Firewall vendors saw their revenue grow nearly 150% in the fiscal year 1996/1997, according to a new IDC report. The research company says the rapid growth of the firewall market was driven by businesses upgrading their security systems as the internet entered daily use. IDC also found that the use of multiple firewalls on intranets, extranets and virtual public networks (VPNs) is growing. The report predicts that world firewall revenues will reach $1.8 billion by 2002. The United States will remain the biggest market but Europe and Asia are expected to grow much more quickly. Of vendors active in 96/97, Check Point Software Technologies led the market with a 23% share of sales, followed by Cisco Systems, Axent Technologies, Network Associates and Cyberguard.
