The number of internet users in India grows every year so quality antivirus products are in demand. IT security needs of IT users belonging to various segments and verticals are growing. These solutions provide comprehensive protection against evolving IT security threats for enterprise, SMB, as well as home user segments.
Internet usage has become very essential in day to day life. However, increased usage also brings with it the risk of infecting the computer system with various kind of malware, irreparably damaging the system. A malware is a program, which gets loaded in a computer through the internet or infected discs. A computer virus is man-made and has a tendency to replicate itself. Therefore, antivirus software is used to fight such viruses. It detects, prevents and removes viruses caused by a malicious program. Although an antivirus program cannot prevent all types of malware attacks, it can prevent its intrusion into a computer system.
The analysts forecast that the Global Antivirus Software Package market to grow at a CAGR of 10.88 percent over the period 2013-2018. To calculate the market size, the report considers revenue generated from sales of antivirus software packages for PCs and laptops. However, it does not consider the revenue generated from complete security solutions provided by vendors.
It also presents the vendor landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the top five vendors in the market. There are major drivers that influence the growth of the Global Antivirus Software Package market.
While India’s anti-virus software market has remained flat in the last three years, its smartphone market has registered exponential growth. Anti-virus software vendors now want to ride this surge in the smartphones segment to spur growth, which has been hurt due to slowing PC sales and users’ reluctance to pay for anti-virus products. These companies are now looking to bundle their products with smartphone software or push a subscription-based model through telecom companies.
Current Scenario
Accordingly to a research by eMarketer by 2016India will have the second largest online user-base with 283.8 million users, after China. Factors such as data usage on mobile devices, broadband penetration and proliferation of smart devices will fuel this growth.
“Consequently, as consumers continue to stay connected all the time, cybercriminals will take advantage and steal money, identities and information. Further, the growing number of devices and technologies will provide more avenues for the cybercriminals to target the users, at various levels, situations and most alarmingly across all age groups. In fact, a recent survey conducted by Norton uncovered that 62% of online adults have been victims of cybercrime and/or negative online situations. This has amplified the need for India’s connected population’ to deploy effective antivirus solutions that make security simpler. Norton is making security simpler than ever because it is more important than ever,” said, Ritesh Chopra, Country Manager, India, Norton by Symantec.
“The upcountry market is looking positive with the explosion of e-commerce and education. We have seen a good demand for the tablet security and mobile security solutions and it is bound to increase in the coming days as the users are concerned about their personal as well as professional data on their mobile devices,” said, Altaf Halde, MD-South Asia of Kaspersky Lab.
“The current scenario in AV market in India among home users / Retail is on growth path at an approx. rate of 20% plus as the awareness for use of licensed and paid AV is increasing day by day and this coupled with the reduction in cost of Antivirus software. The distribution pattern or the reach to end customers is still largely thru small resells and IT dealers, even though the online stores are selling at reduced costs, still the consumer looks at service and buys from his trusted partner. Even though large number of people uses free AV this is coming down as now with increased threats the free AV’s cannot protect real time as compared to paid AV’s. In India we have strong Indian Made products which are far superior in providing service support, technology as well as virus detection to our International competitors. The piracy in AV is far less in India than any other developing/3rd world countries,” said, Jagannath Patnaik, CEO, NNR IT Solutions.
“India’s computer security market is broadly categorized into consumer (home users) and enterprise.
Indian anti-virus market is gradually reaching its maturity. There has been no significant change this market also includes lots of options like free software. However, when the enterprise market is taken into consideration, there has been a steady switch in demand from just anti-virus to complete security solutions. It is the Enterprise security segment that is going to make substantial contribution in next couple of years,” said, Kailash Katkar, CEO & Founder, Quick Heal Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
“With constant sophistication of cybercrimes and criminals along with much improved understanding of an average consumer, the antivirus market and spending towards it has enhanced. It is probably witnessing the fastest growth even in India. The levels of apprehensions have gone down and be it consumers or enterprises or OEMS, all have comprehended the importance of antivirus solutions,” said, Anand Shringi, National Sales Manager – SMB & Consumer Products (India & SAARC), Trend Micro India Pvt Ltd
According to Gartner, the increasing adoption of mobile, cloud, social and information (often interacting together) will drive use of new security technology and services through 2016. Although, despite these measures, the complexities of crimes are also going up and hence keeping security still at risk.
