Up to 12.6 per cent of the average computing operating budget of North America and Europe in 2008 will be spent on a variety of security systems by IT support, according to a new study.

It has been predicted by Forrester Research's State of Enterprise IT Security that new security initiatives, outsourcing and managed services will be heavily invested in during 2008 in response to the increasing threats presented by malware and other malicious software.

Data loss protection tops the list of standard updates to existing systems, as well as full disk encryption, although the bulk of the money will still be put into upgrades and staffing.

It is also believed that the current economic climate will play a huge part in the amount spent on the IT budget, with many businesses justifying the move with savings in the long run.

Due to changes in virus behaviour and the vast amount of malware online, John Edwards of IT Security stated that he feels basic anti-virus protection will slowly be replaced with newer tools.

According to a recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent).