San Diego, CA (May 1, 2025) – Canadians still feel a good deal of uncertainty over artificial intelligence (AI) and data security, according to the GetApp 2024 Data Security survey, which assessed responses from 4,000 IT data security professionals in 11 countries, including 350 from Canada.GetApp is a Gartner company and provider of a recommendation engine that delivers tailored, data-driven insights enabling small businesses to make informed software-purchasing decisions.Can A.I.

help protect or is it an evolved cyber threat? Canadian IT professionals are almost evenly split on the impact of AI in cybersecurity, with roughly half seeing it as an avenue to greater information security and cyber defense while the other half consider it a threat that will facilitate cybercrime.The deployment of AI tools for cybersecurity defense typically requires the commitment of significant resources to get meaningful results.And Canadian IT professionals have less confidence than their global counterparts (53% versus 62%) that the role of AI in data security will create a defensive advantage, improving resilience against cyberattacks to a greater extent than it increases the threats themselves.

Likewise, respondents globally were more likely to indicate that their businesses are planning to to increase cybersecurity investment in 2025 (84% versus 74% of Canadians).Canada stands out for having a lower commitment to cybersecurity spending than any other country surveyed – which seems to compound a previously noted trend that Canadians are behind the global curve in preparing for AI-powered cyber attacks.However, the results show that an overwhelming majority of IT professionals (93%) work in companies that actually do plan to invest in AI, focusing in many cases on the most vital security areas, such as cloud security, threat detection, and network security.

Although nearly nine in 10 Canadian IT professionals (88%) already use AI-powered security features, once again survey results indicates that Canada lags behind global averages, with the findings showing a mean of 92% worldwide.Key insights from the survey: Effectively implementing AI in cybersecurity: Artificial intelligence can be an effective component of a cybersecurity plan, but it needs to be carefully managed. A recent article by Gartner identifies four key areas of focus to get firms ready to leverage AI.We are highlighting the following three tips to prep your firm for AI-enabled cybersecurity implementation: Plan around AI’s cyber threat prevention strengths: Set clear goals, prioritize areas where AI can help drive better protection of systems that need constant surveillance, and consider how this will affect your organization’s current tech stack.

Prioritize human-in-the-loop (HITL) approaches: Although automation of cybersecurity measures and AI monitoring can help save time and resources, human decision-making should still be able to intervene and override the AI, allowing a person to act on threat intelligence manually when needed.Firms must provide sufficient security training courses that empower staff to use AI tools effectively.Get data AI-ready: AI need to be trained on data, which must be organized and readable, making data management and governance crucial to success.

The data that can be accessed by an AI system must be checked carefully and organized into an error-free, readable, and uniform format.Protecting the data you share with the system is also critically important.Read the full survey write-up, with charts, at GetApp 2024 Data Security Survey, or check out GetApp’s catalogue of artificial intelligence software.

Methodology GetApp’s 2024 Data Security Survey was conducted online in August 2024 among 4,000 respondents in Australia (n=350), Brazil (n=350), Canada (n=350), France (n=350), India (n=350), Italy (n=350), Japan (n=350), Mexico (n=350), Spain (n=350), the U.K.(n=350), and the U.S.(n=500) to learn more about data security practices at businesses around the world.

Respondents were screened for full-time employment in an IT role with responsibility for, or full knowledge of, their company’s data security measures.About GetApp GetApp is the recommendation engine small businesses need to make the right software choice.GetApp enables SMBs to achieve their mission by delivering the tailored, data-driven recommendations and insights needed to make informed software purchasing decisions.

GetApp is a Gartner company.For more information, please visit www.getapp.com.Tags: Big Data, cyber risk, cyber security, data, Gartner, small business, survey