“Antivirus software market in India is witnessing a steady growth and finds fair adoption amongst both the consumer as well as business segment. Currently, the Indian security software market is estimated to be around INR 1k Cr and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10%. Frequent use of internet enabled systems and handheld devices are primarily driving antivirus market in India. We forecast a noticeable growth in antivirus market because of the ever increasing sales of handheld computing devices,” said, Pankaj Jain, country Head at ESET India.
“The number of internet users in India grows every year so quality antivirus products are in demand. IT security needs of IT users belonging to various segments and verticals are growing. These solutions provide comprehensive protection against evolving IT security threats for enterprise, SMB, as well as home user segments, for various platforms such as Windows, Linux, Android and Macintosh. The broad range of products cater to small, medium and large enterprise networks with solutions for data loss prevention, and mobile device management along with products for end consumers, mobile, smart phones and tablets. Initially antivirus company entered Indian market with consumer retail products though their main focus is enterprise segment,” said, Manish Rohilla, Brand Promotion Manager, ProDot.
“Today, every organization and individuals using computer and internet need a comprehensive virus protection policy in order to combat growing threats. Hence, the demand of the software is only increasing,” concluded, Anil Gupta, AVP – India Sales, eScan.
Changes in India’s eco-system for product development
According to Halde of Kaspersky, We think our government has already taken care of our concerns in this year’s Union Budget’15 with clear road maps and allocation. I believe this financial year would be healthy and boosting our industry in terms of our Government stepping in with initiatives to bride the digital divide between the urban and rural India. The announcement of allocating Rs. 150 core to create world class IT hub in India under the Atal Innovation Mission. And taking care of the lack of infrastructure development along with the rationalization of service tax by including education-cess.
“Product development is certainly an important aspect but along with that what’s first required is timely and closely tracking any malicious activities. Regularity in this would help us develop better products and serve every user better. Furthermore, we are constantly innovating in order to cater to the advanced needs of all our existing and prospective users. Our Trend Micro Internet Security software provides advanced protection and privacy for your users’ digital life. It’s designed to safeguard users on social networks like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It also Blocks Dangerous Websites, Guards against Identity Theft and Protects Kids Online, elaborates Shiringi of Trend Micro.
“In security sphere there is absolute lack of Intelligent resources as developing a security product requires very deep knowledge and an all round ability to comprehend the threat perception. With mobility growing exponentially there is great challenge in securing the devices. It would be great if the colleges and tech Institutes provide study / course material for developing security software professionals,” said, Patnaik of NNR IT Solutions.
“In this digital era, today IT users access the Internet from multiple digital devices such as mobile, PC, laptop, etc. Moreover, all these devices run on multiple platforms. As the IT security literacy rate increases, IT users now prefer solution that enables them to easily manage their devices. Moreover, such comprehensive solutions are cost-effective too,” said, Gupta of eScan.
“Anti-virus does the basic job of protecting the computing device, but with the increasing threats consumers need a total protection suite that will not only protect from threats via external storage devices but also from the Internet and unauthorized logins. As long as computers are, whether connected to the Internet or not, there will always be a need for antivirus software. Cybercriminals always look to exploit financial transactions, finding ways to commit fraud, cause widespread damage by accessing personal information. Moreover, with the increasing user-base of mobile devices has introduced a new array of threats not just for home user segment but also for businesses. Cyber criminals regularly come up with more intelligent techniques of attacks. To ensure that product has the ability to satisfy the ever changing IT security needs of customers is always a challenge. To resolve this issue ProDot Provide automatic update feature of virus definition and applications to their coustomers,” said, Rohilla of ProDot.
