Cyber Security: Technology which will be Ruling 2021 Post COVID-19
The outbreak of COVID-19 is anticipated to have a positive impact on the growth of the cybersecurity market. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the use of cybersecurity has increased among enterprises to address security issues and facilitate secured information access while remote working.
On March 11, 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was declared as a pandemic by the WHO. Social distancing was adopted as a measure to contain the spread of the virus. The COVID-19 outbreak is leading to widespread concern and economic hardship for businesses, consumers, and communities across the globe. New working culture such as work from home has become the “new normal,” which is being adopted rapidly across the globe. Maintaining social distancing and working from home has led to several challenges with regular work needs, daily activities, and supply chain disruptions causing delayed production and unexploited opportunities. COVID-19 has caused the overall ICT and semiconductor industries to act quickly and make short-term decisions with long-term implications.
The outbreak of COVID-19 is anticipated to have a positive impact on growth of the cybersecurity market. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, use of cybersecurity has increased among enterprises to address security issues and facilitate secured information access while remote working. In addition, risk of cyberattacks has increased at a considerable rate in various organizations, owing to rise in internet traffic, which propels the need for cybersecurity solutions. Innovations and advances in cybersecurity solutions with features such as cloud security, AI-integrated solutions, and rise in number of cyberattacks post-emergence of this pandemic have further supported the market growth. For instance, as per a survey by Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) & Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) conducted in April 2020, the cybersecurity industry witnessed almost 63% increase in cyberattacks related to the pandemic. Thus, an increase in risk of cyberattacks augments demand for cybersecurity solution & services, thereby fueling growth of the global market.
Impact of COVID-19 on several industries in context with cybersecurity industry
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected work and life culture, globally. In addition, the pandemic has shown a spotlight on areas of weakness within enterprises. During this pandemic, several companies experienced a substantial increase in pressure from customers, while the number of available employees decreased. Numerous contact centers were unable to cope up with the demand or had to shut down due to the implementation of lockdown, resulting in delays in customer service queries affecting customer experience. The global cybersecurity market is anticipated to witness growth, however, it is expected to be moderate in from 2021 to 2022. Enterprises had to struggle with cash flow and budget freezes in 2020 and project postponements are likely to be widespread, delaying investments in new cybersecurity projects. In addition, there was a rise in COVID-19 related phishing and ransomware attacks as attackers are using COVID-19 as bait to impersonate brands, which mislead employees and customers. This, in turn, led to rise in demand for cybersecurity, thus supporting growth of the market. Economically, cybersecurity market size accounted for $149.67 billion in 2019, and is expected to reach $304.9 billion in 2027.
Retail industry have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic causing layoffs across the sector and multiple large retailers declaring bankruptcy in past few months. One of the major challenges that the retail industry is facing is that environments are submerged with internet-connected devices. Moreover, adoption of sensors along with connected devices has increased over the period to enhance in-store experience. A typical retail industry has a device to people ratio of 5:1, which means that for every 100 employees there are almost 500 devices that need to be secured and managed. Though devices such as point-of-sale (POS) systems or self-scanners can enhance customer experience, they can also create some serious security challenges. Furthermore, during the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a huge surge in use of e-commerce websites through mobile devices, which can also led to tremendous cyber-attacks generating need for adoption of cyber security solutions.
As the COVID-19 is spreading across the world, a number of companies are facing difficult and unpredicted situations. The coronavirus has also hampered the global economy and is causing serious challenges for healthcare infrastructure. During the pandemic, several healthcare providers have increased their telehealth services and started considering remote access systems for public health emergency in an effort to prevent spread the disease. This has stimulated internet usage at a tremendous rate and exposed numerous loopholes for privacy concerns related to sophisticated phishing email schemes, data theft, ransomware attacks, mail spams, and data breaches in healthcare organizations. For instance, in March 2020, Brno University Hospital in the Czech Republic experienced a tech shutdown as it was hit by a major cyberattack, which caused an immediate computer shutdown in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. As the need for adoption of cyber security solutions is on the rise in the healthcare industry, number of cybersecurity solution providers are revisiting and restructuring their existing strategies and are advancing their product portfolio. For instance, in July 2020, TRIMEDX, one of the leading providers of clinical asset management solutions for health systems and clinical engineering services, partnered with Medigate, a dedicated medical device security provider, primarily to meet unique demands of clinical asset management and medical device safety and security for healthcare systems.
In addition, numerous factors such as favorable government initiatives such as ease in taxes, financial packages, growth in digitization, rise in frequency of cyber threats in healthcare companies, rise in use of smartphones, and surge in investments in advanced technologies are further expected to provide lucrative opportunities for cybersecurity solutions in the healthcare industry.
