Region to spend $1b on information security this year

DUBAI: Spend on information security in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) is forecast to reach $1 billion this year, up 8 per cent compared to 2013, according to Gartner, an information technology research and advisory firm.

“In terms of overall spending, we’re looking at just under $1.2 billion [Dh4.4 billion] in the next few years,” said Eric Paulak, managing vice-president of infrastructure protection at Gartner, an information technology research and advisory firm. He was speaking at the Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit in Dubai on Monday.

“Financial services, oil and gas, governments — they’re the ones that are buying most of what’s out there in the marketplace,” he added.

Network security equipment and security services are expected to account for 75 per cent of enterprise spend this year, and this trend is expected to continue through 2018. Managed security services make up 16 per cent of all security services spending in Mena, compared to 35 per cent globally. “The vast majority of money that is being spent on security in the region is on very traditional equipment — lots of firewalls, intrusion prevention,” Paulak said.