The 2024 Security Benchmark Report

Security magazine is excited to present The 2024 Security Benchmark Report, an editorial initiative that collects self-reported data from enterprise security programs across the globe and a wide range of market sectors to determine trends in security roles, responsibilities, technology, training and budget.

Our goal with The Security Benchmark Report is to provide a comparison of enterprise security programs across the security field and within market sectors. Each year we release the report, we aim to build a wider picture of how enterprise security programs change, grow and mature year-over-year.

The 2024 Security Benchmark Report is comprised of:

Main Report, which includes data across all respondents and sectors they represent.
Sector Reports, which include data broken down by sector.
Leader Profiles, which provide an inside look into two enterprise security programs and their accomplishments in the past year.

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The Security Benchmark Report is an editorial initiative that collects and reports on self-reported data from security leaders who are responsible, at least in part, for physical security in their organization.

While The Security Benchmark Report aims to offer security programs insights into what their peers are doing, we understand that the metrics important to one program may be completely different than another program.

Therefore, the biggest benefit to filling out The Security Benchmark Report survey is that each security executive respondent receives the raw, anonymized data from the survey to compare and contrast across the industry or specifically companies within their sector based on any metric they wish.

This year, we asked respondents to report on the roles, responsibilities and function of their security programs; the type and cost of security training they implemented last year; increases and decreases in their security budgets; metrics they and their leadership find most valuable; and more.

For even more insights, fill out The Security Benchmark Survey next year to receive the raw, anonymized data. The survey will be open from February to mid-July 2025. And don’t forget to join us for a special webinar presentation on The 2024 Security Benchmark Report on November 7, where we discuss the report in-depth and reveal statistics exclusive to the webinar.

Read on for the insights unearthed by The 2024 Security Benchmark Report!

MAIN REPORT

We asked respondents to report on the roles, responsibilities and function of their security programs; the type and cost of security training they implemented last year; increases and decreases in their security budgets; metrics they and their leadership find most valuable; and more.

Security Roles & Responsibilities | Security Budgets, Spending & More | Security Guarding & Operations | Security-Related Training & Technology | Security Teams Using Metrics

SECTOR REPORTS

Data from The Security Benchmark Report survey is broken down by sector in an effort to provide security programs with a meaningful comparison among programs in similar market sectors.

For The Security Benchmark Sector Reports, you’ll see data regarding security’s roles, responsibilities and budgets broken down by sector. In certain cases, sectors were combined to create a larger dataset. If a sector didn’t lend itself to combining and the dataset was too small, then that sector was excluded from having its own sector report page, but is included in the main report for all other calculations and comparisons.

LEADER PROFILES

Benchmark Leader Profiles provide an inside look into two enterprise security programs and their accomplishments in the past year.

METHODOLOGY

Each year with The Security Benchmark Report, Security magazine adds to an ongoing database measuring how security teams function, budget, train and use technology. We survey security leaders across more than a dozen industry verticals and present data from the industry as a whole and broken down by sector to allow for the comparison of security programs amongst their own industries, against others and as part of the security industry as a whole.

Security magazine’s priority with The Security Benchmark Report is to showcase the value of security within the enterprise, as well as be a business enabler to our readers’ security programs. By tracking the metrics in this report year-over-year, we hope to offer a comparison of how trends in budget, responsibility, training and technology shift over time.

This year, we have included two Benchmark Leader Profiles along with the report, which serve as deeper investigations of the achievements of specific corporate security programs in the past year.

Organizations are able to remain anonymous for this survey. If the organization chooses to be marked anonymous, they are not eligible to be listed in the published report’s metrics listings or achievement sections.

The Security Benchmark Report is broken down into a general overview comparing all respondents’ data with one another, as well as by sector. Respondents are asked which sector their overall enterprise resides in, and this is the sector in which they are placed. While the survey has a choice of 22 market sectors, some sectors are chosen by too few respondents to report on individually. Therefore, for better comparisons, some market sectors are combined in the report. Combined sectors are labeled as such, and combinations may vary each year.

Sectors with too small a dataset that don’t lend themselves to combining with other sectors may be excluded from the sector reports, but will be included in the main report. To attempt to make the most meaningful comparisons, particular comparisons/charts are left out of sector groupings if the data varied too greatly from one respondent to the next.

In some cases, when calculating certain statistics, including “security budget as a percent of revenue,” outliers or data points that appeared to be reported incorrectly are removed before calculations to present a cleaner comparison.

While we recognize that security roles, responsibilities and programs can vary widely from one organization to another in terms of maturity, position within the enterprise, size of staff, budget, etc., Security magazine has made every effort — via input from readers and Editorial Advisory Board members —  to break down and compare organizations in a meaningful, valuable way.

If you don’t see your enterprise’s primary sector represented, we encourage you to fill out the survey next year and ask your peers to fill out the survey as well. The more organizations and security professionals that fill out the survey, the more robust the data. Each year, the survey opens in February and closes in July.

Security magazine encourages all security leaders and organizations to participate in this free editorial survey that makes up The Security Benchmark Report. As a benefit to filling out The Security Benchmark Report survey, security leader respondents receive a full (anonymized) report of responses with more detailed information beyond what is covered in Security’s November eMagazine and online.

The Security Benchmark Report is an editorial project, and respondent contact information collected is not sold or shared. There is no cost to participate in The Security Benchmark Report. All respondents must be responsible, at least in part, for the physical security of their organization. Organizations may only fill out the survey once for a particular company or agency. The Security Benchmark Report does not include contract security companies, guarding companies or those without a level of direct responsibility for security within their enterprise.

Rachelle Blair-Frasier
Editor in Chief

Rachelle Blair-Frasier is Security magazine’s Editor in Chief. Blair-Frasier handles eMagazine features, as well as writes and publishes online news and web exclusives on topics including physical security, risk management, cybersecurity and emerging industry trends. She helps coordinate multimedia content and manages Security magazine’s social media presence, in addition to working with security leaders to publish industry insights. Blair-Frasier brings more than 15 years of journalism and B2B writing and editorial experience to the role.

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The 2024 Security Benchmark Report