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Security budgeting, explained
Practical, vendor-neutral writing on how to size, justify, and defend a cybersecurity budget — grounded in the same sourced data behind the calculator.
- Benchmarks · 6 min IT budget benchmarks by industry 2026 (and how much goes to security) IT budgets range from ~2.5% of revenue in manufacturing to ~7.5% in financial services and tech. Here are the 2026 IT-spend benchmarks by industry — and the share that goes to cybersecurity. Jul 1, 2026 Read
- Benchmarks · 7 min How much do companies spend on cybersecurity? (2026 benchmarks) Companies spend around 11% of their IT budget — roughly 0.69% of revenue, or about $2,300 per employee — on cybersecurity. Here's what the 2026 benchmarks say, by industry and size. Jun 30, 2026 Read
- Pricing · 7 min Cybersecurity services pricing 2026: MSSP, MDR, pentest and consulting What outsourced cybersecurity services cost in 2026 — MSSP and MDR retainers, penetration tests, vCISO, and compliance consulting — with typical price ranges and how they're billed. Jun 29, 2026 Read
- Pricing · 6 min Network security cost: what NGFW and NDR actually cost (2026) Network security spend is dominated by two recurring lines — next-gen firewall subscriptions and network detection and response. For a mid-market org, budget roughly $50K–$200K a year. Jun 28, 2026 Read
- Pricing · 6 min EDR pricing comparison 2026: CrowdStrike vs SentinelOne vs Microsoft Defender A side-by-side EDR pricing comparison — CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint — with published list prices and what enterprises actually negotiate. Jun 27, 2026 Read
- Pricing · 7 min How much does a cybersecurity audit cost? (2026) Cybersecurity audit and assessment costs range from a few thousand dollars to six figures depending on type — SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI, HIPAA, risk and gap assessments, and pen tests. Here's what to budget. Jun 26, 2026 Read
- Pricing · 6 min MDR pricing in 2026: what managed detection and response costs MDR is priced per endpoint per month — roughly $3 to $45, around $6 typical for mid-market. Here's how Huntress, Arctic Wolf and CrowdStrike compare and what drives the number. Jun 24, 2026 Read
- Comparison · 7 min MDR vs EDR vs XDR: the differences explained EDR, MDR and XDR sound interchangeable but describe three different things — a tool, a service, and a platform. Here's what each means and when to use it. Jun 23, 2026 Read
- How-to · 6 min Reading a vendor quote: list price vs. what you'll actually pay How to read a security vendor quote past the list price — spotting negotiable discounts, billing traps, and platform floors before you sign. Jun 18, 2026 Read
- Benchmarks · 6 min What the 2026 IANS benchmark says about security spend The latest IANS / Artico data shows budgets flat to slightly down, with growth concentrated in cloud and identity. Jun 18, 2026 Read
- Pricing · 7 min EDR vs MDR vs XDR: what you're actually paying for Three acronyms, three very different cost structures — here is what separates the tool, the service, and the platform. Jun 12, 2026 Read
- Pricing · 6 min The hidden costs of SIEM Why a SIEM's real cost lives in data ingest, retention, and the analysts who run it — not in the line-item license price. Jun 11, 2026 Read
- How-to · 7 min How much should an SMB spend on security? A practical, range-based way for small and mid-sized businesses to size a security budget without copying enterprise spreadsheets. Jun 4, 2026 Read
- Strategy · 6 min Cyber insurance vs. controls: where should the next dollar go? How to balance spending between security controls that reduce expected loss and cyber insurance that covers the residual, tail-end risk. May 28, 2026 Read
- Analysis · 6 min % of IT budget vs % of revenue: which framing should you use? Two common benchmarks for security spend can point in opposite directions — here is when to trust each one. May 28, 2026 Read
- How-to · 7 min How to build a defensible cybersecurity budget in 5 steps A practical, vendor-neutral process for turning headcount, tooling, and risk into a security budget you can defend to your CFO. May 14, 2026 Read