Security Software Revenues Up Nearly 15 Percent

Revenues rose to $7.4 billion in 2005 from $6.4 billion the prior year, Gartner said. Antivirus software revenue totaled $4 billion last year, accounting for 54.3 percent of the total.

"Security spending remained a priority for organizations in 2005, and the industry will continue to experience strong growth for the next few years as compliance and government regulations continue to play a significant role in security spending decisions," Gartner analyst Nicole Latimer-Livingston said in a statement.

Symantec continued to lead the security software market, accounting for more than 32 percent of worldwide revenue last year. In the antivirus segment, Symantec sales accounted for almost 54 percent of the market.

A distant second in the market was McAfee with a share of more than 12 percent, followed by Trend Micro, 8.5 percent; CA, nearly 6 percent; and IBM, 4 percent.