Research: Greater Sophistication Of Cybercrime Helping Adoption Of SIEM
Organizations have begun to implement sophisticated security products to thwart criminals both within and without the organization in the wake of escalating severity, complexity and occurrence of cyber crimes, especially those relating to online transactions. Security Information and Event Management products offer protection against malicious activity within a network by constantly monitoring and acting upon safety intrusions, thereby safeguarding an organization's virtual and physical assets.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan World Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Log Management Products Market, finds that the market earned revenues of $678.1 million in 2009 and estimates this to reach $1.3 billion in 2015.
With various options such as implementation through hardware or software appliances, and managed services, SIEM is a vital cog in the secure and smooth operation of a business' network. A combination of SIEM and logging solutions is an option that all organizations must give due consideration to.
SIEM products not only help organizations maintain and comply with security regulations, but also offer defense, along with monitoring and reporting, which allows customization and scalability.
SIEM products incorporate multiple functions such as logging, reporting, network behavior analysis and alerts through its design. The market for these products are at the maturity stage, wherein emphasis is placed on increased feature sets, easier implementation and better integration with other security products.
SIEM's product visibility has improved with higher adoption; however, the high costs of deployment and the difficulty in quantifying its return on investment (ROI) have deterred its wide-scale adoption. Despite the availability of multiple options, participants must present the ROI benefits of SIEM or log management product.
"Due to the recent economic downturn and the consequent cut in IT budgets and staff, SIEM and log management product demand has increased," sid Frost & Sullivan research analyst Richard Martinez. "Financial institutions, government agencies, and others needed a solution that allowed them to stretch their capabilities and help lockdown their networks."
While most of the Fortune 500 companies already have a SIEM system running, the mid-market adoption is slower, due to the cost of a SIEM, and thereby holds substantial opportunities. SIEM's definition and functions have become unclear with feature sets increasing and varying by vendor. This makes it imperative for customers to be better educated regarding the compatibility and scalability requirements specific to their case.
"SIEM vendors will have to create a message correlating the necessity and capabilities of a SIEM in an organization's security environment," Martinez said. "Although SIEMs are pre-packaged with a set of security features, vendors will have to market to potential and current clients based on their specific use-cases to clearly inform them of the value SIEM can lend to their security portfolio."