The continuing recession, the aftermath of the Gulf War and the decline of Communism in Eastern Europe have combined to create instability in the European information technology market. The European Market for Information Technology Security Products and Services, a new report published by Frost & Sullivan International, says that the above factors are slowing growth in many computer security companies and resulting in redundancies. Nonetheless, the political and economic uncertainties of the past two years will be outweighed by increasing awareness of security issues and new legislation, standards and regulatory bodies. The report looks at the prospects for computer security throughout Europe for four major product and service sectors by end-user groups. It details trends in risk analysis, risk management and standards and legislation. Security software will show fastest growth, soaring to $1,375m by 1995. Consultancy work will be worth $400m, application hardware some $220m and network security at $145m. The European computer security market was estimated to be worth $866m in 1991, but it should reach $2,140m by 1995. Financial services will remain the largest end-user, expanding from $405m in 1991 to $1,037m by 1995. Governments and petrochemical industries, worth $485m and $283m respectively during 1991, are expected to double in size. Frost & Sullivan reckons that the development of the EC initiative, Information Technology Security Evaluation Criteria, will be hugely influential, and while Smart Cards have become the accepted medium for token-user verification, advances are expected in the area of management tools for user verification. The need for better personal computer security is well-known, and as with security overall, the user requirement is expected to drive suppliers towards a standard approach. The impetus to network security is expected to be via increasing use of shared X25 networks, and encryption is perceived as the most satisfactory method. Germany is forecast to overtake the UK as European leader in value terms, representing 23.5% and 21.5% respectively by 1995. France, Italy and the Benelux countries come in at 8.9%, 8.6% and 8.4% in the same order. The report costs a daunting $3,400 and further information is available from Frost & Sullivan’s London office.
