TAIPEI, TAIWAN: According to statistics of ITIS project - a project initiated by Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs and conducted by Taipei-based MIC - the scale of Taiwan's information security market would reach NT$14.2 billion (US$423.2 million; US$1=NT$33.55) in 2008.

Market scale had been forecasted to reach NT$21.8 billion (US$649.8 million) in 2011, with an average annual growth rate of 15.5 percent during this period. In 2009, 30 percent of companies in the financial and healthcare sectors are planning to increase their investment in information security.

Companies which stated that they would lower their investment in information security account for less than 10 percent. Computer virus infections and large amounts of spam email have become the two major concerns for companies.

Yi-Chih Wang, senior industry analyst, MIC, said: "Although many enterprises are cutting investments on information security-related software and hardware as part of overall budget cuts due to the weak economy, the intention of enterprises which rely heavily on IT, to invest in information security has increased. In the future, enterprises could reduce information security costs through outsourcing and SaaS (Security as a Service), while maintaining their basic demand for information security."

According to a survey on information security threats conducted by MIC, the most pressing concerns for enterprises were "computer virus infections" and "large amounts of spam email", followed by "security of employee website browsing" and "company website application security". This shows that the most important demand of enterprises is to defend themselves against security threats coming from the Internet.

Although many types of information security-related products and specialized services are currently on the market, these products and services are unable to let enterprises feel completely secure. An important focus area in the information security market in the future will be how to satisfy this need for complete security. In 2009, the need for Internet-related information security will stimulate demand for product segments such as firewalls, website content filtering, database security, data loss prevention.

It is expected that, after revisions to personal data protection laws, the damage of data leaks will not be limited to a company's brand image; they could also lead to financial losses and affect a company's operations. With the aim of protecting enterprise assets, enterprises will be stimulated to continue increasing their investments in information security products and services, pushing the growth of the overall Taiwanese information security market.