The global cybersecurity market will reach $120.1 billion by 2017, according to a new forecast from market research firm Markets and Markets.
The firm’s report focuses on a wide array of technology and solutions used to defend against cyber-attacks, and includes the following: identity and access management, risk and compliance management, data encryption, data leakage prevention, data recovery, unified threat management, antivirus, intrusion prevention/detection systems, Web filtering, firewalls, and vulnerability management. The report valued the market at $63.7 billion in 2011, and estimated an 11.3 percent growth rate from 2012 to 2017.
The key players in the market over the next few years include Cisco Systems, Check Point Software Technologies, Kaspersky Lab, Fortinet, IBM, CA Technologies, McAfee, and Symantec, according to the market research firm.
Cybersecurity is not just about applications and services used in defense and aerospace use, or purely in the IT domain. It also has its place in industrial and telecommunications equipment. Attacks against the critical infrastructure level cannot be “mitigated successfully without significant cybersecurity measures,” the report warned.
Devices and applications are vulnerable to threats from various kinds of attackers with a wide range of motivations. The report also acknowledged that “every kind of political and military conflict now has a cyber dimension.”
In a separate report, market research firm ASDReports estimated the global cybersecurity market to be worth $77.7 billion in 2014. This forecast examined the government, military, critical infrastructure, and the private sector. “Spending, globally, continues to remain elevated as the cyber security market seeks greater definition and maturity,” ASDReports said in its forecast.
Fahmida Y. Rashid is an accomplished security journalist and technologist. She is a regular contributor for several publications including iPCMag.com where she is a networking and security analyst. She also was a senior writer at eWeek where she covered security, core Internet infrastructure and open source. As well, she was a senior technical editor at CRN Test Center reviewing open source, storage, and networking products.