“India needs to promote its IT products industry and showcase innovation leadership. It needs to support a high-value export portfolio of “made-in-India” products. The government should support incubation centers under Public – Private Partnership and help startups. Industry think tanks and organizations should create buyer awareness for “Made for India” products; Govt. should create platforms for apps through APIs. Govt. should also draw focus of the best minds on critical a National priority Market Making, to create sustainable domestic opportunities,” concluded, Katkar of Quick Heal.
Most Dangerous Threats
India is one of the top countries with the largest internet user base in the world. Increasing consumer awareness over the last 2-3 years is another reason for the growth in this segment. Consumers are realizing the importance of data protection, both personal and professional. But still free and pirated software are estimated to have almost nearly 60% of market share. So lot of work need to be done in terms of customer education and awareness.
“The single-most important fact is that we believe we (Kaspersky) are here to save the world from the bad guys on the Internet. Naturally, our focus is on spreading awareness and providing world-class security so that our customer’s data and his/her device, both are protected. Although we have seen a tremendous increase in the number of downloads of our freemium solution, Kaspersky Internet Security for Android, from India, but we still believe that a mind-set change needs to happen: People in India do not care enough about securing their handheld devices. With the amount of threats targeting the Android platform alarmingly rising, and India declared at No.2 most vulnerable countries worldwide when it comes to smartphone security risks, we urge people of India to wake up to the new reality that is cybercrime. It is real and happening. Our biggest focus area is to make people aware of this and protect them so that they are safe online. We, at Kaspersky Lab, always tell our customers and partners: Security is a Journey, not a Destination. With new threats coming every minute, security solutions will always evolve. Kaspersky Lab is a leader in advocating the need for greater security intelligence, global cooperation in cybersecurity law enforcement and critical infrastructure protection. We are working on rolling out some of these offerings,” said, Halde of Kaspersky Lab.
“The threat levels are increasing and we as security software developers have to be one step ahead of the malware writers. Today we see more than 200000 different malware appear every day and to counter this we have a strong technology where in the virus analysis mostly done automatically and updates are released regularly. We have a strong tech Team which is at par or even better than most of International companies,” said, Patnaik of NNR IT Solutions.
According to the results of the “Mobile CyberThreats” survey carried out by Kaspersky Lab and INTERPOL between August 2013 and July 2014, India suffers the second highest volume of attacks. Our figures suggest that 4.95% of all attacks on Android devices worldwide affect users from this country. India is also in the Top 10 countries with the largest numbers of reported attacks involving Trojans capable of sending SMS to premium short numbers.
“Surprisingly India is in first position with 19.73% of all detections of software in the ‘Monitor’ category. In Kaspersky Lab’s classification, this stands for conditionally legitimate applications designed to conduct surveillance of smartphone users. These applications can track the user’s location, read his/her messages, and access other personal information. The manufacturers of such software advertise it as a useful tool to help look after children and the elderly, but Kaspersky Lab classifies it as potentially insecure. Kaspersky Lab experts have no reason to assume all these detection cases are attempts to secretly install these programs on a device protected by a Kaspersky Lab product. However, this scenario is possible, so Kaspersky Lab security products detect Monitor-class programs as potentially dangerous,” said, Halde of Kaspersky Lab.
“Most dangerous threat at the moment is BIOS chip hack. Vulnerabilities have been detected in the BIOS chips found in millions of computers which could leave users open to hacking. The BIOS chip operates below antivirus software so is not usually scanned, meaning a successful hack could allow attackers to plant malware on computers and remain undetected. BIOS chips are used to boot a computer and load the operating system, but the malware would remain even if the operating system was removed and re-installed. Another most dangerous threat considered at the moment is the rise of targeted attacks. Targeted attacks will continue to become more sophisticated in 2015. Often referred to as Advanced Persistent Threats (APT), these attacks are different from traditional cyber attacks as they target a specific victim or group. They are often lurking undetected on less secure networks. Targeted attacks most commonly take advantage of social engineering techniques, where psychological manipulation is used to encourage potential victims into performing actions or divulging confidential information, Attacks also take the form of zero-day exploits, where attacks exploit newly discovered vulnerability on a particular operating system or application,” said, Jain of ESet India.
