A network security system consisting solely of firewalls and anti-virus software is no longer viable, according to a report titled, “eSecurity: Removing the Roadblock to eBusiness,” published by research firm Datamonitor. In the past, a company could restrict access to its network to a privileged few, but today access has to be extended to a vast array of users.
Tunneling technologies provide security routes for sensitive information to travel through unsecured networks. The most important of these technologies is Virtual Private Network (VPN), which is usually used for remote access or to create a secure network connecting parties in an enterprise.
The report notes, “Authentication technologies are crucial to ensure that the parties to a communication or transaction are indeed who they claim to be. … Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is the most comprehensive of these security technologies. PKI is a framework for authentication, which combines encryption technology with third parties issuing digital certificates for identification purposes.”
According to Datamonitor, although sales of anti-virus and firewall software technology will continue to be strong, the increasingly popular PKI and VPNs will eventually supplant these technologies in sales, with the global VPN market reaching $3.9 billion by 2005.
Datamonitor also reports that content security and security management applications will rise in popularity. “eSecurity products like this will grow substantially, from a market value of $4.5 billion in 2000 to $18.5 billion in 2005,” the report states.