G DATA Study Reveals Trend Toward German IT Security Service Providers
The location of IT security providers is increasingly becoming the decisive selection criterion for companies in Germany. This is shown by the latest study “Cybersicherheit in Zahlen”, conducted by G DATA CyberDefense, Statista, and brand eins. According to the study, seven out of ten respondents rate the service provider’s location as important or very important. The importance of this factor has risen significantly over the past few years.
When political conflicts affect digital infrastructure, companies face a key question: Who can I trust with my IT security? For companies in Germany, the origin of IT security providers is becoming increasingly important. As the representative survey “Cybersicherheit in Zahlen” by G DATA CyberDefense, Statista, and brand eins illustrates, 71 percent of companies consider the location of the IT security service provider to be very important or important. This underscores the relevance of data protection, regulatory requirements, and trust. In 2023 and 2024, the figure was still three out of five companies. While the importance of location is growing, the proportion of neutral assessments has nearly halved within a year. One reason: Geopolitical and economic tensions are fundamentally changing the requirements for IT security. Digital sovereignty, data control, and dependence on global infrastructures are thus increasingly becoming the focus of business decisions.
“For many companies, the provider’s location has long been more than just a formal criterion – it stands for trust, reliability, and a clear legal framework”, says Andreas Lüning, co-founder and board member at G DATA CyberDefense.
“This trend shows that digital sovereignty and control over data are increasingly being viewed as a strategic foundation. The key now is to consistently translate these expectations into secure, transparent solutions and thereby strengthen trust in the long term.”Cybersecurity: Clear Preference for German ProvidersAlongside the increased relevance, a clear preference emerges among respondents for whom location is important or very important: German IT security companies will lead the market in 2025 with 74 percent, following a temporary shift in 2024 in favor of European providers. Non-European providers, by contrast, play hardly any role. Their share remains between two and four percent across all survey years. The results make it clear: Companies no longer make their decisions based exclusively on technical performance characteristics, but increasingly also take into account location, legal frameworks, and requirements for data storage and data sovereignty. For providers, this means that their own location is becoming a strategic differentiator – particularly in the European and German markets.
“Cybersicherheit in Zahlen” available for Download“Cybersicherheit in Zahlen” has now been published for the fifth time and is characterized by a high density of information and exceptional methodological depth: More than 5.000 employees in Germany were surveyed as part of a representative online study on cybersecurity in both professional and private contexts. The experts at Statista closely monitored the survey and, thanks to a sample size that far exceeds industry standards, are able to present reliable and valid market research results in the “Cybersecurity in Numbers” magazine. In addition, the market researchers have compiled figures, data, and facts from more than 300 statistics into a comprehensive reference work on IT security.
You can download “Cybersicherheit in Zahlen” here (in German).