07/11/2012 -

The global cybersecurity market is expected to reach $120.1 billion by 2017, nearly twice its current size of $63.7 billion, according to areportby the Dallas-based research and consulting firm MarketsandMarkets. The increase would represent an annual compound growth rate (CAGR) of 11.3 percent from 2012 to 2017, the study said.

Cyberspace is becoming an ever-important part of people’s lives, the report notes. It’s also powered by a gamut of devices and applications that have made it vulnerable to threats from people and groups including students, spies, hackers, propagandists, and terrorists. Cybersecurity is also becoming animportant aspect of the military realm. This has helped make battles “fought in cyberspace as imperative as battles occurring on the ground.”

In 2011, the North American market accounted for about 40.1 percent of global revenue, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.2 percent from 2012 to 2017. For Western Europe and for Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member states, the market is expected to grow to $28.1 billion and $25.9 billion, respectively. The CAGR in Europe over the five-year period would be about 10.1 percent; it would be about 13.4 percent for APEC members.

Spending by the private sector is greater than that of governmentsin every country except the United States, according to the report, where spending is about equal.

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