In the manufacturing sector, a number of companies are shifting toward a remote workforce and are pushing their vendor and customer interactions online, owing to which cyber-attacks across their IT networks are continuously on the rise. Cyber-attackers can exploit network vulnerabilities through weak website security, owing to which manufacturers need heightened attention toward these threats as they grow in both frequency and sophistication, which is expected to boost the adoption of cybersecurity solutions.
Telecommunication companies are highly vulnerable to cyber threats and need to follow regulations and norms such as Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), and Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX). The telecom industry deals with several consumers who subscribe to services ranging from internet, mobile service, cable, and public Wi-Fi. Thus, telecom companies need to protect their company & customers against a multitude of security challenges such as trojans, phishing, and ransomware variants, as the telecom industry is a unified and multi-faceted industry. Cyberattacks on telecommunication operators disrupt the services of several phone customers and internet services for billions of customers. Therefore, the increase in the need for secure telecom procedures drives demand for effective cybersecurity solutions.
Global Cyber Security Market, 2020 ($BILLION)
Expectations from the cybersecurity market
With the adoption of work from home, there has been a sudden convergence of networks, security, and connectivity. This scenario has transformed each single remote worker to become a new network edge. Furthermore, as these networks must coordinate together to gain effective communication and perform jobs, there is a mandatory need for plugins and integration software. As a result, networks have become more dynamic. They are constantly shifting and can no longer be managed or protected using outdated on-premise systems. Some companies operating in the market are adopting hybrid product strategies to withstand new challenges.
For instance, the introduction of security-driven networking, a strategy that converges networking and security across connected environments, enables organizations to effectively see, defend, and adapt to highly dynamic environments while preserving user experience for employees and customers. In addition, organizations have started to invest in advanced technologies, such as software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN) and secure access service edge (SASE) solutions, to not just support their traditional branch offices, but also enable home offices to function as a new branch.
Post COVID-19 scenario
COVID-19 pandemic has presented a positive relationship for the cybersecurity market, primarily backed by a drastic shift toward adoption of online systems and work from home policy, which has resulted in increased threat of cyber-attacks. With such a scenario, there is always a continuous need for surveillance and real-time risk analysis for breaches at both physical and digital entry points. Thus, with the growth in number of cyberattacks, 70% of organizations are increasing their investments in cybersecurity solutions. Worldwide cybersecurity spending is estimated to grow by 3–6% reaching a scenario of $ 41.9 billion in 2020 (Source: Allied Market Research).
The outbreak of COVID-19 is anticipated to offer lucrative opportunities for key players operating in the global cybersecurity market. Surge in need for advanced cybersecurity solutions and the rise in ransomware & malware attacks have led to increased revenue generation. Moreover, since February 2021, IBM X-Force observed a 4,300% increase in coronavirus-themed spam. While organizations worry about newly pressing concerns such as workforce wellbeing, shift to remote work, finance availability, and resiliency of operations & supply chains, cyberattack risks are increasing. Security leaders from small & medium to large enterprises need to continue their focus on entire threat lifecycle, which includes planning and detection, in-the-moment response, and recovery.
This is expected to help prepare additional unforeseen scenarios. As per industry experts, companies are seeking CyberTech, which can help protect their data, provide end-to-end security across multiple environments, new authentication methods, monitoring services, and most importantly re-imagine their risk assessment. The trends that are anticipated to offer lucrative opportunities for the cybersecurity market in the future include enhancing digital trust, heightened device & network security, enabling security operation centers (SOC), and re-prioritizing risk assessment & securing the content where it resides.
Recent news in the cybersecurity industry during the pandemic
With disrupting effects of coronavirus on various companies in 2020, many cybersecurity vendors are adopting various business and marketing strategies, including innovating their product portfolio and trying to come up with more advanced & suitable solutions as per client needs. For instance, in September 2020, Mandiant announced the launch of new cybersecurity services to support Microsoft technologies. These new services bring together Mandiant’s expertise and intelligence with Microsoft security products to provide an unprecedented level of security capabilities for customers. Moreover, Vodafone Business is joining forces with one of the leading players in the cybersecurity market. In addition, Accenture is expected to help European businesses in making their cybersecurity up-to-date. Such partnerships would allow smaller companies to protect themselves with advanced solutions that may otherwise be beyond their comprehension. Furthermore, in November 2020, Ping Identity, an intelligent identity solutions provider, acquired Symphonic Software, an authorization solutions provider, to help enterprises prevent cyber frauds and enhance their cybersecurity posture.
