The global security market is expected to reach $2.1bn (£1.3bn) in 2013 and $3.1bn in the next two years, new research from analyst firm Gartner has revealed.
Gartner research director Ruggero Contu said that the cloud-based security market remains a viable one, offering providers many opportunities for expansion.
"Encryption will be a new area of growth, but it remains a complex activity," Contu said.
"The strongest interest will be in encryption products from cloud security brokers, which are relatively easy to deploy and have options for on-premises encryption management."
The firm also predicts that email and web security services and identity and access management (IAM) would be the top three most popular cloud services.
By 2014, firewalls with cloud-based tokenisation, encryption and other security applications are expected to experience the highest growth.
Gartner principal research analyst Kelly Kavanagh said: "The benefits cloud security offers — particularly encryption — are making it an increasingly popular choice.
"However, trust concerns and regional variations mean that providers will have to assess each market opportunity carefully before deciding which to focus on."
The adoption of cloud-based security controls will be boosted by implementation of software as a service (SaaS) applications and other cloud-based services, while managed security services (MSS) are also driving the implementation of cloud-based security services among enterprises.
MSS delivery models are also hit with demand for cloud-based security services, which would enable security providers to become actual MSS players.
"The benefits of deploying cloud-based security services are clear," Kavanagh added.
"Aside from the broad area of IAM, specific controls, such as encryption, are becoming vital to the adoption of cloud computing. They are further helping to generate interest in this particular form of security service delivery."
During the next two years, new security-as-a-service-based offerings that deal with specific security controls for cloud-based IT resources would be offered from larger IT and network service providers, initially targeted at SMBs.
It is also projected that smaller, pure-play managed security service providers (MSSPs) will be highly hit with the launch of these services.
SMBs are also responsible for driving the interest in cloud-based security within the IAM space and the rise in number of businesses planning to adopt cloud-based IAM services to restore IAM on-premises tools.
"Although organisations’ interest in encryption is expected to grow, service providers’ relative lack of interest in cloud-based encryption means it has remained a complex activity, requiring organizations to initiate complex, build-your-own deployments," Contu added.
"The strongest interest is in encryption products from cloud security brokers, thanks to their relative ease of deployment and their options for on-premises encryption management.
"Nevertheless, Gartner expects cloud hosting providers and IaaS providers to show an increased interest in cloud-based encryption capabilities."
