Mobile Security Market

The rapid growth within the mobile security market is a reflection of modern enterprise business approaches.

More than 50% of business PCs are mobile, according to IBM. Employees are connecting to corporate networks across multiple types of mobile devices through many endpoints, and enterprises are increasingly relying on Internet of Things (IoT) devices to gather and report data related to their products and services. 

Mobile security is often linked to mobile device management (MDM) and includes tools related to authentication (biometric security features, PIN management, password management and screen lock patterning, for example). 

This review of the mobile security market provides insights into the key drivers impacting its growth and identifies the primary industries and regions utilizing mobile security solutions. It also touches on key vendors and a few typical mobile security use cases.

Mobile security today

Markets and Markets expects the global mobile security market to grow from $3.0 billion in 2019 to $7.2 billion by the end of 2024, which represents a CAGR of 19.4%. 

Within the larger global mobile security market, a few specific segments are expected to make up the majority of this growth: endpoint detection and response (EDR) and cloud-based mobile security. 

The EDR segment is a faster-growing segment due to an increase in cyber threats impacting mobile devices. Endpoint detection allows organizations to monitor various potential network entry points, including those open to mobile connections. Cloud-based mobile security solutions offer organizations increasingly popular access to web-based management tools, including remote IT access. 

Key growth drivers

Apart from an overall increase in enterprise mobile device adoption, several drivers are impacting growth within the mobile security market. Leading key growth drivers include:

• Increase in mobile payments
• Rising security need due to increase in enterprise bring your own device (BYOD) programs

Primary industries

Grandview Research identifies several primary industries that benefit from mobile security investments.

The company estimates that the IT segment held the largest market share among the leading industries, holding a market share of 21.7% in 2019. Other primary industries include:

• Banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI)
• Telecom
• Retail
• Health care
• Government and defense
• Manufacturing

Grandview expects the health care industry to expand at the highest CAGR over the next few years. 

Adoption by region

North America holds the highest market share among the major global mobile security market regions at 41.1%.

However, Grandview expects the Asia Pacific (APAC) region to grow at the highest CAGR over the next several years, in part because Asian countries like China, Singapore, and Japan have been investing large amounts of their federal budgets to developing national cybersecurity defenses, including mobile cybersecurity. 

Grandview also identifies North America as the most significant revenue contributor to the global mobile security market. 

See more: Key Cybersecurity Trends 2021

Benefits of mobile security

Shoring up mobile security should be a key priority for any enterprise or organization that conducts business across mobile devices. The risk of data theft and malware is significant and costly, especially when bad actors access endpoints to launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks resulting in downtime. Because employee mobile access points are often unsecure, especially when employees use their own devices to access company assets, investing in mobile security is a must. 

Reducing enterprise IT administration burden is another key benefit of investing in mobile security solutions. Being able to remotely access enterprise data in a safe environment is a major benefit, as is the automation of tasks like password management, which can be handled with mobile security authentication tools. 

Mobile security use cases

One of the most common use cases for mobile security is within MDM programs, especially for organizations with BYOD policies that allow employees to access the company network on their personal devices. 

Mobile security is also an important component of data privacy regulatory compliance. In order to meet the standards laid out by various global and regional mandates, organizations need to safeguard data however it is accessed.

Other typical mobile security use cases include:

• Video streaming content 
• Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI)
• Authentication (employee and customer-facing)
• Patient monitoring
• Workforce management
• Electronic healthcare record (EHR) management
• As an add-on to security incident and event management (SIEM) platforms

Mobile security vendors

These 10 companies represent the majority of the mobile security market share. 

• Microsoft
• CrowdStrike
• Symantec
• Trend Micro
• Sophos
• McAfee
• Kaspersky
• VMWare
• IBM
• BlackBerry

Conclusions

While there are many drivers and factors at play within the mobile security market, companies and enterprises adopting BYOD policies likely stand to benefit the most. While the COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated the rate of remote work adoption, including on mobile devices, mobile device usage among employees has been steadily growing for several years. 

In order to maintain the benefits of these arrangements (geographic flexibility and employee satisfaction, for example), enterprises will need to carefully consider how they are approaching mobile security. Ideal solutions safeguard enterprise data while protecting employee privacy.

See more: Best Threat Intelligence Platforms for 2021