Worldwide security software revenue registered a 7.9% rise to $19.2b during 2012, compared to $17.7bn recorded in 2011, according to a report from Gartner.
According to the report, the emergence of new threats and working practises like bring your own device (BYOD) pushed companies to spend on security software.
Gartner research director Ruggero Contu said that, although the 2012 security market continued to grow, not all regions experienced the high double-digit growth, which was driven by greenfield projects and buoyant economies.
"As expected, Western Europe remained the laggard due to economic uncertainties and fragility and also due to the impact of dollar-to-euro conversion," Contu said.
Symantec led the security software market with 2.6% increase in revenue to $3.75bn during the year, followed by McAfee with 37% growth to $1.7bn, while the third position was occupied by the Trend Micro that recorded 2.7% drop in revenue.
According to the report, spending on security software was also driven by increase in demand for remote access by employees, requiring organisations to safeguard off-premises applications and data with the new client devices.
"The rise of midmarket demand presents a new challenge for participants in the security space, as SMB requirements are different from those of larger enterprises.
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"Security buyers from SMBs are increasingly considering security as a service as an alternative for deploying security technologies, particularly for areas such as email and Web security, which is leading to more market consolidation and more competitive pricing as established players acquire pure-play cloud-based specialists across the security landscape."
