Network Security Market Digs In

Network security appliances and software revenue is going places fast, according to a new report.

Infonetics Research's latest report, "Network Security Appliances and Software," pegs the value of the market in the first quarter of 2007 at $1.17 billion. The first quarter of 2007 revenues represent a 19 percent year-over-year gain from the $987.2 million reported in the first quarter of 2006.

Jeff Wilson, principal analyst of network security at Infonetics, told internetnews.com that the figures were pretty much as expected with no major surprises.

Infonetics is now forecasting that worldwide network security revenue will hit $5.3 billion in 2010. Two years ago in a similar report, Infonetics forecast that the market would hit 6.5 billion by 2008.

"We've actually removed a few categories, primarily gateway antivirus, which is now tracked in another service," Wilson said. "Comparing the same categories, our forecast is pretty much on track from two years ago."

In the first-quarter 2007 report, Firewall and VPN software and appliances represent the lion's share of network security revenues at 87 percent of the total spend. Intrusion detection and prevention (IDS/IPS) represent the remaining 13 percent.

The big winner continues to be Cisco, which holds a 38 percent share of global network security revenue, followed by Juniper and Check Point .