Inside The 2026 Security Benchmark Report

A look into industry trends by comparing data year-over-year.

By Rachelle Blair-Frasier, Editor in Chief

Security Talk — Image: suwadee sangsriruang / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Via Getty Images

With the 2026 Security Benchmark Report, Security magazine builds upon the analysis of self-reported data from enterprise physical security leaders we have collected via the Security Benchmark Survey. In each report, we present data across the security industry as a whole in the main report, and we break the data down by sector in our sector reports.

By collecting data on security budget, technology, new initiatives, training and threats with these surveys each year, security leaders can gain insights into industry trends by comparing The Security Benchmark Report data year-over-year.

Every year, we ask The Security Benchmark Report respondents to rank their top issues/concerns for the year and forward-looking to the next year. For at least the last three reports, workplace violence has ranked as the top security issue/concern for security leaders.

Coming in as the second top security issue/concern was terrorism / extremism / hate crimes. In 2025, business continuity and business resilience tied with travel security / executive protection for the second top issue according to respondents.

Crisis management was listed as the third biggest issue of concern for security leaders, according to the report. Which was a change from last year’s report which showed staffing and training in the No. 3 spot.

With executive protection ranking high on the list last year, we decided to add a section to this year’s report asking respondents about their organization’s programs. As you will read in the full report, 7% of respondents reported a fully mature, globally coordinated EP program, while 21% reported their organization has no formal program.

In terms of budget, the average security budget as a percentage of revenue reported by participants in the 2026 report, was 1.3%. In the 2025 report, it was measured at 3.9%.

“With insights into what their peers are doing, security leaders can help each other advance enterprise security posture.”

Benefits of Benchmarking

Below are some of the benefits benchmarking can have on a security team and for the industry as a whole.

Innovating: With insights into what their peers are doing, security leaders can help each other advance enterprise security posture.
Assessing security programs: Benchmarking can serve as a critical tool for maturing a security program.
Proving value: With a strong foundation of benchmarking, it can become easier for security leaders to track their program’s progress and prove the effectiveness of their initiatives.

For further benchmarking information, be sure to download the full 2026 Security Benchmark Report.

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Rachelle Blair-Frasier is Security magazine’s Editor in Chief. Blair-Frasier handles eMagazine features, as well as writes and publishes online news and web exclusives on topics including physical security, risk management, cybersecurity and emerging industry trends. She helps coordinate multimedia content and manages Security magazine's social media presence, in addition to working with security leaders to publish industry insights. Blair-Frasier brings more than 15 years of journalism and B2B writing and editorial experience to the role.