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Antimalware is software that protects IT systems and infrastructure as well as the individual devices connected to them from malicious software or malware.
Companies use antimalware products to regularly scan their network in order to prevent, detect, and remove a malware infestation.
See below to learn all about the current antimalware software market:
See more: Top 10 Cybersecurity Threats
Growth of antimalware market
The global antimalware market had an estimated value of $3.8 billion in 2020. At a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8%, it is expected to reach $4.5 billion by the year 2025.
By region, different countries have varying growth rates and market values in antimalware.
- The U.S. accounted for 27% of the market in 2020 with a value of $7.2 billion
- China’s market share is estimated to be worth $14.5 billion by 2027 at a 17.5% CAGR
- Japan and Canada are forecast to grow by 9.6% and 11.7% over the period 2020-2027
- Germany is anticipated to maintain a CAGR of 10.6%
- The European market is expected to reach $14.5 billion by 2027
- Australia, India, and South Korea are forecast to push the Asia-Pacific market to reach $9.8 billion by 2027
Industries that regularly handle massive amounts of customer data, personal and financial, are the leading consumers of antimalware and cybersecurity solutions.
- Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI)
- Telecommunications
- Retail
- Health care
- Government
- Manufacturing
- Travel and transportation
Antimalware features
Antimalware software is designed to detect malware on a device, safely remove it, and clean up any remnants or damages from it. They are able to recognize malicious software in one of three ways — definitions, heuristics, and sandboxing:
Definitions
Detection by definitions or signatures is done by scanning incoming files against a database of known malware. While efficient, it requires regular updates to the reference database and has a hard time detecting newly developed malware.
Heuristics
Heuristics is a form of analytics that can be used to detect malware. Instead of relying on recognizing the malware itself, heuristic analysis follows the behavior and characteristics of the file or software and flags it as malicious if it’s acting like one.
Sandboxing
Using a sandbox, or an isolated area of the system, sandboxing antimalware software allows the suspected program to run normally. It’s cleared if it behaves safely and terminated if it demonstrates behavior associated with known malware.
Antimalware software can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud. Cloud-based antimalware can be used to secure a large network of devices and regularly scan them.
On-premises antimalware, on the other hand, protects one device at a time, using up its hardware resources while operating. They also require individual configuration and set up and every device.
When looking at enterprise-specific antimalware, some key features should be taken into consideration.
- Real-time device monitoring
- Scheduled automated scans
- Deep threat scanning
- Regular updates
- Secure file eraser
- Web-based threat detection
Benefits of antimalware
The primary benefit to using antimalware software is reducing, or eliminating, the risks of malware on a device or network of devices.
It allows more freedom for browsing the web and exchanging files between devices with minimal risk.
Other antimalware benefits include:
- Restoring corrupted data and files
- Protection from spam and data theft
- Built-in web protection
- Safeguard removable devices and external storage units
Antimalware use cases
Here’s how organizations from multiple industries secured their data and digital assets using antimalware software:
Woodlands Transport
Woodlands Transport is Singapore’s largest and most established private transportation provider. Founded in 1974, it operates over 1,000 buses on a daily basis and manages the routes and demands through its network.
Operating online, Woodlands Transport was worried about contracting ransomware and viruses through external devices. It also needed a way to detect lurking threats and secure its endpoints.
Working with Malwarebytes, Woodlands Transport was able to employ a cloud-based antimalware solution that’s both effective and cost-efficient. Utilizing Malwarebytes’ threat analysis, the internal IT team no longer had to remove malware artifacts manually.
“We chose the right solution. We replaced our previous antivirus in weeks,” says Marcus Lee, manager of group IT at Woodlands Transport Security.
“Ransomware attacks are enormously disruptive, and with Malwarebytes blocking attacks, the business is happy, because it’s business as usual.”
Pearl River Community College
Pearl River Community College has been providing students with an education for more than 100 years in the Poplarville, Mississippi area. The college has over 500 employees and thousands of students from all over the area.
Technology is an essential element for achieving its goals of modern education. The large number of individuals involved in the education process results in thousands of devices being connected to the college’s networks through Wi-Fi and library computers.
To combat viruses and malware across campus, Pearl River Community College started using Avast Antivirus software to fit their security needs on a budget.
“Lots of different classes mean lots of different software,” says Jason Bordelon, networks and systems specialist at Pearl River Community College.
“Avast Is very easy to deploy and use. The software is much less intrusive and just quietly moves infected files to the chest. I get an email, but the end user is oblivious in most cases. I would recommend Avast.”
TUI
TUI is a tourism company with headquarters in Germany and Belgium. It serves over 20 million travelers every year and owns 300 hotels in 30 countries, in addition to 14 cruise ships and 150 planes.
TUI operates three data centers and employs more than 160 IT staff members to manage them. It needed a malware solution that was all-inclusive, while also meeting additional demands, such as handling alerts and assigning tickets and documentation of incidents.
Bitdefender’s NTSA was the solution for TUI, as it didn’t have VMware installed and configured everywhere. NTSA is able to work independently of VMware availability on all fronts.
“Thanks to the Bitdefender NTSA technology and logging functionality, we were able to see exactly who had a malware infection with which device at which location,” says Theo Kip, IT risk and compliance officer at TUI.
“It allows us to turn suspicion into certainty.”
Antimalware providers
Some of the top antimalware providers for enterprises include:
- Symantec
- Avast Software
- ESET
- Webroot Software
- Malwarebytes
- McAfee
- Cylance
- Safer-Networking
- Bitdefender
- Trend Micro
