Okta research shows that all industries are taking important steps toward a zero trust security model.

In a global survey of 860 decision makers, nearly two in three (61%) of organizations already have a Zero Trust security model in place. Additionally, 28 percent plan to implement Zero Trust within the next 6-12 months.

These numbers are increasing. In 2021, fewer than one in four companies took a zero trust approach. In 2022, that number rose to more than half.

This year’s survey shows clear commitment across all industries. The financial sector is leading the way in adopting Zero Trust; 71 percent of the financial organizations surveyed have already defined a procedure. For software companies it is 68 percent, followed by public organizations and healthcare organizations with 58 and 47 percent, respectively.

Increase in budgets

At a time when macroeconomic factors are heavily biased toward cost reduction across all regions and industries, zero trust budgets seem virtually untouchable. For the vast majority of companies surveyed, these budgets have actually increased over the past 12 to 18 months. Globally, almost two-thirds (60%) of organizations have seen their budgets increase by up to 24% since last year. For one in five, the budget has increased even more.

When asked about the top three security risks facing their organizations this year, 38 percent of respondents cited “people” as the top priority. “Network” and “Data” took a distant second and third place. According to Okta, people have always come first, but this year is an unusual outlier. The company concludes that understanding of the critical role of identity in a zero trust approach is increasing.

Meanwhile, Okta has a lot of cats to deal with. Earlier this week it was revealed that customer data was visible to hackers. One of the victims of a major security incident is 1Password.