One swallow does not a summer make

Experts from Gartner have said that the recent 'froth' of M&A activity in the security space does not constitute a 'trend'.   While 'one swallow does not a summer make'  I would contend that this is in fact a trend and that it set to hold for at least another year.  

Why?

Well first of all the 'froth' was in fact more like a large set of Atlantic rollers breaking on the Cape coast!!!
 Consider the number of deals that have taken place in the last 6 months ( see previous blog) crowned by the recent announcement by HP of its acquisition of Arcsight for $1.5bn.


"  Hewlett-Packard has agreed to buy high-end technology security company ArcSight for $1.5bn to profit from its customers’ increasing concerns about protecting their data from hackers.
The cash offer of $43.50 a share for Silicon Valley neighbour ArcSight was more than 50 per cent above where the company was trading before reports last month that it was courting buyers. It values the equity at $1.5bn, or six times projected annual revenue."  

(http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e7ace394-bec1-11df-a755-00144feab49a.html)

Secondly see this article also in the FT on how ;


"  More companies expect to increase spending on technological defenses against security breaches than had forecast such a boost in any of the previous five years, a global survey of more than 12,000 executives shows."  
(http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6c0aa96e-bf76-11df-965a-00144feab49a.html) 

When considered alongside the news today that : 

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- PandaLabs, Panda Security's
anti-malware laboratory, has discovered that hackers are creating 57,000
new websites each week that exploit approximately 375 high-profile brand
names worldwide at any time. These findings are based on a three-month long
study conducted by PandaLabs of its global malware database. Notably, eBay
and Western Union-related URLs comprise 44 percent of all malicious sites,
with Visa, Amazon, Bank of America and PayPal also heavily targeted by
cybercriminals.


You have to say that security is a growth industry and why would the 'Trend' not continue ???

Have a great weekend.

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