03 Mar Cybersecurity Latin America Q4 2015
Cybersecurity Latin America
A SPECIAL REPORT FROM THE EDITORS AT CYBERSECURITY VENTURES
Q4 2015
Cybersecurity Latin America provides market sizing and industry forecasts from consolidated research by IT analyst firms, emerging trends, employment, and resources for chief information security officers (CISOs) and IT security staff.
INTERNATIONAL REPORT
Cybercrime and cybersecurity spending are on the rise in a maturing Latin American region
- The Latin American cyber security market is expected to grow from $5.29 billion in 2014 to $11.91 billion in 2019, at a CAGR of 17.6% for the period 2014 to 2019, according to research firm MicroMarket Monitor. This market contributes 5.18 percent of the global market and will slightly grow to 7.65 percent by 2019. The Brazilian cyber security market is expected to grow to $7.29 billion during this time period.
- A recent AS / COA (Americas Society / Council of the Americas) blog stated “While virtually no one anywhere is immune from a cybersecurity threat, Latin America is a vulnerable region.” The blog quoted James Bosworth, director of analysis for Southern Pulse, a Latin America-based risk and intelligence advisory group, who stated “The whole developing world is less secure in many ways because there’s so much pirated software”. AS / COA reports that in Latin America, the commercial value of pirated software is the highest in Brazil and Mexico at $2.9 and $1.2 billion, respectively, while Venezuela has the highest rate of pirated software installations at 88 percent.
- A 2014 article by Diaz Reus, a top Latin American Law Firm, stated “More than half of Latin American financial institutions have experienced some type of electronic breach of their secure information within the past 12 months, according to a recent study by Deloitte. Financial institutions in Colombia and Peru have had the largest quantity of such incidents, while Guatemala and Mexico have had the fewest.” Febraban, the Brazilian Banking Federation, says cybercrime causes 95% of losses for Brazilian banks.
- An ISACA “2015 Global Cybersecurity Status Report” states that 86 percent of Latin American respondents believe there is a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals. The report states that 40 percent of Latin American respondents expect a cyber-attack to strike their organization in 2015, and 52 percent of Latin American respondents say their organization is not prepared for a cyber-attack. The respondents from Latin America were led by Mexico with 24 percent, and Brazil with 19 percent.
- According to IT Governance USA, Brazil has the “world’s seventh largest economy and sixth largest population, with economic acceleration and technical growth second only to China.” A Martindale.com article stated “Even with losses of roughly $8 billion attributed to cybercrime, Brazil still has not enacted a general data protection law. Just last year, Brazil finally approved what has been called a “general framework for Internet regulation of certain aspects of privacy.” Seemingly a good start, but not yet likely a sufficient deterrent.” The Martingdale.com article pointed out that an increased use of malware designed to infect systems, especially in Brazil, has become a popular weapon of choice.
- The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, the premier association for the top regional, national and international commercial property/casualty insurance and employee benefits brokers worldwide, stated “Much like the rest of the globe, Latin America is experiencing significantly more data breaches and with that, increased sales of cyber insurance.” Cybersecurity firm Norton has reported that last year cybercrime cost Brazil roughly $8 billion and Mexico $3 billion. According to Javier Mercado, AIG’s financial lines regional manager, “cyber security insurance coverage is still in its “infancy” in Latin America.” Although financial institutions make up the majority of early cyber insurance adopters because of strict regulations and high levels of exposure, “there is interest in cyber protection across a wide range of industries,” throughout the continent. Furthermore, “AIG expects its cyber policy sales to grow fivefold in Latin America this year (2015), which is probably a similar figure to that in the industry as a whole.”
- A recent InformationWeek / DarkReading article stated that Brazil loses over $8 billion a year to Internet crime, making it the second-largest cybercrime generator in the world (ranking No. 1 in Latin America) – and in terms of numbers, Brazil loses over $8 billion a year to Internet crime, which is the No. 1 economic crime in the country, compared to the rest of the world, where cybercrime is ranked fourth.
- “Cybersecurity in Mexico”, published in June 2015 by PwC Mexico – which is a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwCIL) – stated “As in the rest of the world, cybercriminals in Latin America have been developing more sophisticated attacks and have adopted the methods of other criminals from other countries. Brazil suffered the most from cyber-threats in 2014, with up to 32% of users being affected by online threats. Peru and Panama were second and third on the list of countries under threat, with 28.7% and 28.5%. Mexico ranks as the second country with the largest number of cyber-attacks in Latin America, after Brazil. The constant increase in connectivity is one of the main factors that make cybercriminals direct their attacks against Mexico. In 2014, cyber-attacks have grown 40% in Mexico.”
Nexusguard Cited in Independent Research Firm’s Report Covering DDoS Service Providers
- According to Mexico News Daily, theft of passwords, electronic commerce fraud, identity theft and extortion, are among the most common forms of cyber crime in Mexico. The Mexican unit of Microsoft and Mexico’s interior ministry signed a cooperation agreement last year to fight cybercrime and collaborate in investigations.
- Several websites in connection with the World Cup were struck by distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks last year. Two websites under the administration of the Brazilian government were targeted in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack by a group of hacktivists earlier this year, according to an article in ZDNet.
- DDOS attacks witnessed an increase of 132.43% in Q2 2015 compared to the second quarter last year, and Brazil emerged as the new hub of hackers accounting to 11% of all attacks, according to DazeInfo, a leading technology, media and marketing Internet property.
- Nexusguard, a global leader in fighting malicious internet attacks, has launched a program for service providers in Latin America to deliver essential DDoS services through an innovative business model. The Nexusguard Service Provider Enablement program offers an easy-to-operate solution that enables service providers to deliver essential DDoS protection services — without the complexity of maintaining or managing mitigation appliances. By delivering carrier-grade DDoS mitigation services through its industry-leading network of globally distributed scrubbing centers, Nexusguard enables service providers to offer a flexible and scalable security solution that provides high value to their customers.
- “As the DDoS threatscape expands, we expect to see the emergence of specialty firms who are organized entirely around DDoS protection – including DDoS risk assessment, DDoS attack testing, and DDoS prevention planning” says Steve Morgan, Editor-In-Chief of the quarterly Cybersecurity Market Report published by Cybersecurity Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif. “You need to be an inch-wide and a mile-deep around DDoS to effectively combat today’s denial of service perpetrators. If you’re not working with hard-core DDoS defenders and experts, then you are bringing a knife to a gun fight. Some of the DDoS threats are that serious, and they can take a company down. We further expect to see partnerships arise between the large telecom, IT infrastructure, and managed security providers who will engage the niche DDoS firms for value-added DDoS protection services.”
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CYBERSECURITY VENTURES
Steven C. Morgan, Editor-In-Chief
- is Founder and CEO at Cybersecurity Ventures, and Editor-In-Chief of the Cybersecurity Market Report and the Cybersecurity 500 list of the world’s hottest and most innovative cybersecurity companies. Steve writes the weekly Cybersecurity Business Report for IDG’s CSO, and he is a contributing writer for several business, technology, and cybersecurity media properties.
© 2015 Cybersecurity Ventures. All rights reserved. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction of this Report by any means and imposes fines up to $150,000 for violations. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without expressed written permission of Cybersecurity Ventures is prohibited.
