The 2017 Global Cybersecurity market is valued at more than $400 billion, with the consumer anti-virus segment alone valued at $25 billion. Usage of the internet is becoming ever more omnipresent, with markets such as IoT are driving ever more connectivity. Growth in the cybersecurity sector is significant and sustained, with an estimated CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 9.5% between 2016 and 2021. Such a high-value market coupled with sustained growth is ideal for investors looking for a lucrative value proposition.
The main opportunities in the consumer cybersecurity marketplace reside in the weaknesses created by an industry focused on existing threats, not future malware. Cybercrime evolves rapidly, and any system designed to face this threat must be designed to evolve rapidly. However, the monolithic nature of institutions tasked with this problem makes it difficult for them to offer the flexibility needed to surmount these challenges both quickly and efficiently.
An Emphasis on Future Threats
Traditional methods of virus protection rely on users installing anti-virus software. It searches and identifies malware using a database of signatures the provider has to compare to.
Files with executable code are analyzed, and their threat level is determined using a heuristic analysis method. These heuristic decisions are made using a previously developed algorithm, which is frequently left lagging in updates. Standard signatures are not used with the heuristic method.
A more advanced method of protection is code emulation. Here a virtual machine (VM) simulates the CPU and memory management systems then executes the code on the VM in order to look for unintended or unaccounted for effects. This enables one to test and observe the effects of malicious code without making the non-virtual machine vulnerable. Additionally, with behavioral analysis technology, one can evaluate entire sequences of actions from the malware, thereby significantly increasing the efficiency of the anti-virus software.
These measures may be sufficient for prevention of known cyber threats, but they are are not adequate for emerging malware. Virus protection often requires prompt and regular, regardless of particular software capabilities or which method they employ. Otherwise, the risk of security breaches increases significantly.
High costs for consumers
The cost to consumers is usually in the range of $50+ per year, with relatively low threat detection efficacy. No individual anti-virus product can offer “ideal protection.” Vendors specialize in a particular threat type, and enterprise solutions involve much more resource intensive processes such as emulation that are too expensive and time consuming for the consumer market. The average Industry-leading detection rates for anti-virus companies today are not more than 95% reactively and 80% proactively:
Other statistics are even less encouraging:
At the same time, Cyber-security does not come cheap - a typical Kaspersky Labs, NOD32, or Symantec product cost around $50 annually. LevelNet plans to offer a $0.99 annual cost for its premium service. Companies today spend upwards of 25% of their IT budget on Cyber-security. The market is hungry for solutions that can improve quality and lower the cost footprint.
