The cost of fragmentation: Measuring time, spend and risk in personal cybersecurity tool stacks

This study investigates the underexplored hidden costs of cybersecurity tool fragmentation at the individual user level. While prior research focuses on enterprise environments, the proliferation of personal security applications—such as antivirus, VPNs, and password managers—creates significant burdens for consumers who lack dedicated IT support. To quantify this, we conducted original primary research through a quantitative survey (n=50) of individual users and supplementary qualitative interviews. Our findings reveal that users manage an average of 3.4 tools, incurring a substantial “time tax” of 2.3 hours per month on maintenance. Furthermore, 44% face overlapping alerts, 38% sometimes ignore notifications, and 29-34% leave tools disabled or miss paid features, leading to redundant spending averaging 24% of an annual USD 92 tool cost. When valued at USD 20-30/hour, the total per-user burden is estimated at USD 574-850 annually. We conclude that tool fragmentation directly drives operational inefficiency, financial waste, and increased security risk for individuals, underscoring the critical need for consolidated, user-centric solutions and providing a model for evaluating personal cybersecurity return on investment.