Cyberwar Market Worth $8.12bn In 2009
Commercial intelligence provider Visiongain have rolled out a substantial report, Cyberwarfare Market 2010-2020, for which the summary is basically:
Our analysis has concluded that worldwide spending on cyberwarfare by governments and armed forces in 2009 totalled $8.12bn.
That’s a lot of moolah, as is the £1500 the report costs, so you won’t be reading an analysis of its contents here. The report looks very comprehensive and credit to Visiongain for doing what appears to be some serious legwork. Don’t bother registering on the Visiongain site for a free sample of the report though: all the numbers are blacked out.
This is small beer compared to global defence spending over the same period, of course (and is only the equivalent of Burkina Faso’s GDP) but does indicate how heavily governments are investing in this field. It’s a growth market and I’d like to see what forecasts the report provides out to 2020, although this passage gives some clues as to what’s driving this growth:
Sales in the US are expected to have doubled by 2015. Visiongain estimates that cyberwarfare sales in the US will total [deleted] in 2020. This large increase in sales is attributable to a perception in the US of an increasing cyber threat to computer systems that are critical for meeting national security objectives. Large increases in investment are expected.
Notice the key word here? Perception. I’m not saying that there is neither a threat, nor a need to bolster defences, but the perception of threat is certainly one of the main drivers of growth. The report goes on to say, ‘the US is by far the most important national cyberwarfare market’, and ‘developments in the US government’s cyber policies in coming years are therefore likely to have a significant effect on the overall picture in the global marketplace’. Oh, say it ain’t so.
So, when it comes to a putative cyber arms control agreement between the US and Russia, will a failure to sign one be because the Russians can’t be trusted on law enforcement issues, or because the US doesn’t really want one? Or both? Would such talks even be worth the effort? On that note, reports that the US is meeting the UN disarmament wonks to discuss cybersecurity are untrue, according to the UN. All this, and perhaps cyberwar isn’t the answer anyway.
Interesting times. If you want to find out ‘how to tap into the huge potential of this exciting market’, you can do so by ordering their report, say Visiongain. All aboard the gravy train! (Particularly in Maryland.)
