Will the cyber security market hit £120 billion by 2020?

The security market is expected to exceed £120 billion by 2020 as online security becomes a greater priority for businesses, according to analyst firms.

Consulting firm, MarketsandMarkets, have estimated the cyber security market to grow to £120 billion by 2020, at a compound annual growth rate of 9.8% from 2015 to 2020. Gartner, another market research firm, also expected a growth with a predicted global IT security expenditure of $101 billion (£71 billion) by 2018.

The global spend is due to the increasing demand of security technologies like intrusion detection systems, data leak prevention and compliance management. Other contributing factors to the market growth are down to security services like consultancy fees, hardware support and outsourcing IT support. This includes large sum cyber-security deals and investments from businesses to keep their data and services safe, secure and protected.

"Explosive increase in cyber threats is backed by factors such as increasing mobile and web usage and social media, among others." said MarketsandMarkets in their security report. "Considering this, every sector has a wide scope for cyber security requirement. Organisations are looking for integrated security solutions these days to cater their various security needs through one platform for cost benefits and to reduce complications."

The report also expects North America and Europe to have the largest markets on the basis of spending and adoption of cyber-security solutions and services.