London UK, 27 April 2010: Apollo Research’s latest report on how the media cover security shows an increasing interest in hacking, with hacking’s profile up seven per cent. When size of audience for the coverage is factored in, the jump is even more pronounced – the result of more mainstream media turning their attention to the issue.
Hacking is just one of many topics within a media landscape reflecting an increasingly diverse and sophisticated set of threats. At the same time, the picture emerges of a highly competitive security industry vying to provide solutions to the threats.
The top ten companies in terms of security-related media coverage over the past six months were as follows:
1. Microsoft
2. Google
3. Symantec
4. Apple
5. McAfee
6. Sophos
7. Kaspersky
8. Vmware
9. Trend Micro
10.Panda
It is noticeable that Microsoft, Google and Apple in particular are covered for their vulnerabilities as well as the solutions they provide.
According to Apollo Research, the speed of change within media coverage of security is accelerating. One feature of the change has been spam and data protection losing ground to hacking. As Richard Laven, Research Director at Apollo, comments,
Coverage of hacking has increased significantly in the last six months, largely as a result of the hacking activity in China and the conviction of Albert Gonzalez, and we fully expect this to be a key topic both at this year’s Infosecurity Europe and beyond.
In addition to commenting on the key players associated with the show, Apollo Research has issued a warning about the lack of opportunity in the general market. As Laven concludes,
Our latest report on the sector shows that the complexity of the market is restricting opportunities for those outside of the top ten to be heard. With success in the industry largely dependent on articulating credible responses to emerging threats, the fact that 40.2 per cent of the coverage is by only ten industry players is a worrying trend.
Kaynak : 