Oficina de Comunicació

Catalonia is home to 361 companies in the cybersecurity sector, generating €820 million in revenue and employing 6,900 workers. This is one of the main findings of a study by ACCIÓ – the Agency for Business Competitiveness under the Department of Business and Knowledge – and the Cybersecurity Agency of Catalonia, part of the Department of Digital Policies and Public Administration. The study examines the state of this sector in Catalonia.

The report, presented on Thursday morning at an event with industry companies, defines cybersecurity as a set of physical, logical, and administrative measures aimed at protecting businesses, individuals, and systems (devices, applications, or data) against digital attacks. You can access the report on cybersecurity at this link.

The companies in this sector in Catalonia are mainly SMEs (83%), with 13% being startups and 29% exporters. The report also highlights that nearly 56% of these companies have revenues exceeding €1 million, while 23% earn more than €10 million. Additionally, around 15% of companies in Catalonia’s cybersecurity sector have women represented on their boards, surpassing the European average.

Cybersecurity and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes to daily life and accelerated the digital transformation of businesses, many of which have turned to remote work as a key means of maintaining their economic activity. Furthermore, reduced mobility has led to an increase in internet usage. Citizens are relying more on e-commerce, digital media, social networks, and online banking, creating an urgent need for tools to ensure digital security.

This has also impacted the number of cyberattacks, which the FBI estimates have increased by 400% since the start of the pandemic, as noted in the report. It further points out that 51% of these cyberattacks are linked to the rise of remote work. In 2021, it is expected that there will be a global cyberattack every 11 seconds, a significant rise from 40 seconds in 2016. The energy sector, public sector, and manufacturing industry have been the most affected by cyberattacks in the past year, while healthcare providers have also faced challenges during the pandemic.

Globally, 79% of companies anticipate increased spending on cybersecurity in the short term, as three out of four companies expect cyberattacks to rise, according to the report.

Trends and Sector Applications

The study identifies several sectors where cybersecurity is having and will continue to have significant applications, including industry, mobility, financial services, insurance, healthcare, e-commerce, education, public administrations, social networks, and smart cities, among others. Specific applications include protecting smart devices, securing fintech operations, detecting fraud in banking and insurance, safeguarding satellite communication systems and connected vehicles, and protecting customer data in digital commerce or eHealth, for instance.

Cybersecurity at an International Scale

The cybersecurity market is primarily concentrated in the United States, home to 77% of the world’s leading companies, according to the report. Other notable countries include Israel, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
According to Orbis Research, the global cybersecurity market is projected to be worth $164 billion by 2024, driven largely by the rise in remote work. Key growth areas in 2020 include cloud security (+33.3% compared to 2019), data security solutions (+7.2%), and application security (+6.2%). The number of cybersecurity patents granted has also grown by an average of 20% annually since 2015.

The study also draws from the definition provided by the European Cybersecurity Organization (ESCO) to identify providers of cybersecurity products, consulting, and services in Europe based on five main capability areas: identifying (developing cybersecurity infrastructure to manage risks), protecting (solutions to reduce the impact of attacks and ensure system security and performance), detecting (measures to identify cyberattacks), responding (appropriate actions to address detected incidents), and recovering (restoring capabilities or services affected by cyber incidents).

Based on these parameters, the report concludes that cybersecurity companies in Catalonia are primarily specialized in protection capabilities, while backup and storage solutions are the most commonly offered products and services.