Lull Hits Security Markets, Threats Continue To Rise

Market research firm Infonetics Research has released vendor market share standings and market forecasts from two first quarter (1Q11) security market reports: Content Security Appliances and Software and Network Security Appliances and Software.

“Major threat events are still making headlines, with Sony bearing the brunt in the first quarter. Security technology vendors are being targeted as well, including RSA, Barracuda, and Comodo, creating a hostile environment for everyone and keeping awareness of threats at an all-time high. The volume, variety, and complexity of threats continues to grow, and the industry that now supports commercial development of threats is the most obvious culprit; from commercial toolkits to botnet rentals, the business infrastructure that supports attack creation and distribution is growing to support hacker demand. This increase in visibility translates into increased budget visibility for security solutions,” notes Jeff Wilson, principal analyst for security at Infonetics Research.

Content Security Market Highlights

• The worldwide content security appliance and software market experienced a flat quarter from 4Q10 to 1Q11, up just 0.1%, though year-over-year (1Q10 to 1Q11) revenue is up 11%

• Infonetics expects the content security appliance and software market to top the $3.0 billion mark for the first time in 2011

• Most content security vendors were within 3 percentage points of being flat in 1Q11 from 4Q10

• Content security gateway market leader McAfee gained market share in 1Q11, widening its lead, while an extremely tight race for second position rages on between Blue Coat, Websense, and Symantec

• Revenue from hybrid content security deployments (solutions that mix on-premise appliances/software with cloud-hosted security services or SaaS) for messaging and AV/malware/web applications is up 25% year-over-year (1Q10 to 1Q11)

Network Security Market Highlights

• Following a flat fourth quarter, the network security appliance and software market dropped 9% in 1Q11; year-over-year (1Q10 to 1Q11), revenue is up 2%

• Between 4Q10 and 1Q11, Cisco gained 2 points of overall network security revenue market share, as both Juniper and Check Point lost share due to double-digit revenue decreases (Cisco’s revenue was down only slightly); all three vendors are expected to return to growth in 2Q11

• Action in the over-$30,000 security appliance market is heating up, with SonicWALL, Fortinet, and WatchGuard jumping into the ring, which could upset the pricing and vendor market share picture in the high end of the market; vendors are eyeing the great opportunity in datacentres, mobile backhaul, core carrier networks, and high-end enterprise applications, such as large university campuses