According to a new Juniper Research report – ‘Endpoint Security for Business: Desktops, Laptops & Mobile Devices 2009-2014' – the value of data on corporate mobile handsets, and the need to protect it, will boost the number of corporate devices using security software to 77.7 million by 2014, even though an anticipated flood of malware that was expected to hit the mobile device has not materialised.
The report also found that Europe will dominate the market for mobile security, owing to its thriving smartphone market, followed by US, China and South East Asia.
"Improvements to the underlying security of the mobile operating system, shorter replacement cycles and concerted efforts by the mobile industry to avoid the problems seen in the PC world have so far kept the malware threat to the mobile device at bay," says Anthony Cox, Senior Analyst at Juniper Research.
However, the report notes that the increasing value of information held on the mobile device will be a significant factor in driving the uptake of security on the corporate mobile handset.
Further findings from the Endpoint Security research include:
- Security software manufacturers have focused on the need for Encryption and device locking and remote-wipe features
- Protection will be higher in developed markets with both Western Europe and North America at the forefront, largely on the back of companies' obligations to abide by data protection legislation
- Corporate mobile device protection levels will rise from 5.6% in 2008 to 18.6% in 2014
The report, which includes major analysis of both mobile and Endpoint security (desktops and laptops) contains comprehensive six year forecasts for key security parameters including Basic antivirus and firewall security; Encryption and advanced authorisation functions; Advanced firewalls, Intrusion detection and prevention, Virtual private networks (VPN); Security policy management, endpoint security updates and provision; Security of corporate mobile devices.