“The AV market has moved to total protection which provides additional features such as parental control, firewall, anti-spyware and anti-phishing. Viruses are just a small subset of the malware that includes worms, Trojans, root kits and botnets. Additional protection is needed against adware, spyware, spam, Web-based risks and other malicious activities. Issues related to child abuse on the Internet, privacy and reputation loss for adults are also raising concerns. Vendors are now more focused on selling total security products compared to Antivirus alone,” said, Rohila of ProDot.
“Targeted attacks; Advanced Persistent Threats and Ransomware for mobile devices,” added, Katkar of Quick Heal.
“Targeted attacks campaigns will continue to multiply in 2015, after cybercriminals had noteworthy breaches via targeted attacks in the recent past. Trend Micro’s threat defense experts predict hackers within countries such as many countries including India; will pursue the use of targeted attacks. Also, threats around banking will continue to become more severe as more unique cybercrime attacks against financial institutions also emerge and financial and banking intuitions must implement two-factor authentication for online services,” said, Shiringi of Trend Micro.
“Data leaks have been as always on top amongst all kinds of cybercrimes and they will be in the spotlight in coming time too. With the growing interconnectivity due to Internet/cloud, it is difficult to stop cross-border flow of data. Moreover, IT users continue to face threats to password systems, which is a major concern. With increasing usage of Internet, apps, social media and email services (we mean email attachments and links), many times just a small, silly mistake makes an IT user a victim,” concluded, Gupta of eScan.
Challenges to Market Growth
According to Katkar of Quick Heal, The increasing complexity of attacks and the noticeably growing risk scenario requires solutions that can detect and prevent. This demands for technology that doesn’t come cheap. Internet of Things is another reason for increasing prices.The availability of open-source antivirus software poses a challenge to the growth of this market. The other reasons being rapidly changing customer requirements and increased competition among vendors that makes it impossible to engage in premium pricing but on the other hand it also makes the availability of security solutions to customers at lower costs.
“Growing in market face a range of challenges. As our business grows, different problems and opportunities demand different solutions – what worked a year ago might now be not the best approach. Recognizing and overcoming the common pitfalls associated with growth is essential if business is to continue to grow and thrive. The more we succeed, the more competitors notice – and react to – what we are doing. A market-leading offer one day may be no better than average a few months later. Understanding where our products are in their life cycles has helped us work out how to maximize overall profitability. Market conditions continuously change, so we keep on revisiting and updating our business plan regularly,” said, Jain of ESET India.
“When it comes to challenges, strong competitions amongst the vendors, price wars, availability of freeware as well as piracy of security solutions are constant. The Indian market is not only price-sensitive but quite uncontrollable. Market Evolving like Never Before terms of price formation. While every product has its MRP (maximum retail price), dealers and resellers purchasing from larger distributors at discounted prices can set up their own price for the end-user which becomes some percent less than MRP. Being at the very top of distribution channel antivirus vendors has little control over it,” pointed out Rohilla of ProDot.
“Even though the end user perception on PC/Laptop security has grown over the years there is absolute Lack of awareness on mobile security. Resellers losing interest due to fear of On line / Ecommerce portals, which I feel is only a perception but this can be overcome by service oriented approach. Entry of many products and lack of proper tech support from some of the distributors/vendors effecting the confidence of resellers on AV products,” said, Patnaik of NNR IT Solutions.
“The IT security market in India is experiencing constant growth. Increasing usage of cloud, BYOD, virtualization of servers, etc. has led to demand of network security solutions that support them. This growing complexity of the IT infrastructure is the pivotal challenge faced by the network security market that is affecting the growth rate of the industry. Moreover, the increasing demand for improved security solutions for protecting laptops, PDAs and Smartphones from growing malwares and cyber-attacks as well as maintaining data integrity is another challenge. With the increasing complexity of the IT infrastructure, more robust and comprehensive solutions are in demand that ensure safe computing environment,” said, Gupta of eScan.
