German companies are investing in IT security, as a recently published study shows. The question is whether they are prioritizing correctly and implementing the right measures. Most organizations have recognized that the greatest threat comes from employees. But just as important as employee training is a focus on email security and backup & recovery.
Techconsult recently published the IT Invest Monitor 2025, which provides important information on concrete investment intentions across various industries and company sizes. It offers a fact-based and differentiated overview of planned investments by German companies, thus enabling a realistic assessment of their plans.
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Employee training is a top priority
It's encouraging that many German companies have investments in IT security on their agenda. However, a closer look at the study results raises doubts as to whether they are setting the right priorities. Cybersecurity measures should follow the principle "prevention is better than cure." It is therefore encouraging to see that German companies place the greatest emphasis on raising awareness among their employees and training them in cybersecurity best practices, as the human factor is the greatest vulnerability in IT security.
Investment in email security is urgently needed
For the same reason, email security should be at least second among cybersecurity priorities, because email is the number one threat vector by a long shot. However, according to the techconsult study, only 25 percent of companies plan to invest in email security, while backup and recovery are just as important as employee training. In fact, German companies prioritize cure over prevention.
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Particularly as AI has entered the cybercriminals' arsenal, helping them develop and execute more convincing email threat campaigns more efficiently and at scale, organizations cannot afford to trust their employees. While they must be the first line of defense, they cannot prevail without the right support from the latest and greatest technology, given the tools used by threat actors.
A holistic approach strengthens IT security
Organizations must adopt a multi-pronged, multi-layered approach that combines threat intelligence, behavioral AI, detection technologies, and semantic AI to block, detect, and respond to advanced threats and data loss. This holistic, human-centered approach alerts to behaviors typically missed by traditional, purely content-based systems.
While backup and recovery should certainly be part of any comprehensive IT security strategy, companies must prioritize their investments where they matter most: the number one threat vector, email. And they must address the single biggest risk to IT security: the human factor, says Miro Mitrovic, Area Vice President DACH at Proofpoint.
More at Proofpoint.com
About Proofpoint
Proofpoint, Inc. is a leading cybersecurity company. The focus for Proofpoint is the protection of employees. Because these mean the greatest capital for a company, but also the greatest risk. With an integrated suite of cloud-based cybersecurity solutions, Proofpoint helps organizations around the world stop targeted threats, protect their data, and educate enterprise IT users about the risks of cyberattacks.
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