When it comes to IT security, it’s usually a case of “out of sight, out of mind” until something screws up. Suffering a cyber attack could be a costly affair for businesses which can lead to loss of income and reputational damage, which is why security is something organisations shouldn’t skimp on. But IT budget constraints are just a part of life for many companies and they need to be smart with what security technologies they spend on.
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According to Gartner, the global IT security market will grow 4.7 per cent in 2015 to become a US$75.4 billion business. Spending is being driven by government initiatives, increased legislation and high-profile data breaches scaring organisations into action. While the grow rate isn’t too bad, spending in IT security is likely to be impacted by the rising US dollar given that most of the products in this space originates from the US.
The analyst firm is expecting organisations to tighten their belts on IT security budgets for at least the next quarter so companies will need to make the most of their remaining dollars and spend wisely in this area.
So where would companies likely spend their money when it comes to IT security? Gartner is expecting growth in areas of security testing, IT outsourcing and identity and access management. It has also made a prediction that by 2018, 85 per cent of new deals for network sandboxing functionality will be bundled with network firewall and content security platforms. This is because forward-looking companies are conscious of the fact that security threats are becoming more advanced and relying on traditional safeguards such as firewalls, intrusion prevention systems and secure gateways just won’t cut it.
“In response, the most widely adopted advanced-threat detection technique deployed is network malware sandboxing, which has appealed to well-staffed incident response teams,” according to Gartner. “Recently, several high-profile breaches have broadened the perceived need for zero-day malware detection in a sandbox, but it can increase costs for the mid-size or understaffed security client.
“Incumbent security platform vendors introduced less costly, often cloud-based, malware detonation sandboxes as platform extensions.”
Enterprises are also keen on data-loss prevention (DLP) technologies but that particular category is still going through some transformation in terms of the way vendors want to deliver the products so companies are expected to hold off blowing money in this space, according to Gartner.
What organisations are cutting costs on are endpoint protection platforms and consumer security software as both product categories are reaching maturity.
With all the changes happening in the IT security space, what technologies is your company spending money on to protect themselves from security threats? Let us know in the comments.
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