They say “shift happens”. And from what I can tell, it’s happening right now.
After years of massive investment in building castle walls designed to protect sensitive data from being lost or accidentally stolen, corporate CISOs are beginning to shift a portion of their budgets away from the perimeter, and closer to the data itself. This shift, captured in Wolfe Research analyst Joshua Tilton’s latest survey of 131 CISOs, isn't just an incremental change – it's a wholesale reimagining of how organizations approach security.
TLDR: building walls to “keep bad guys out” is very difficult and expensive, and given the record number of breaches that occurred in 2024 – the strategy generally does not work as well as one would hope. Therefore a growing portion of CISOs are shifting security budgets away from the castle wall – and closer to the crown jewels (e.g. the data).
Wolfe Research: Data Security is Surpassing Cloud Security
Tilton’s findings tell a compelling story. According to his report, 54% of surveyed CISOs plan to increase their data security spending in 2025, marking it as the top priority across all security segments. Even more striking is the 10 percentage point year-over-year growth in this category – the largest increase among all security domains. For the first time in three years, data security has surpassed cloud security in priority, while 18% of CISOs plan to decrease firewall spending. Let me repeat that: Data security has surpassed cloud security in priority.
What's particularly encouraging is how organizations are reimagining their security architectures with data protection at the core. The dramatic shift away from traditional perimeter defenses – with only 16% of companies planning to increase firewall spending compared to 54% increasing data security investments – validates what Virtru has long advocated: that modern business demands both security and flow. The report shows a clear shift from point solutions to platform-based strategies, especially among enterprises, reflecting how data must move freely while remaining protected – whether it's customer insights improving experiences, supply chain data optimizing operations, or innovation driving collaborative breakthroughs.
This evolution mirrors Virtru's own journey. When I first joined the team in 2014, most companies put our solution in one of two buckets. They either viewed us as an email encryption provider suitable for niche compliance use cases, or they saw us as an add-on only required for certain highly regulated organizations who were in the process of migrating to Google Workspace.
Today, the market understands that data-centric security technology like Virtru’s is not a “nice-to-have.” It is not something you worry about after you’ve already gotten your IT foundation in place. It is not part of a strategy for best-in-class privacy and cybersecurity. It is a strategy – and CIO budgets are starting to reflect it as such.
Data is the Thing You’re Trying to Protect
According to the Wolfe report, data security's year-over-year growth is the largest among all categories, jumping 10 percentage points from 2024. Customers now recognize that security must travel with the data itself – protecting information everywhere it moves, shares, and creates value. In my time leading Virtru’s channel sales, I’ve enjoyed watching this changing narrative underscored by some of our recent partner-led wins.
Tom Brod at Trace3 recently led a Virtru sale to one of the largest U.S. hospital systems. Anil Oberoi at Onix secured a win with a major solar energy provider. Noel Schenkel from Agilant helped sell our software to one of the world’s biggest education companies. A team of federal partner reps continues to drive Virtru’s expansion within the U.S. Department of Defense. The list goes on and on.
Channel partners like these – in addition to folks at GuidePoint Security, Visual Edge IT, CDW, ANM, NTT Data, 66degrees, SHI, Wursta, and many others – are leading the way for security-focused partners. They understand that in today's digital economy, data must flow freely to create value, but it must also remain protected every step of the way. They’re a big reason why I’m so bullish about the year ahead.
The Big Move: From The Perimeter to the Data
The shifting landscape from perimeter-based tools to data-centric security isn't just a market trend – it's a fundamental reorganization of cybersecurity priorities. As organizations move away from traditional defenses in favor of security that travels with the data itself, the opportunity for Virtru and our partners to lead this transformation has never been greater.
This is a movement, not a moment.
And with clear market validation from analysts and customers alike, 2025 promises to be a landmark year for Virtru, our channel partners, and the entire data security ecosystem.
