Worldwide security software market grows 20%

Worldwide security software revenue grew by 20% last year, according to analyst Gartner.

The analyst said worldwide security software sales totalled £5.2bn in 2007, an increase of 19.8% from 2006 revenue of £4.3bn.

Gartner said there was an increasing shift towards offering appliance-based products, particularly within certain segments such as e-mail security and secure web gateway markets.

Ruggero Contu, an analyst at Gartner, said, "Compliance, data leakage and privacy issues, along with the need to tackle the fast evolving and sophisticated threat environment, are among the major drivers fuelling the growth of spending on security."

In 2007, Symantec at number one and McAfee at number two remained the leading players in the market, holding a 26.6% and 11.8% share respectively.

EMC more than tripled its revenue year on year and saw its performance primarily influenced as a result of acquisitions.

Microsoft's entry into the consumer security protection market will further erode pricing in this segment, said Gartner. This effect will eventually trickle into the professional market, starting with the small office/home office segment, and consequently moving into the SMB market, said the analyst.