutions to protect themselves against attacks and data leaks. Although the increase in IT security incidents (19% in 2025, 15% in 2024 and 13% in 2023) is part of an international phenomenon⁶, the government has published two national plans to combat cybercrime^{7 8}. My personal view is that too little was invested in IT security for years and it has now become a conscious priority.

Since compliance only requires companies to maintain a minimal level of IT security, and many media outlets use IT attacks to spread panic, I do not consider these reasons to be effective. Managing directors must gradually recognize that the digitalisation of processes requires investment to ensure the availability of services and the confidentiality and integrity of information. In both Germany and Argentina, better statistics are slowly being collected so that decision-makers can approve larger IT security budgets based on a transparent risk assessment.

What motivates the companies you have worked with to invest in IT security? What would be the most rational motivation for you?

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