Worldwide security market to grow 8.7% in 2013: Gartner

As companies continue to expand the technology they use to improve their overall security, the worldwide security technology and services market is expected to reach $67.2 billion in 2013, up 8.7% from $61.8 billion in 2012. The security market is also expected to grow to more than $86 billion in 2016.
 
According to a study by global technology research and advisory company Gartner, there are three main trends shaping the security market moving forward — mobile security, big data and advanced targeted attacks.

“With security being one of the top IT concern areas, the prospect of strong continued growth is assured,” said Ruggero Contu, research director at Gartner. “The consistent increases in the complexity and volume of targeted attacks, coupled with the necessity of companies to address regulatory or compliance-related issues continue to support healthy security market growth,” Contu added.

 

According to the advisory firm, bring your own device (BYOD) is a megatrend that will have a far-reaching influence on the entire security industry. Changes in how security addresses BYOD leaves several opportunities for technology service providers.
 
The amount of data required for information security to effectively detect advanced attacks and, at the same time, support new business initiatives, will grow rapidly over the next five years, Gartner said. It also said, this growth presents unique challenges when looking for patterns of potential risk across diverse data sources.
 
According to the analyst, the advanced targeted attack and the new methods being used to breach security controls by those who have significant financial motivation, have devised effective attack strategies centered on penetrating some of the most commonly deployed security controls.

The advanced attackers are now capable of maintaining footholds inside an organisation by actively looking for ways to remain persistent on the target organization's internal network either through the use of malware or via post malware use of user credentials gathered during the period of time the malware was active, it said.