Growing cyber crime rate boosts next-gen firewall market growth

The next-generation firewall market is anticipated to show healthy growth at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.48% for the forecast period between 2021 and 2028, according to a recent study by Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence.

This growth is primarily driven by the surge in cyber attacks globally. As these incidents become more sophisticated and frequent, the necessity of next-generation firewalls (NGFW) in countering potential digital security breaches is increasing.

Statistical reports from the Indian Crime Coordination Center reinforce this trend, indicating a significant growth in cybercrime complaints. Instances of UPI Fraud increased from 62,350 in Q1 2022 to 84,145 in Q2 2022.

Also, the number of Debit, Credit, and Sim Swap Fraud complaints rose from 24,270 in Q1 2022 to 26,793 in Q2 2022, and there were 19,267 Internet Banking Fraud complaints reported in the second quarter of 2022 alone.

Next-generation firewalls are more sophisticated than their traditional counterparts, offering multi-layered security and advanced features. These include data centre firewalls, firewalls-as-a-service, and rugged firewalls - all aimed at combating the escalating cyber threats.

Several market collaborations and product launches have also contributed to the growth prospects of the next-generation firewall market. In November 2023, Palo Alto Networks launched five new ML-powered NGFWs, introducing the industry's first firewall with a 1.5 Tbps App-ID performance capacity.

In November 2022, Fortinet announced the introduction of its FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall, designed specifically for Amazon web services environments.

When examined by type, the next-generation firewall market is split into rugged firewalls, data centre firewalls, and cloud firewalls-as-a-service. Here, data centre firewalls hold a substantial share owing to their advanced security solutions.

Analysed by enterprise size, large enterprises hold a major market share. Also, by end-users, the market is divided into BFSI, government, IT & Telecommunications, retail, and others, with BFSI holding a dominant position.

Regionally, North America commands a consequential portion of the next-generation firewall market, due to the escalating cyberattacks; in 2020, approximately 1001 data breaches affected over 155.8 million people in the United States alone.

The presence of key players in the region such as Fortinet, Juniper Networks Inc., and Palo Alto Networks, coupled with favourable investment inflows and government initiatives to thwart cyber threats, are expected to accelerate the regional market's growth.

The study lists Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Sophos, Forcepoint, Juniper Networks, Sangfor Technologies, Check Point Software Technologies, Huawei Technologies, SonicWall as key players in the burgeoning next-generation firewall market.