“What we are seeing today is not a huge surprise but rather the velocity and brutal measures cybercriminals are using to steal information. Many hackers regard cyber-attacks as a more practical method to grab a foothold in an organization. Additionally, with the incessant barrage of data breaches emerging almost daily, it’s reasonable to presume that data breaches will be essentially regarded as a common offshoot of the present threat landscape which appears as a huge challenge to counter,” said, Shiringi of Trend Micro.
Competition Ahead
“Our mobile, social, and collaborative lifestyles have transformed the way we use technology at home, at work, and everywhere in between. We want – and need – to secure our devices, personal information, and business data; to keep our families safe online, and our employees productive; to take advantage of all that new technologies can offer us while minimizing the risk. The Trend Micro Smart Protection Strategy does all this with to take on competition like Smart protection that’s layered, intelligent, and works in real time. Simple to manage protection that’s purpose-built, easy to deploy, and light on system resources and Security that fits a dynamic environment, adapting to new technologies and anticipating new threat trends. Three trends driving change in the landscape require a dedicated security focus to 1) secure all end-user activity, regardless of device; 2) secure cloud and virtual data centers; and 3) enable advanced cyber security against targeted attacks. Only we have the strategy, technology, and customer insight to deliver smart, simple, security that fits your needs,” opine Shiringi of Trend Micro.
“We are a channel centric company with clear focus on Channel enablement and development, we also believe in providing schemes for the resellers and distributors without compromising on their profitability. We are initiating a very strong customer connect activities using the local partners and our own staff at more than 60 cities and towns across India. We also take feedback and implement the changes as quickly as possible to address the concerns of our partners and resellers,” said, Patnaik of NNR IT Solutions.
“Due to multiple players in the market, there is undoubtedly cut throat competition in the market. eScan believes in remaining at the cutting edge of solutions in software security through constant innovations. We aim to create and set standards in the industry by pioneering new technologies. Having said that, we are in constant process of improvising our product range as per the feedback that we receive from our customers worldwide, to ensure that we match the constantly changing IT security needs of IT users. Moreover, as eScan is a channel-centric brand, we ensure that our channel partners gain maximum benefit and profitability while being associated with us,” said, Gupta of eScan.
“We have a clear advantage over our competitors through our match winning products and services portfolio. Our product strategy has been focused on addressing the dynamic needs of the consumers. We are not just an antivirus company, we offer advanced threat protection and layered security. We go far beyond simple anti-virus and malware detection to offer predictive features as well as services to respond when an attack is detected. Today, Norton products protect, detect and respond,” said, Chopra of Norton.
“ESET has worked closely with its exclusive distributors in India to develop new sales channels, making it possible for home and small office users to access products in an easier way. Our channel structure is designed to ensure focus on all markets and verticals. We consider our channel partners as an extension to our business, we always keep them updated and notified about latest software upgrades, new exposed threats and trending technology, rather than just concerning about business targets. We are consolidating our position as top security software for consumers, and we believe that Gartner’s analysis is recognizing it. The team behind our products – talented researchers and developers – has been focused on understanding the threats for end users for a long time and we are happy to see that effort is being rewarded by our customers around the globe,” pointed out Jain of ESET India.
“Being a privately held company, we do not share information related to financial facts. But suffice to tell you that we are among the top 3 leading security companies in India today, both in B2B and B2C. It is quite a significant achievement considering that we have been a late entrant into the Indian market. We are a channel centric company and conduct our business through channel partners. We have seen an extremely good growth from a select group of partners, which we collectively refer as Platinum and Gold partners. These firms have been instrumental for our higher YOY growth, and we are committed to match their growth by increasing our support. We have increased levels of inside sales support, and brought about significant changes in terms of inside system engineering support in relation to pre-sales and post-sales. We conduct regular trainings for our channel partners which gives them a sound level of expertise to pitch and support our solutions. Our objective is to keep growing at a healthy pace and continue to increase our market share with our long-term strategy of investing heavily in technologies and expertise to bring greater results,” said, Halde of Kaspersky Lab.
