(The Big Disrupt) Bad Security, Big Bucks: Why Enterprise Security Is Going To Be a 150 Billion Market By 2020

As the last few years have proved, bad IT security can be costly and with the recent news that security may become a 170 billion market by 2020, improving IT security more robust isn't going to be any cheaper either 1. 

Organizations have paid the price for a relatively lax approach to IT security and have subsequently created a growing market for cybersecurity products as organizations become more dependent on connected devices expanding significantly the remit of CIO's and CISO'S have keep secure from threats.      

CIO's and CISO's have since been armed with increased security budgets which has also meant that IT security vendors have a bigger market to exploit which explains why the already massive $1o6.3 billion cybersecurity market is going to get even bigger 2. However, with most CIO's and CISO's struggling to source new talent, communicate security threats to the business at board level, and secure the growing number of devices on their organization's network, the $63.7 billion market size increase seems a little conservative to say the least. 

The press release by |MarketandMarkets noted a number of factors including the use of BOYD but what the press release didn't point to is that the cybercrime market has exploded as barriers to entry are low, the tools of the trade are cheap and effective, and the chances of getting caught are remote. These factors leaves CIO's and CISO's at a distinct disadvantage as they can end up spending a king's ransom on integrated security solutions and have their work undone by malware slightly more expensive than an iPhone 6 bought on the dark web. 

When hackers can compromise expensive security systems with such a low overhead, it's only a matter of time before MarketsandMarkets revise their projections. The advent of the internet of things and the increasing use of connected devices in healthcare facilities for example will make organizations more prone to attacks they've proved themselves unable to against with high profile and expensive data breaches throughout 2015 with Anthem health's data breach affecting an incredible 80 million individuals 3.  

In sum, the cyber security market is set for a period of steady growth fuelled by the increased data breaches and the expansion of networks CIO's and CISO's have to protect from attacks but with the market for cybercrime booming and the large chasm between what CIO's and CISO's spend to bolster their security systems and what hackers spend to compromise them, MarketsandMarkets may have to review their  projections as organizations may find themselves under threat in the future than they imagine. 

1. Markets and Markets, 2016, Cyber Security Market worth $170.21 billion by 2020, http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/cyber-security.asp 
2.  Ibid
3.  E. Snell, 2015, Anthem Health Data Breach Could Compromise PII of 80m