More Formidable Security Threats and High-Profile Attacks Drive Enterprise Demand for the Security Services Threat Intelligence Market, Which IDC Forecasts to Reach $905 Million by 2014

31 Jan 2012

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., January 31, 2012 -- A continually evolving breed of unknown, persistent, targeted, and adaptive security threats is pushing businesses' enterprise IT/Security infrastructure to their limits and driving the expansion of the security services threat intelligence market. According to new research from International Data Corporation (IDC), this emerging predictive security market is forecast to grow from $198 million in 2009 to $905 million in 2014 as organizations struggle to keep pace.

The security services threat intelligence market is made up of advanced security event monitoring and management technologies that incorporate a variety of threat-related information sources to develop predictive security. However, emerging Web application and other difficult-to-detect attacks are changing the security protection landscape and, subsequently, enterprise security posture. To ensure that enterprise network, application, data, and endpoints can remain secure (clean of malware and breaches), anti-malware products and services are evolving to deal with these threats and reducing reliance on general signatures by instead adopting other forms of detection.

"Businesses are struggling to protect themselves as these outside threats become more resistant to signature-based security tools," said Christine Liebert, senior analyst, Security Services. "It's becoming clear that many of these emerging treats cannot be defended against in-house, creating a shift in security posture toward being more proactive."

Additional highlights from IDC's security services threat intelligence research include the following:

• Many organizations, despite having implemented some of the more standard countermeasures (i.e., firewalls, antivirus, IDs) still do not have visibility across their environment to understand what is happening at any given time.

• Attacks are becoming shorter (lasting less than a couple of hours or only a few minutes) and more highly targeted (e.g., specific URL, person, company, or IT asset), further complicating detection, mitigation, and remediation.

• Signature-based tools (antivirus, firewalls, and intrusion prevention) are only effective against 30–50% of current security threats.

• Security services threat intelligence products and services grew 65% year over year in North America from 2010 to 2011 as enterprises looked to proactively monitor and mitigate malicious network traffic.

• Over the past five years, attackers have enlarged their scope to include commercial SMBs offering high-value targets (e.g., financial information, intellectual property, and other proprietary data).

The IDC study, Worldwide and U.S. Security Services Threat Intelligence, 2011-2014 Forecast: Out of the Basement and into the Clouds (IDC #230490), discusses the security services threat intelligence market, which is made up of advanced security event monitoring and management technologies that incorporate a variety of threat-related information sources to develop predictive security. The research contains a forecast through 2014 as well as profiles of 11 vendors competing in this space.

To purchase this study, please contact IDC Sales at 508-988-7988 or sales@idc.com

Go here to register for a complimentary IDC Web Conference – Threat Intelligence Security Services – to be held February 14, 2012.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. For more than 47 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.