When faced with massive security risks, you do all you can to protect yourself. This has been the case in cyber security. The rise and rise of cyberattacks has prompted the surge for cyber security spending.
In fact, it is hard to imagine that the global cyber security market was valued at slightly over $3 billion in 2004. Today the same is valued at $120 billion. Companies and organization are taking cyber security very seriously. Experts project that the cyber security market will hit the $1 trillion mark in the near future.
The recent WannaCry ransomware cyberattack that rocked the world just last week is a reminder that we are not safe. The attack targeted multiple companies in different countries and operations in banks and hospitals were almost crippled.
More than 200,000 computers were hacked in the WannaCry ransomware attacks and owners had to pay up to $300 in form of Bitcoin (a virtual currency) to get their computers back.
The attackers used a security flaw in tech giant’s Windows XP OS. Microsoft had not been giving it any mainstream tech support. It is good practice for business organizations should always faceout software or operating systems which no longer receive tech support from its makers. According to Kaspersky lab, a computer security firm in Moscow, the hackers used a digital code that is believed to have been developed by the USA’s National Security Agency.
It is believed that cyberattacks such as WannaCry ransomware drive the cyber security market. In fact, cyber security firms reap big in such attacks. Take for example, America’s firm Crowdstrike, the security firm was able to raise over $100M in one day. Others like PANW saw shares move up 2.7% higher, Symantec was up by 3.2% and PFPT moved 7.4% higher. All this was in the wake of WannaCry ransomware attacks.
There is no denying that cyber security market has grown in terms of revenue but there is room for more growth. In the past, companies invested heavily in products and services but now there is need for more consulting and managed security services.
When the market was starting to pick up in mid 2000s, the market was mainly expanding due to digitization of both countries and companies and the online threats they faced back then. However, a new wave has hit the world, the ransomware attacks.
The wave gained pace in 2014 and security research companies reaped the biggest from the huge businesses it created. Companies and organizations were able to know their vulnerabilities.
Since it was hard to determine the Return on Investment on cyber security, companies were a bit slow to protect themselves. Additionally, it was hard to tell which cyberattacks they survived and the costs incurred. Companies had to come up with security strategies to protect themselves.
The cost of setting up IT security strategies can run from a hundreds of dollars to tens of millions of dollars depending with the size of the company. Different companies employ different techniques. Some like French giant, Orange, have an in-house team while others are forming alliances like Hexatrust which was formed by several French companies.
It does not matter which strategy the company uses, what matters is the ability of the company to respond quickly and swiftly to cyberattacks. This way, security companies will continue to reap big.
Interestingly, ransomware is not the only danger companies are facing. New days bring new threats and companies are now faced with the threat of theft of both personal and financial data. Others like online political campaigns that hackers are engaged in and hacking inter-connected things will only push the cyber market even higher.
The future looks great for security firms. The only downside for them is the lack of skilled manpower. In fact it is said that the shortage is so huge that it would take a million people worldwide to fill in the void.
