The Covid-19 pandemic has caused structural changes in the way we live and work. We are not only facing a worldwide health crisis but we are also adapting ourselves to an unprecedented situation. While many travel and face-to-face gatherings are being limited or adapted as one of the main measures to stop the spread of the virus, people are now moving their lives and activities (including study and work) to the digital world.
The digital transformation bubble
In the last months, students have had to attend online lessons via video conference and find ways to effectively deliver their homework. Consumers have had to concentrate a large portion of their entertainment and shopping habits to purely online services. Moreover, a significant number of companies have been forcefully pushed to adapt their products and services to better serve the new consumer trend brought about by these structural shifts.
In this context, the increasing adoption of a remote workforce will demand the development of digital and technological solutions to overcome the challenges ahead. Here is where cybersecurity plays a vital role. Not only does management need to protect their companies from cyber threats but must also ensure business continuity.
Cybersecurity has emerged as a relevant topic due to the sharp increase in cyber attacks in the last months. Successful cyberattacks have been the result of either companies not being properly prepared or failure of the responsible individuals to address such possibilities. According to McKinsey’s latest insight on the topic, some of the major vulnerabilities are the following:
- Working from home, using personal devices and tools that might transform into a cyber risk as a result of these devices not being controlled or secured by their respective organizations.
- Social-engineering ploys, including impersonation, vishing, phishing, and smishing to perpetrate scams.
- Use of websites with weak security to deliver malware.
- The lack of control or security of digital resources (websites, internal systems) from organizations in the public sector.
Hence, as the outbreak progressed, many organizations, charities, companies, and individuals have fallen prey to cybercriminals as they have taken advantage of these uncertain times to exploit some of these vulnerabilities. According to the Cybersecurity And COVID-19: The First 100 Days article published in Forbes, “between January and March (…) spam and opportunistic detections increased by 26.3%, while impersonation was up 30.3%, malware by 35.16% and the blocking of URL clicks by 55.8%”.
Cybersecurity is key
The Cybersecurity market was projected in 2017 to grow at an estimated 10% from 2017 until 2023 as per Statista. However, the need and evolution of the industry had resulted in such figures to underestimate the industry’s actual results. For example, as per the figures estimated back in 2017, the projected market size of the industry in 2019 would be about USD 167 billion. The industry’s actual market size in 2019 was about USD 183 billion according to the Covid-19 Impact On Cybersecurity Market report by Markets and Markets. This divergence in figures was pre-Covid-19, demonstrating the potential market size this industry can have in the coming years.
With the ongoing crisis, cybersecurity companies will become more relevant. The current health crisis has fast worded and increased the urgency in making sure our systems are well prepared. Cybersecurity companies will be the key entities that will help to create solutions and infrastructure to stop the exploitation of security vulnerabilities and reinforce the digital transformation of many businesses. In fact, this industry is expected to grow from USD 183 billion in 2019 to an estimated USD 230 billion by 2021. A growth that will be attributed to the increasing demand for solutions and infrastructure to guarantee the operation of remote workforces, government institutions, and, in the end, to adapt to the new normality that we’ll have to live from now on.
At BITA our team of analysts is constantly scavenging the investment landscape for all thematic opportunities that will be of importance to investors. Cybersecurity as a thematic investment theme had been identified in early 2018 and by the end of the year, BITA had launched its own cybersecurity index. Since the start of 2018, the BITA US Cybersecurity Giants Index has outperformed the S&P 500 TR index by an estimated 39.0%. The index is composed of the largest 25 publicly listed US companies, with a direct revenue exposure (above 50% of revenues) to the cybersecurity industry.
At BITA, we use a transparent, consistent, and straightforward construction process that ensures true exposure to megatrends. Moreover, our state-of-the-art index development software allows us to be very flexible and quick in designing and implementing innovative passive solutions for our clients.
To learn more about BITA’s real-time data products visit our website at http://www.bitadata.com or contact us at info@bitadata.com.
Sources:
“Cybersecurity And COVID-19: The First 100 Days”. forbes.com. Retrieved 2019–05–11.
“Cybersecurity’s dual mission during the coronavirus crisis”. Mckinsey.com. Retrieved 2019–05–11.
“Covid-19 Impact On Cybersecurity Market”. Marketsandmarkets.com. Retrieved 2020–05–11.
“Size of the cybersecurity market worldwide, from 2017 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)”. Statista.com. Retrieved 2020–05–11.
