GCC spending on security software put at $44.31m

Three-fourths of the regional spending on IT security software originated in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as the overall GCC market clocked in at $44.31 million last year.

Advanced technologies like security 3A - for authentication, authorisation and administration - and intrusion detection solutions enjoyed more prevalence in the Kingdom and the UAE, while low-complexity products like antivirus and firewalls dominated security software spending in the other Gulf countries.

Overall, the secure content management (specifically anti-virus software) segment overshadowed the rest of the market with a 57.2 per cent share of spending.

"When the time comes to choose security products, many regional CIOs prefer to stick with easily understood, proven technologies such as firewalls and anti-virus and avoid deploying more innovative technologies like intrusion detection and authentication," said Heini Booysen, senior analyst with IDC Middle East and North Africa.

"The general feeling tends to be that the more complex the system, the more likely it is to be misconfigured leading to security holes, vulnerabilities, and exploits."

"The Gulf States security market is in many ways showing signs of immaturity, and there is still a severe lack of awareness of the potential risk of security attacks.

"Regional organisations still largely perceive security as a grudge-purchase that implies companies often spend in a reactive manner. In other words, only when actual security breach occurs, will companies react."

Over the next five years, IDC expects the Gulf States security software market to expand at a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.5 per cent to reach $161.67 million by 2007.

Major growth will come from secure content management, security 3A and intrusion detection and vulnerability assessment software.

Growth in the region will be driven by the increasing need for companies to do business online, the success of e-government initiatives, growth in popularity of online banking and the "alarming growth" of security attacks.