The past few years have seen poor macroeconomic conditions and headwinds buffet the 5G market, with some slowing down on security spending for 5G rollouts. However, according to global technology intelligence firm ABI Research, growing demand for secure software and services targeted at the enterprise space will drive the 5G network security market to US$21 billion by 2027.

“While the global outlook is slow to recover, 5G demand relentlessly continues. Accompanied by a maturation of security requirements in standards development and industry consortia, the market for secure software and services is increasingly better defined. Network equipment operators and cybersecurity vendors are marketing advanced XDR and network security solutions, all targeted at the telcos who are actively positioning enterprise security solutions for 5G deployments,” explained Michela Menting, senior research director at ABI Research.

Private networks are also seeing increasing demand for dedicated security solutions at the enterprise-grade level, and security vendors are working toward a two-fold goal: enabling interoperability and integration of existing network security products into 5G networks and creating customized security solutions for 5G networks.

“While some of these projects will take time to get up and running, initial trials with existing cybersecurity vendors are consolidating a nascent network security market for 5G,” says Menting. “Many solutions are focused on leveraging software-based technologies such as virtualized next-gen firewalls powered by machine learning, endpoint security, certificate lifecycle management and containerization for cloud workloads into Security Orchestration Automation and Response and Extended Detection and Response offerings.”  

Once the telcos put these solutions in place, the idea is to monetize them as customizable service offerings for enterprises in various deployment scenarios (public, private and hybrid, as well as through slices).  This is the primary driver for the 5G network security market, and it is expected to gain enterprise trust and spur the adoption of 5G networks.

These findings are from ABI Research’s 5G Network Security Revenue market data report. This report is part of the company’s Telco Cybersecurity research service, which includes research, data and ABI Insights. Market Data spreadsheets comprise deep data, market share analysis and highly segmented, service-specific forecasts to provide detailed insight into where opportunities lie.