Anti-virus software market grows

The world market for anti-virus software products reached £2.46bn last year, up 17.1% from the previous year, according to analyst Frost & Sullivan.

The market is expected to reach £5.1bn by 2013, said the analyst, with growth fuelled by the commercialisation of cyber-crime.

Frost & Sullivan said increased identity theft and stolen passwords were driving the consumer market and the threat of the loss of intellectual property and customer data, and the targeting of corporate websites was generating increased revenue in the enterprise market.

"Cyber-crime is now amongst the most important revenue sectors for global organised crime", said Frost & Sullivan analyst Katie Gotzen. "Because of this, the potential risks associated with malware have risen dramatically," she said.

Gotzen said that in the consumer market, Microsoft's entry has driven prices down and has led the traditional security heavyweights to rethink their strategies.

In the enterprise space, non-security players are now developing a presence in the market, she said.