Antivirus war hots up with monthly plans

Security as a Service is the latest offering for those looking to secure their networks

BANGALORE: After Software as a Service (SaaS), the latest buzz in the market is Security as a Service. Taking a cue from the fast-growing hosted software service model where the customer is spared of buying software upfront, antivirus firms are offering customers the choice of monthly rentals and lower on-demand pricing for the protection they offer.

This isn’t all, to stand out among competition, some companies are going a step ahead and, for a small price, even offering virtual storage space for online backup of data and sharing. With more than 400 viruses said to be doing the rounds over the internet at any given point, the threat of security breaches is driving the market for antivirus products. According to US-based research firm Forrester, this market was just about $35 million last year in India. This fiscal, it is projected to grow at a robust 37.6%.

IDC, a US-based technology research firm, expects the number of devices connected to the global network to double to 3 billion by 2011.

Security as a Service spares individuals and enterprises the bother of going out to buy shrink-wrapped antivirus packages or hiring security experts. Instead, they can now leave it to their internet service providers or security firms to take care of their needs on a monthly or yearly subscription model. “Security as a Service is a rapidly growing segment and is described as one of the most impactful trends in software with a current estimated global market size of $5.71 billion, which is expected to reach $16.98 billion by 2012,” said Vishal Dhupar, the managing director of security products firm Symantec India, quoting IDC data. Symantec recently announced its intent to acquire MessageLabs, a leading provider of online messaging and web security services, to increase its penetration in the remote security management market. “Security as a Service is ideally suited for the billion-odd small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India,” said P Venugopala Raja, director (sales), F-Secure.

The Finland-based data security products firm has tied up with telecom players Tata Indicom, Reliance Communications, and Airtel for co-branded products for their subscribers. It is also partnering with Sify Broadband to sell its products online on a subscription model. “One of the problems with SMBs is that they cannot afford security experts,” Raja said. That was a gap F-Secure identified and kicked off the Security as a Service model in India. Moreover, SMBs are also arming employees with smart phones. The Bluetooth and PC synchronisation needs of these can be an invitation to malware.

Given that email is the single biggest mode of communication for most enterprises, F-Secure has set up the messaging security gateway for SMBs. “Junk email can clog up to 80% of bandwidth, creating unnecessary capacity shortages and wasting employees’ time clearing mailboxes of unwanted content,” Raja said.

p_chitti@dnaindia.net