Europe cybersecurity revenues rise as identity leads shift

European cybersecurity distribution revenues rose 10% year on year in April 2026, according to CONTEXT, marking a return to growth after a weaker start to the year.

Spending patterns across Europe showed buyers shifting towards identity, compliance and infrastructure protection tools. CONTEXT's Panel Europe figures showed Identity & Access Management was the fastest-growing cybersecurity segment in 2026, with revenue up 18% year to date.

Data Security followed with 13% growth, while Infrastructure Protection rose 9%. By contrast, traditional Network Security fell 4% year to date and Endpoint Protection slipped 1%, pointing to a redistribution of budgets away from older, perimeter-focused products.

The figures suggest buyers are responding to a more complex risk environment as cyber threats widen and regulatory demands tighten. Identity controls, governance measures and data protection have become more prominent areas of spending as organisations reassess their most urgent security priorities.

The report also found continued growth among managed services providers, even as broader industry conditions remained subdued. Cybersecurity revenues in the MSP channel increased 17% year on year across Europe.

Some national markets expanded much faster than the regional average. Italy posted MSP cybersecurity growth of 67% year on year, while Spain recorded 39% and Germany 14%.

Spending shift

CONTEXT's figures point to a market moving towards identity-led security strategies and compliance-related purchasing. The trend also reflects the growing importance of access management, resilience planning and governance controls as companies deal with more distributed systems, cloud services and third-party connections.

Joe Turner, Vice President of Sales & Research at CONTEXT, said security priorities were shifting clearly.

"Cybersecurity investment priorities continue to evolve rapidly across Europe. Businesses are increasingly prioritising identity, compliance and data-centric protection as attack surfaces expand and regulatory scrutiny intensifies. We are seeing a clear transition away from purely perimeter-focused security strategies toward architectures centred on access control, resilience and governance," Turner said.

The comments come as the cybersecurity market absorbs a series of prominent incidents and technological changes. Recent developments influencing customer behaviour include advanced autonomous artificial intelligence tools designed to hunt for vulnerabilities, a ransomware attack on Foxconn's manufacturing operations and a large breach in the education sector that allegedly exposed data from 275 million users on the Canvas platform.

These developments have heightened concern among businesses about supply chain exposure, third-party dependence and the pace at which attackers may adopt artificial intelligence. They have also increased pressure on internal security teams and service providers to improve oversight of users, systems and external partners.

Channel momentum

The stronger performance in the MSP segment suggests some organisations are relying more heavily on external specialists as threats become harder to manage in-house. Demand for managed security services has been supported by skills shortages, compliance obligations and the need for round-the-clock monitoring.

Regional variation in MSP growth also points to differing levels of market maturity and customer demand across Europe. Italy's sharp rise stands out against more moderate but still solid gains in Spain and Germany, indicating that adoption of outsourced security services is not moving at the same pace in every country.

CONTEXT tracks more than £200 billion in annual technology sales transactions and works with manufacturers, distributors and investors across the global technology sector. Its latest data reflects a market adapting to a broader view of cyber risk, with identity assurance, data controls and operational resilience attracting a larger share of security budgets.

Turner said the broader shift is being shaped by both technology and operational risk.

"Cybersecurity is no longer only about defending networks. The market is adapting to a world where AI can both strengthen and accelerate attacks, while supply chain exposure and third-party risk continue to grow in importance. Organisations are responding by investing in technologies that provide stronger visibility, identity assurance and operational resilience," he said.