Firewall and VPN gear top security spending

As security grows in importance among business networking executives, VPNs will grow in importance, too, according to a new study.

The report by In-Stat/MDR predicts that overall network security spending will jump from $2.3 billion in 2001 to $5.8 billion in 2006, with firewalls and VPN hardware representing the largest single segment. In fact, firewall/VPN security appliances will represent $3.8 billion of that 2006 figure, the In-Stat report predicts.

This is not surprising. At the same time security is heightened in importance, businesses are increasing the number of remote users by adding to the number of telecommuters and roaming users they allow onto their networks. This requires expanded remote access, and VPNs have established themselves as an inexpensive replacement for traditional dial-up remote access.

In fact, the area where VPNs will do the best is in remote access because that is the top budget item for security spending among businesses, the report says. The study doesn’t break out the Secure Sockets Layer-based remote access gear that is becoming more popular, so there are no predictions about whether it will make significant inroads against IPSec VPNs. The autor of the report, Jaclynn Bumback says she plans to break SSL remote access gear out in her next report in about three months.

 Another finding in the study is that the addition of other functionality such as antivirus screening and intrusion detection to VPN gear will push its popularity even higher, given the attractiveness of multifunction boxes to some businesses.

Those most likely to spend big on security are government agencies, healthcare providers and financial institutions, the report predicts.

In-Stat sells this report. It’s called “Network Security: A Box Any Day Keeps the Bad  Guys Away,” and it refer to it as  report #IN020175LN. Contact Courtney McEuen at cmceuen@reedbusiness.com