“The products are indigenously developed in India. They have unique features that also cater to certain regional needs and these effectively target threats affecting that region. We understand and implement the fact that business processes and technology have equal roles to play. That defines our work processes, defines and streamlines them. We take our customers seriously. Any new insights provided are taken into consideration and we try and automate tasks for excellent customer service. This also allows us to shift resources quickly to match demand and address customer needs immediately. We have recently introduced the new Enterprise Security brand – Seqrite. The brand will cater to the increasing need for securing IT infrastructure in small, medium and large businesses, government and academic institutions. These are not restricted to integrated solutions but are aimed at newer delivery platforms such as appliance and SaaS models,” said, Katkar of Quick Heal.
“Antivirus software safeguards the PC’s from such attacks. Not every type of cyber attack can be prevented with antivirus software, but it can be a great asset when trying to prevent intrusion into a computer. India is the 3rd largest internet population now, will attain 2nd position by 2016 (Source DQ week) and a tremendous opportunity are emerging .Competition is good, vendors will strive to make their products better and make better channel policies and will continuously work on the emerging threats, whether it be cyber threats or business threats. While competition does exist in the industry, the expanding threat scenario gives enough opportunity to develop expertise and niche products. ProDot recently launched its new product ProDot Maximum Security which is an advance version of ProDot antivirus consist of utilities like Parental control, Password manager, Duplicate File Finder, File Shedder , Rescue Disk etc,” concluded, Rohila of ProDot.
USP of Brand
“Kaspersky Lab is one of the fastest growing IT security vendors in the world. Firmly positioned as one of the top four leading vendors of security solutions for endpoint users, Kaspersky Lab continues to improve its market position. Today, Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. We develop innovative technologies to address market-specific needs such as excellent protection levels, adaptability to changing circumstances, scalability, compatibility with different platforms, high performance, high fault tolerance, ease of use and high value. Our technologies are built, from their inception, to absorb all the advantages of the company’s deep security expertise and intelligence. This allows our customers to be better protected and more informed. One of the primary advantages of Kaspersky Lab’s product is, it delivers some of the world’s most immediate protection against IT security threats, including viruses, spyware, crime-ware, hackers, phishing, and spam.
Kaspersky Lab products provide superior detection rates and one of the industry’s fastest outbreak response times for home users, SMBs, large enterprises and the mobile computing environment. Kaspersky technology is also used worldwide inside the products and services of the industry’s leading IT security solution providers. All the technologies have been developed in-house. This helps in the integration of the solution into the client agent as well as integration in the single management console. One-third of our recourses are invested in R&D. Undoubtedly, the company’s most valuable asset is the wealth of expertise it has gained in these years of combating major IT threats, including malware research, counteracting potentially dangerous applications, traffic filters, etc. This helps the company to remain one step ahead of the competition and provide its users with the most reliable protection against new types of attack. 3Q and 4Q of 2014 were rather successful for Kaspersky Lab: our solutions became acknowledged winners of 11 independent tests (including long-term ones),” said, Halde of Kaspersky Lab.
“Quick Heal products are also designed keeping customers, manageability and ease-of-use in mind. Quick Heal is at par when it comes to features as compared to the competition but does have some unique additional features. Unique features like PC2Mobile Scan that scans and cleans your mobile phone from your PC and Safe Banking that identifies all the Indian bank websites and protects user’s transactions conducted on any of these banking websites by loading the browser in a sandboxed environment. Other advantages that Quick Heal offers to its customers are: it offering customers complete product portfolio and a tailored approach. Proximity to customers through an extended services and support network throughout India and through a strong channel partner ecosystem across the globe. Excellent Customer Support Infrastructure separate for Retail and Enterprise. The different types of multilingual support available are Email, Chat, Telephonic, Remote and Local. Strong Quick Heal brand recognition and reliability. Control over technology components through its own production facilities,” said, Katkar of Quick Heal.
