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Security software market shrugs off recession with 11.3% growth

Worldwide security software sales are forecast to surpass $16.5bn in 2010, an 11.3% increase from $14.8bn in 2009, according to Gartner.

Kathleen Hall
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Published: 16 Aug 2010 16:48

Worldwide security software sales are forecast to surpass $16.5bn in 2010, an 11.3% increase from $14.8bn in 2009, according to Gartner.

Although the economic downturn slowed security sales to 7% growth in 2009, organisations have indicated an intention to give priority to security budgets.

Ruggero Contu, principal research analyst at Gartner, said, "Overall, security will remain one of the fastest-growing areas within the enterprise software market."

The consumer market remains the largest security software segment, with sales projected to reach $4.2bn in 2010, up from $3.9bn in 2009. In the enterprise market, revenue is set to reach $3bn in 2010, up from $2.9bn in 2009.

Gartner analysts said security software markets would weather the current economic downturn better than in 2001 and 2002, because the market conditions were dramatically different in terms of maturity, penetration, confidence in IT, and geographic and vertical mix.

Matthew Cheung, senior research analyst at Gartner, said the growing sophistication of malware would push organisations and consumers to invest in endpoint security products in coming years.

Attackers are using socially engineered Trojans and malware based on multiple components that install after the initial infection to target internet users.

During the next six-to-12 months, software delivered as a service and appliances will overtake traditional software licensing as the preferred purchasing methods, said Gartner.

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