Cyber threat from China, Russia and Iran on US military and civilian networks drive cyber warfare spending

Monday 5 March 2012, Amsterdam

The global spending on cyber warfare systems is expected to remain robust over the forecast period due primarily to the increased importance of such systems in modern warfare. The formation of the US Cyber Command or USCybercom, the highest defense spender globally, highlights the importance of cyber warfare in today’s world.  The rise in new technologies such as social networks, mobile devices and cloud computing, combined with the economic downturn is driving the pace of innovation in the field of cyber warfare. Consumer driven IT has resulted in organizations losing control over their ability to manage their data by defining a perimeter. Weak economic conditions have meant that companies are striving to find ways and means to remain competitive. This is where innovation is seen to be sustaining the cyber warfare industry with sub-sectors such as identity and access management, data security and network security expected to record significant growth over the forecast period.  

North America is expected to account for the largest share of the total global cyber warfare market, representing a 46% share over the forecast period. Regional demand is primarily driven by the growing threat from Chinese, Russian and Iranian cyber attacks on US military and civilian networks

The cyber security institutional eco-system which consists of a broad set of international, national, and private organizations has unclear and overlapping boundaries as well as differing capacities due to which a comprehensive database on such malware has not been developed.

As most cyber weapons are developed in secrecy, defenders will have limited knowledge with regards to the capabilities of the weapons and will not be able to update or modify the cyber defense mechanisms accordingly.

The cyber security industry is plagued by lack of trust among different parties which further leads to data not being shared. This trend is increasingly being viewed between the public and private sectors where any possible alert is shared only amongst trusted people and not via the official channel, which prevents deep penetration of critical data and facilitates instances of cyber crime.

New technologies such as cloud computing, social networking and the proliferation of mobile devices have also resulted in an increase of cyber attacks. These factors are expected to drive the demand for cyber security programs.

With budget cuts being implemented, many countries are looking to channel their resources towards certain areas of military spending. For example the US is looking to phase out tanks and other major weapons programs and divert its spending towards IT and cyber security programs. The increase in the severity of cyber attacks and the growing size, interconnectivity, and the complexity of critical IT infrastructure is driving the demand of cyber security globally.

The range of technologies available with respect to cyber attack and cyber defense systems is evolving rapidly and this is driving the demand for cyber security systems globally. Securing cloud computing environments are expected to be a key focus in the cyber security domain over the forecast period and will continue to drive the demand for such systems.