“We have a product which is technically very sound and Light does not consume less resource on PC as well as Mobiles. We have strong off line registration process as additional facility without human intervention but using mobile technology. 24×7 Email/ Chat and voice support – We are the only AV Company in India providing 24×7 Tech support. Even at night 2 if some customer needs support our call center is open. Very strong parental control and laptop tracker feature. Above all good profitability for all layers in the distribution and schemes covering every partner, there is benefit and scheme even for a partner with turnover as low,” said, Patnaik of NNR IT Solutions.
“Trend Micro Internet Security Blocks Dangerous Websites to Protects against viruses by identifying and blocking dangerous links on websites and in social networks, emails, and instant messages. It guards against Identity Theft and detects spam emails containing phishing scams that can trick you into revealing personal information. It also manages Your Online Privacy on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn and other social websites. It furthermore identifies privacy settings on social sites that may expose your personal information and lead to identity theft. It also safeguards Children Online and lets you control desktop application access and restrict online access for kids, protecting them from inappropriate websites,” said, Shiringi of Trend Micro.
“Norton offers advanced threat protection and layered security by which we are constantly raising the bar for the industry to provide consumers the fastest and most effective security. We are constantly innovating to protect our customers from the most sophisticated threats of today and tomorrow. For Norton, we provide rich technologies designed to support and protect every facet of consumers’ digital lives, anticipating threats before they reach consumers. It comes with the strength of the right people and threat intelligence. Symantec’s crown jewel is that we operate the world’s largest civilian (commercial) cyber intelligence threat network. It makes our products smarter and gives us insight into how to thwart attackers,” claimed, Chopra of Norton.
“ESET has long been recognized for offering solutions that provide superior protection. By utilizing unique ThreatSense technology, all ESET products deliver real-time protection from spyware, viruses and other threats while using very little memory and CPU resources. Since 2011, ESET products include a new version of its cloud-based reputation system, ESET LiveGrid, which significantly improves the user’s protection against unknown threats. Additionally, ESET saw extensive growth in the consumer security market in 2011 with its award-winning anti-malware solutions ESET NOD32 Antivirus, ESET Smart Security, ESET Cyber Security for Mac, as well as ESET Mobile Security (for Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android platforms). On top of all ESET is known to be lightest, fastest & most reliable antivirus,” said, Jain of ESET India.
“Our antivirus software is best security product from India brings you safe financial transactions and maximum Pc protection. The antivirus experts and programmers have developed best utilities assuring maximum output when compared to competing products in the internet security segment. With our antivirus product you can allow your children to go online safely, make your system faster, protect data against unauthorized users, shop & bank confidently, optimize PC for smooth operations, know your credentials stay private, hard disk optimization against duplicacy, keep an eye on to your PC performance, and rescue during boot failure,” said, Rohilla of ProDot.
“We offer advanced futuristic technology to our customers that deliver superlative protection against emerging threats. Power packed with innovative technologies such as eScan Security Network, Advanced Virus Control, MicroWorld Winsock Layer, Non- Intrusive Learning Patterns as well as Domain and IP Reputation Checker, eScan ensures proactive protection even from next generation threats. Our latest version of eScan (version 14) has been developed to be very light on system resources and does not slowdown the user’s system. It also includes a new Tile-based GUI making it extremely user-friendly and is highly optimized to increase performance. With its Secure Delete facility under Privacy Control, users can permanently delete files and folders without the fear of having the files retrieved by the use of third-party applications, thus preventing misuse of personal information. While with USB Vaccination, eScan prevents USB devices from becoming a source of infection. In addition, eScan Rescue Mode allows users to boot into a secure environment during system startup without using any optical or USB media,” concluded, Gupta of eScan.
