New threats target changing market

Brehm said the biggest threats that will start to hit businesses this year will be mobile threats, following the mounting roll-out of smartphones and tablet devices.

He said, as a rule, not enough is being done by businesses, device manufacturers and Internet service providers to address these growing mobile threats just as malware and data loss prevention.

Brehm explained that the majority of businesses require new skills for cloud computing, just the same those skills are not being met on a global scale. Should the contingency arise, one third of businesses have no formal security policy for cloud computing and mobile devices.

He added that more companies are using social media tools to run their business; which opens organisations up to security vulnerabilities.

Brehm said total market earnings for unified threat management appliances, which is said to be a $2 billion global industry, are expected to shift towards the enterprise market as UTM improves in functionality and reliability.

He pointed out SA and Turkey are similar markets in terms of UTM revenue growth and the two countries are seeing a fast adoption.

“The UTM market in MEA is worth $143 million, or 7% of the global market. The region was originally late to adopt UTM with the biggest hindrance being the lack of ability to pay for the research.”