Security Stays Strong

The fact is, malware covers a whole lot of nasty territory. Among the most pressing IT security concerns named by survey respondents are such lovely, malware-associated threats as viruses, info-stealing keyloggers, fast flux botnets, Trojans, Zero-day exploits and, of course, the organized cybercrime networks that deploy all of the above.

It's no surprise that antimalware products remain as huge a part of most solution providers' security portfolios as they have for years. But a few new wrinkles have been added to the antimalware story in recent times.

"People are being compromised by drive-by spyware, botnets and malicious sites, in general, all leading to data loss," said Kevin Pouche, COO of IT security firm K logix Corp., Brookline, Mass. "It's a very confusing market right now, and I think the Web is the No. 1 vector that companies are getting hit the hardest by."

Pouche thinks that vendors with a strong focus on Web-based malware proliferation have the brightest future.

One emerging security segment that solution providers said will grow quickly is Unified Threat Management with appliances that pack in multiple security technologies and typically go heavy on antimalware. Pouche called UTM appliances "tailor-made" for small to midsize business, but cautioned against trying to sell larger companies such all-in-one IT security solutions.

"On unified threat management, there can be a false security thing," he said. "I tell my customers, your biggest problem is always going to be your users."

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