Sophos, a global provider of network and endpoint security, has unveiled the findings of a regional study that explored the traction of integrated security in the Middle East.
According to the report, while the bulk of organisations in the region limit the number of vendors they interact with, they were just as likely to increase the number of products used within their IT infrastructure. This implies that organisations in the region typically do not follow an integrated strategy when it comes to security.
Harish Chib, vice president Middle East & Africa, Sophos, said: “IT security is a top priority for companies in this region as it can impact uptime and overall service levels. In terms of plans to deploy, there is a major focus on end-to-end coverage with advanced security systems, making it apparent that respondents want to simplify and improve control over securing their organisation’s assets.
“This is followed by plans to deploy mobile device security and cloud-specific security solutions. MEA’s mobile device proliferation is among the highest in the world, making it important to secure devices and content on devices. Increased deployment of private and public cloud services makes it critical for organisations to integrate security as a part of their cloud strategy.”
Sophos’ InfoBrief Synchronized Security Market Analysis – Middle East & Africa, created in close collaboration with the International Data Corporation (IDC), found that MEA countries represented a total security solutions market potential of $1.89bn in 2015. This figure is expected to increase at a CAGR of 9.3% to reach $2.94bn by 2020, according to IDC’s Worldwide Security Spending Guide. Additionally, close to 42% of organisations in MEA reported feeling confident of their security perimeter.
“It is clear from the responses that, in addition to threat landscape complexity, organisations do not have a holistic strategy when it comes to deploying their security solutions. With the increase in sophisticated attacks across the region, companies are now looking for smarter and simpler IT security solutions,” Chib added.
“The majority of respondents across all four countries agreed with the concept of linking network firewall and endpoint security for better insights. The acceptance is higher among larger enterprise. Synchronised security is the new key for protection against cyber threats.”
