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Cybercrime driving anti-malware business

The global anti-malware market is driven by cybercriminal threats. Growth opportunities have led to intensified competition in both consumer and enterprise segments. Specialization, diversification and innovative channel marketing can help established vendors grow.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, World Anti-Malware Products Markets, finds that the world market for antivirus solutions reached $4,685 million in 2006, up 17.1 per cent from $4,000.7 million in the previous year and expects this market to grow at a 10.9 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2006 to 2013, reaching $9,689.7 million by 2013.

The commercialisation of cybercrime is spurring malware-writing activity and leading to more threats of this nature. In the consumer space, this translates into identity theft and stolen passwords. On the other hand, loss of intellectual property and customer data coupled with extortion with the threat of taking down Web sites or revealing sensitive information are on the rise in the enterprise space.

“Cybercrime is now amongst the most important revenue sectors for global organized crime”, says Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Katie Gotzen. Because of this, the potential risks associated with malware have risen dramatically. “Malware attacks are today in the hands of professional criminals, whose goal is to create revenue. This explains why attacks today are targeted. In the consumer space, this translates to identity theft and stolen passwords. In the enterprise space, loss of intellectual property and customer data, as well as extortion with the threat of taking down websites or revealing sensitive information, are on the rise.” End-users’ awareness of the increased threat level is driving the anti-malware market.

The increased number and severity of malware attacks have created significant growth opportunities in the anti-malware industry. This has led to intensified competition in both the consumer and enterprise segments. “In the consumer market, Microsoft’s entry has driven prices down and has led the traditional heavyweights to rethink their strategies,” says Gotzen. “In the enterprise space, non-security players are developing a presence in the market.”

“Best-of-breed specialisation, diversification or carving out a niche are valid strategies in today’s enterprise anti-malware market,” states Gotzen. “In the consumer market, ISPs are emerging as the new channel battleground for vendors.”

World Anti-Malware Products Markets is part of the Network Security Growth Partnership Service Programme, which also includes research in the following markets: world content filtering, European managed security service provider, European in-the-cloud managed security services, European customer premise equipment (CPE) managed security services and world SSL VPN products.

Tags: Malware, Cybercrime, Anti-malware, security

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