Gartner: BYOD Initiatives Offer New Opportunities For Consumer Security Providers

PRESS RELEASE

STAMFORD, Conn., August 12, 2013 -- Consumer adoption and willingness to pay for antivirus software on mobile devices is low, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner believes that high consumer use of personal mobile devices for work purposes means security providers have an opportunity to assist enterprise bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives.

"The use of personal devices at work matches high-enterprise demand for solutions to the BYOD security problem," said Ruggero Contu, research director at Gartner. "This presents providers of both consumer and enterprise endpoint security products with an opportunity to enforce security to private devices and potentially expand their footprint into the consumer space. Consequently, product managers at consumer security providers need to adopt strategies that allow consumer security use on personal devices in the enterprise workplace."

Gartner predicts that 30% of consumer product selection criteria will be based on requirements to secure new mobile computing platforms by 2015. Product managers are advised to expand traditional endpoint consumer security product capabilities to include all mobile device platforms alongside traditional desktop and laptop offerings. Particular attention should be paid to pricing and product go-to-market models, as consumers' propensity to pay is much lower than for traditional desktops and laptops. Consumer security products should be targeted at specific audiences as gender, age and IT skills profiles are key factors in determining certain security demands and willingness to invest into certain security capabilities.

The low use of security products on new mobile platforms, combined with decreasing PC sales, will create ongoing challenges for providers in the consumer security market. Gartner estimates that the average IT-savvy consumer, with higher understanding of heavier use of IT equipment, has five or more devices at home that connect to the Internet. However, consumers are far more likely to have an antivirus program installed on their laptops and desktops while tablets, mobile phones and gaming systems that connect to the Internet are often left unprotected.

This lack of penetration of security tools among users of new mobile platforms will have significant repercussions on the consumer security market. Gartner expects the sale of new PCs and laptops to decline in favor of new mobile platforms, which will shrink the current addressable market. However, as mobile devices gain in mass popularity and as security is likely to become a higher priority in the future, new market opportunities are likely to emerge. Currently, integration of capabilities that stretch across traditional and new mobile device platforms can help providers maintain some momentum and competitiveness.

"The current awareness of security and its impact on users of mobile devices is likely to change," said Mr. Contu. "Gartner expects attacks to focus increasingly on mobile platforms as they become more popular. This is likely to make consumers show more interest in security products that address mobile devices and acquire mobile security as part of a broader consumer endpoint security platform."

The number of devices consumers currently own and are likely to own makes multidevice licensing potentially very attractive. However, this will not necessarily translate directly into consumer expenditure on stand-alone mobile device security products. Many consumers will expect ISPs and device manufacturers to provide a security option. Alternatively, they will expect to be able to deploy mobile security capabilities as an extension of their existing consumer security licenses.

Consumer preference for online antivirus products and low spending on mobile security products means security providers must use alternative methods for maintaining revenue streams. Unsurprisingly, the majority of consumers opt for unpaid products in the form of either freeware or products preinstalled on their desktops and laptops and those that do choose to pay for antivirus software often do so via online channels.

When it comes to obtaining security services for desktops and laptops, younger consumers are much more likely to turn to free antivirus software than consumers age 50 or older. People in the higher-age bracket tend to be more particular about security and are therefore more likely to purchase an antivirus package. The consumer security marketplace is already aligned to these consumer security trends and a number of security providers already increment their business revenue on alternative revenue models; for example, by raising advertising revenue, selling gaming software or monetizing on third-party relationships while offering free consumer products.

More detailed analysis is available in the report "BYOD Initiatives Offer New Opportunities for Consumer Security Providers." The report is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=2555015.

Gartner analysts will discuss compliance and regulation issues at the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit 2013, to be held from August 19-20 in Sydney, Australia, and September 18-20 in London. Details on the Australian event are at http://www.gartner.com/technology/summits/apac/security/. More information on the U.K. event is at http://www.gartner.com/technology/summits/emea/security/.

Members of the media can register for press passes to the Summits by contacting [email protected] (Sydney) or [email protected] (London).

Information from both Gartner Security & Risk Management Summits will be shared on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Gartner_inc using #GartnerSEC.

About the Gartner Security & Risk Summit 2013

Senior executives want information security and risk management to be more predictable and manageable. However, in an uncertain environment defined by disruptive technology trends, it's a challenge to anticipate the future. At the Summit, Gartner analysts will help delegates run, grow and transform security programs that account for the most recent technologies, including the cloud and mobile devices, and related privacy issues. They will also advise on how to measure and manage risk, and how to comply with global rules, regulations and laws about financial transactions and privacy.

Additional analysis on how to manage BYOD will be provided in the Gartner webinar " Bring Your Own Device Program Best Practices (BYOD)" on August 14, at 10 a.m. EDT and 1 p.m. EDT. To register for one of these complimentary webinars, please visit http://my.gartner.com/webinardetail/resId=2538515?srcId=1-2994690285.

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is a valuable partner in more than 13,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA, and has 5,500 associates, including 1,402 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.