At Last
The overall anti-virus market in India is witnessing constant growth and it will only continue. Today, Internet is increasingly becoming an integral part of lives, be it personal or professional; education, entertainment, and work. IT users continue to increase the time spent online using wide range of digital devices such as Smartphones, laptops, Tablets, to name a few that has led to a new conduit for cyber threats that are more sophisticated and targeted causing irreparable damage to digital devices, the information stored in them as well as the networks. The need to protect networks and all related digital devices in it from evolving cyber security threats has led to an increase in the demand of IT security software.
Mr. Altaf Halde, MD-South Asia, Kaspersky Lab
“We think our government has already taken care of our 
concerns in this year’s Union Budget’15 with clear road maps and allocation. I believe this financial year would be healthy and boosting our industry in terms of our Government stepping in with initiatives to bride the digital divide between the urban and rural India. The announcement of allocating Rs. 150 core to create world class IT hub in India under the Atal Innovation Mission and taking care of the lack of infrastructure development along with the rationalization of service tax by including education-cess. look good”
Mr. Kailash Katkar, CEO & Founder, Quick Heal Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
“Quick Heal products are also designed keeping customers, manageability and ease-of-use in mind. Quick Heal is at par when it comes to features as compared to the competition but does have some unique additional features. Unique features like PC2Mobile Scan that scans and cleans your mobile phone from your PC and SafeBanking that identifies all the Indian bank websites and protects user’s transactions conducted on any of these banking websites by loading the browser in a sandboxed environment. “
Mr. Ritesh Chopra, Country Manager, India, Norton by Symantec
“We have a clear advantage over our competitors through our match winning products and services portfolio. Our product strategy has been focused on addressing the dynamic needs of the consumers. We are not just an antivirus company, we offer advanced threat protection and layered security. We go far beyond simple anti-virus and malware detection to offer predictive features as well as services to respond when an attack is detected. Today, Norton products protect, detect and respond.”
Mr. Pankaj Jain, Country Head at ESET India.
“Most dangerous threat at the moment is BIOS chip hack. Vulnerabilities have been detected in the BIOS chips found in millions of computers which could leave users open to hacking. The BIOS chip operates below antivirus software so is not usually scanned, meaning a successful hack could allow attackers to plant malware on computers and remain undetected. BIOS chips are used to boot a computer and load the operating system, but the malware would remain even if the operating system was removed and re-installed.”
Mr. Manish Rohilla, Brand Promotion Manager, ProDot
“Our antivirus software is best security product from India brings you safe financial transactions and maximum Pc protection. The antivirus experts and programmers have developed best utilities assuring maximum output when compared to competing products in the internet security segment. With our antivirus product you can allow your children to go online safely, make your system faster, protect data against unauthorized users, shop & bank confidently, optimize PC for smooth operations, know your credentials stay private, hard disk optimization against duplicacy, keep an eye on to your PC performance, and rescue during boot failure.”
Mr. Anil Gupta, AVP – India Sales, eScan
“The cloud-based eScan Security Network ensures protection from latest and unknown threats. eScan also supports IE, Firefox and Chrome. Bestowed with unique features such as advanced reporting functionality, Simple License Activation Wizard, Safe Mode Protection, Advanced Parental Control, File Reputation Checks using Cloud, the eScan secures the information as well as digital life to IT users.”
Mr. Jagannath Patnaik, CEO , NNR IT Solutions – Max Secure Antivirus
“In security sphere there is absolute lack of Intelligent resources as developing a security product requires very deep knowledge and an all round ability to comprehend the threat perception. With mobility growing exponentially there is great challenge in securing the devices. It would be great if the colleges and tech Institutes provide study / course material for developing security software professionals.”
Mr. Anand Shringi | National Sales Manager – SMB & Consumer Products (India & SAARC), Trend Micro India Pvt Ltd
“ What we are seeing today is not a huge surprise but rather the velocity and brutal measures cybercriminals are using to steal information. Many hackers regard cyber-attacks as a more practical method to grab a foothold in an organization. Additionally, with the incessant barrage of data breaches emerging almost daily, it’s reasonable to presume that data breaches will be essentially regarded as a common offshoot of the present threat landscape which appears as a huge challenge to counter.”
