Network Security Hardware And Software Sales Hit $1 Billion In 3Q

Worldwide revenues from the sale of network security appliances and software reached $1 billion last quarter, according to a new study from Infonetics Research.

Though this represents 1% growth over the previous quarter, network appliance and software revenues are growing at a healthy rate. Virtual private network (VPN) and firewall appliance sales accounted for 77% of the revenues, while 14% came from sales of intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion prevention systems (IPS). Gateway anti-virus products accounted for 9% of revenues. Cisco remains the overall market leader.

Infonetics forecasts a 21% overall revenue increase over the next year, with annual revenues from network security product sales to reach $6 billion by 2008. By then, IDS/IPS products will make up 15% of revenues, while the gateway anti-virus revenue share will rise to 12%.

"There is a lot of talk in the security market about 'network access control,'" Infonetics principal analyst Jeff Wilson said in a statement. "NAC is really the holy grail of network security, and is no simple feat, as it will impact all types of products, from client software, to security appliances, to network infrastructure, to the back-end. NAC implementations will drive purchases of network integrated security products, SSL VPN products, and an emerging category of NAC controller appliances, all of which we will track closely with this service moving forward."