IBM launches new cybersecurity services
A pedestrian passes an IBM sign outside an IBM building May 10, 2005 in downtown Chicago.(Photo: Tim Boyle, Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO — IBM on Monday announced comprehensive new security software products and services for large enterprises.
While many don't realize it, computer security is actually a key part of IBM's business. If the company were to spin off its security division, it would be the third-largest computer security company in the world after Symantec and Cisco Systems, according to analysis firm IDC in Framingham, Mass.
The first new product is the IBM Threat Protection System, a security system that offers one-stop protection against cyberthreats.
The second, Critical Data Protection, works to protect what IBM calls a company's "crown jewels." These would be such things as files containing information about acquisition and divestiture plants, board deliberations and intellectual property.
IBM has written software that searches for all the various places critical information might be stashed, copied and e-mailed, to make sure there are no vulnerable copies in the system, said Kristin Lovejoy, general manager of the IBM Security Services Division in the company's McLean, Va., office.
The programs "actually go out and inspect the enterprise and identify those 1% of assets that bad guys would be really interested in. The value of that is it allow security officers to really focus their efforts around that 1%," said Edward Ferrara, principal analyst in the security and risk division at Forrester Research.
Cybersecurity represents an enormous financial liability for companies. The average cost of a reported security breach is close to $6 million for an organization, according to a report[1] IBM commissioned from the Ponemon Institute. The report was based on interviews with 500 companies internationally.
IBM's security division has shown double-digit revenue growth for six consecutive quarters, Lovejoy said.
"A lot of people don't see IBM as a security company, but they've had computer security as one of their 'pillars' since 2011," said IDC analyst Charles Kolodgy.
IBM has been buying security companies for several years. Recent acquisitions included Q1 Labs, Trusteer,Guardium, Ounce Labs, Watchfire and Fiberlink/MaaS360.
The company is already an important outsourcer for large enterprises, and security is "a key niche," said Ferrara. "It's a natural adjacent play for IBM."
It's a smart space for IBM, he said. "If you think about IBM as a global outsourcing and solutions provider, security is an absolute and critical feature for any IT service going forward."
Ferrara puts IBM "in the top five" security companies for large businesses. Other companies looking to the same market include Hewlett-Packard, Symantec, CSC and Wipro, he said.
"There are a lot of competitors in the marketplace, but IBM still is one of the largest technology companies in the world," he said. "They've applied tremendous financial resources to this and hired some really good people."
That's how they got to No. 3, said Kolodgy. "Three years ago, they were probably around number seven or eight," he said. "Their goal is to be the biggest."
References
- ^ http://www.ibm.com/services/costofbreach (www.ibm.com)