Security Needs Vary for Each Industry Vertical

IT managers cannot ignore secure content management (SCM), but needs vary greatly for each industry vertical, according a new report from research firm IDC.

The report says there are significant differences between verticals, such as defining business pain points, as well as the drivers and concerns for deploying this particular software.

SCM is no longer just about spam. For vendors it’s a global, US$5 billion-plus market covering spyware, phishing and other malicious code.

IDC Australia security solutions market analyst Patrik Bihammar said due to these vertical differences, vendors must have a good understanding of industry-specific trends, drivers, regulations, spending intentions and business processes in order to be successful in selling to various verticals.

“While finance, telecommunications and government are high-spending verticals, vendors should also look for opportunities outside these segments in order to grow and maintain market share,” Bihammar said.

“The markets of manufacturing, services, health care and education are all attractive segments. They are, however, smaller in size, and the opportunity in some verticals is limited.

“As a result, vendors may need to balance issues around cost of sale to gain market share.”

E-mail pipelines will continue to be a favorite target for malicious attacks at a time when IT departments are tasked with preventing information leakage, meeting compliance standards and ensuring spam does not clog networks, servers and inboxes.

As much as 80 percent of e-mail is spam, and IDC believes that more than three-quarters of all corporate machines are infected with various forms of spyware.

CipherTrust ANZ regional manager Robert Jones says not all messaging security threats are inbound.

“Solutions need to cover outbound threats to cover compliance, intellectual property and theft of confidential information,” he said.

“About 80 percent of corporate IP leakage is through e-mail; also, e-mail is involved in 85 percent of corporate litigation.”

-Sandra Rossi, Computerworld Today (Australia)

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