S. America cybersecurity spend set to grow

• Tweet

SANTIAGO, Chile, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Cybersecurity products and services are geared for a major growth in Latin America over the next year, with a surge in spending already in evidence, current industry data indicated.

Regional interest in cybersecurity has increased with rising development expenditure and multibillion-dollar government and private sector investment in high-value projects in aviation, defense, oil and natural gas, hydroelectric power generation, transport and border security.

Demand for high-end information technology, defense and security hardware and software has drawn international manufacturers, suppliers and security experts to Latin America.

The market for purchases of information technology goods and services by business and government will go through two transitions during the period, the Global Tech Market Outlook For 2012 and 2013 report predicted.

The report by Andrew Bartels identified Latin America as a major growth area alongside the Asia Pacific region.

"Fast growth in emerging markets like Asia Pacific and Latin America has partially offset a struggling Europe," Bartels said in the report. "Vendors will focus more on the potential of emerging markets in 2012."

South American buyers and vendors showed up in significant numbers at England's Farnborough Air Show, which brought together not only aviation and defense experts but also security industry businesses.

Subsequent shows in Brazil and Chile and a forthcoming event in Puerto Rico reinforced business leaders' view that Latin America would see further cybersecurity growth in the coming months.

Analysts said the industry was also seeing a major shift from older technologies like servers, routers and desktop computers to mobile devices, analytics and advanced software.

Latin American companies, with cash infusions from governments, especially in Brazil and Chile, have turned attention to acquiring technological capacity they can turn around and exploit as new avenues for business activity and exports.

Niksun Inc., a major U.S. manufacturer and provider in real-time and forensics-based cybersecurity and network monitoring solutions, announced it is hosting a customer and partner event next week in Puerto Rico as part of its strategy to position itself in Latin America and the Caribbean.

"Entering the Caribbean and Latin America region is part of our strategy to continue that growth. After all, cyberwarfare has no borders," Niksun Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Parag Pruthi said.

The company cited a Forrester Research study that said, "Fast growth in emerging markets like Asia Pacific and Latin America has partially offset a struggling Europe," and vendors would likely focus more on the potential of emerging markets in 2012.

A World Wide Security and Mobility Conference July 9-11 in Princeton, N.J., highlighted recent high profile cyberattacks that have cost industry and governments billions of dollars.

"The amount of money costing companies and governments from even a minor data breach is staggering," Pruthi said at the conference.

A report by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, which has headquarters in Washington, noted Latin American awareness of cybersecurity risks is growing.

"While demonstrably the expansion of Internet usage (in Latin America) has not rivaled that of the United States, Europe, or some Asian states like South Korea and Japan, the growth of the Internet in the region continues at a steady tempo," said the report by W. Alex Sanchez, a research fellow at the council.

"Additionally, we are witnessing a rise in the importance of cybersecurity as cases of hacking and other cybercrimes proliferate," Sanchez added.