The worldwide market for security server appliances grew by 22 percent in the third quarter, and is expected to continue increasing next year, a market research firm said Thursday.. . .
The worldwide market for security server appliances grew by 22 percent in the third quarter, and is expected to continue increasing next year, a market research firm said Thursday.

Revenue from high-tech systems used to protect corporate networks reached $379.1 million, compared to $311.02 million during the same period last year, International Data Corp. said.

Within the overall market, the intrusion detection appliance segment posted an 89 percent growth rate, but the firewall and virtual private network market remained the largest segment, with $317.7 million in factory revenues in the quarter.

"IDC expects the security appliance market -- particularly the intrusion detection appliance market -- to continue its strong growth in 2004," IDC analyst Charles Kolodgy said in a statement. "A number of new security appliance options have been introduced to the market and this appears to be fueling some of the growth."

The increasing threat of virus attacks on the Internet can't hurt either. Security experts predict spam, for example, will climb next year as a percentage of total e-mail from its current average rate of 50 percent to as much as 75 percent. Many spammers are adopting virus techniques to distribute messages more effectively, increasing their threat to consumers and businesses.

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