Austin, Texas, USA, August 7, 2026
The vocabulary of cybersecurity spending is shifting from infrastructure refresh to enterprise-risk discipline.
Among organizations expecting cybersecurity budget increases, risk management strategy is now the leading growth driver at 47.8% (top three), according to Futurum’s 1H 2026 Cybersecurity Global Enterprise Decision Maker Survey of 929 global enterprise buyers. Cybersecurity modernization, which led in 2H 2025, fell from 56.0% to 44.7%, the single largest movement in the data.
Figure 1: Risk Management Overtakes Modernization as Top Budget Driver
“Buyers are reframing why they spend. The incremental dollar is now justified in the language of cyber-risk quantification, board-ready reporting, and regulatory alignment rather than infrastructure refresh. Vendors who lead with modernization narratives are increasingly speaking to a rationale that has lost 11 points of mindshare in a single cycle.” — Fernando Montenegro, VP & Practice Lead, Cybersecurity & Resilience, The Futurum Group
The survey reveals several developments reshaping how cybersecurity budgets are justified:
- Risk discipline displaces modernization: Risk management strategy edged ahead of modernization for the first time in the series, consistent with cybersecurity’s rise to a board-level topic.
- Compliance and transformation hold steady: Digital transformation initiatives (36.5%) and regulatory compliance requirements (34.1%) remain durable mid-tier drivers of incremental spend.
- Modernization spend is maturing: The 11-point drop is partly compositional, as prior-period modernization investments have now largely been committed.
Subscribers can read more in the “1H 2026 Cybersecurity Global Enterprise Decision Maker Survey Report,” on the Futurum Intelligence Platform. Non-subscribers click here for more information.
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Author Information
Fernando Montenegro serves as the Vice President & Practice Lead for Cybersecurity & Resilience at The Futurum Group. In this role, he leads the development and execution of the Cybersecurity research agenda, working closely with the team to drive the practice's growth. His research focuses on addressing critical topics in modern cybersecurity. These include the multifaceted role of AI in cybersecurity, strategies for managing an ever-expanding attack surface, and the evolution of cybersecurity architectures toward more platform-oriented solutions.
Before joining The Futurum Group, Fernando held senior industry analyst roles at Omdia, S&P Global, and 451 Research. His career also includes diverse roles in customer support, security, IT operations, professional services, and sales engineering. He has worked with pioneering Internet Service Providers, established security vendors, and startups across North and South America.
Fernando holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and various industry certifications. Although he is originally from Brazil, he has been based in Toronto, Canada, for many years.
