Fuelled by the rising need to secure ebusiness systems, the worldwide security software market will grow by 22 per cent a year, according to a survey published this week.

Gartner's Dataquest division predicts that this growth means the market will reach $3.2bn this year and will sustain the growth until at least 2004, by which time the market will be worth $6.7bn.

Carolyn DiCenzo, a chief analyst at Dataquest, said the internet is creating fresh opportunities for those who would want to break into corporate systems or distribute malevolent code, in response to which vendors are looking to strengthen and expand their security portfolio.

Conal Mannion, research director at Gartner, said that as companies increase their connectivity, they increase their exposure to hackers and costly viruses. But with the right approach, these risks can be transformed into rewards for those who get their security right.

"There is a change from security being viewed as a nuisance to being viewed as an enabler. Those companies that do security well will be the organisations people choose to do business with," said Mannion.

Dataquest identifies several trends in the market, such as an increasing focus by management framework vendors, such as Computer Associates, Tivoli and Hewlett Packard, on security.

"As internet and ecommerce applications mature, security will gain increased focus, creating more opportunity for vendors," DiCenzo said.

"Vendors of point solutions that are not best-of-breed need to widen their portfolios to address the limited market for suite-type solutions or look for merger or acquisition partners."

"Services will become more important in support of security products, but also as a way to deliver solutions to customers," she added.

Douglas Hurd, business development manager at Network Associates, said: "Fear is driving the growth in the market. The implications of security breaches are now common knowledge. Websites being hacked and defaced are no longer just the stuff of movies."

"In the same way that travel insurance grows with tourism, the security market is growing as people use more web technologies and services," he added.

Antivirus products still claim the lion's share of the market, recording 31 per cent of the security software market in 1999, according to Dataquest. Network Associates had 43.8 per cent of the antivirus market, with Symantec second at 33.8 per cent and Trend Micro third with an 11.9 per cent share.

Excluding antivirus software, IBM and Computer Associates vyed for top slot in the market with 22.6 per cent and 22.3 per cent market share respectively.

Gartner predicts that in the future broadband access will stimulate consumer spending in security, and that in the enterprise space managed security will grow in importance.

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