Research Firm Predicts Federal Cyber-Security Market Surpassing $10.5 Billion by 2015

Anyone wondering what the cyber-security market will look like in the next few years may not have to wonder much anymore -- one company has issued a forecast, and there appears increased spending ahead.

Market Research Media provides consulting services and writes research reports for governments and companies. The San Francisco-based company issued a press release, the U.S. Federal Cybersecurity Market Forecast 2010-2015, in May 2009 and posted an updateon March 10, 2010. The company claims that rampant cyber-attacks and the White House's progressive stance on IT security research and development will grow the cyber-security spending at a compound annual rate of about 6.2 percent in the next six years.

No one from Market Research Media would provide comment to Government Technology for the story; a representative cited the company's desire to limit exposure.

The company's release, however, cites a comment from Sen. Thomas R. Carper, D-Md., claiming that "federal agencies have spent more on cyber-security than the entire GDP [gross domestic product] of North Korea."

Data from the company's facts and figures include:

• The share of cyber-security spending in total federal IT spending will grow from 10.5 percent in 2010 to 11.3 percent in 2015.
• The largest spenders in civilian agencies will be the departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Treasury, Transportation, Veterans Affairs and Justice.
• Total federal cyber-security spending from 2010 to 2015 is expected to reach $55 billion.
• The top categories for IT investment type are national security, mission area support, office automation and communications.
• Strong growth is expected in offensive cyber-warfare, and IP traffic surveillance and monitoring.
• A lack of qualified staff and agency turf wars may threaten deployment of IT solutions in the federal space.

The company also reports that foreign adversaries see Americans' dependency on IT as an opportunity to find exploitable weaknesses. More detailed data on these findings can be found in a Market Research Media report on the data, which is available for nearly $4,000 for a single user license, and nearly $6,000 for a global user license.