Integration Leads to Firewall/VPN Growth, says In-Stat

May 6, 2003 -- (FIND VPN) -- According to a report released this week by research organization In-Stat/MDR (InStat.com), firewall and virtual private network technology continue to face significant product changes, despite the growing demand for security appliances.

In-Stat/MDR says the most significant change for combination firewall/VPN appliances is the integration of new security technologies, like intrusion detection and protection and application layer filtering. The report also says the line between networking equipment and security devices is blurring as routing and WLAN functions continue to be integrated into the devices.

According to the report, the overall market for security appliances has not been affected by the economic downturn as significantly as other networking equipment markets.

"The continued threat of hacker and other malicious attacks has compelled companies to take a more serious approach to securing their networks," says Jaclynn Bumback, an Analyst with the high-tech market research firm. "As a result, the firewall/VPN appliance market is healthy, and is expected to grow to $4.1 billion by 2007, with the majority of the growth in revenues coming from the low-end market."