Key Takeaways

•  The Netherlands and Italy are among the EU countries with the greatest "market potential for cyber security products and services," according to the European CBI. Notably, both nations are currently ranked as EU countries that are "most at risk of cyber crime" and that have the "highest cyber crime rates," but remain relative immature markets with low levels of local cyber security product competition, per the European Cyber Security Organization, Microsoft, ESET and TechRobot.
• In tandem, large businesses represent the greatest market opportunity for cyber security product sales within Europe, given the shift in cyber attacks to enterprises during the global pandemic, as well as the greater awareness and interest in purchasing cyber protection products among larger organizations, according to INTERPOL and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).
• Meanwhile, digital services, government, financial services and healthcare consistently rank as the "most targeted sectors" for cyber crime in Europe, based on 2020 and 2021 reporting by ENISA.

Introduction

I. High Potential Countries

•  The Netherlands and Italy are among the EU countries with the greatest "market potential for cyber security products and services," according to November 2021 reporting by the European CBI.
• Notably, both nations are currently ranked as EU countries that are "most at risk of cyber crime" and that have the "highest cyber crime rates," according to market researchers including Microsoft, TechRobot and ESET.
• For example, the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report determined that The Netherlands and Italy currently rank 1st and 14th, respectively, for the highest risk of cyber attacks in Europe, as depicted within the following graphic.

 

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• Corroborating this finding, TechRobot similarly concluded that The Netherlands and Italy rank 7th and 4th, respectively, in Europe for their cyber crime rates, as detailed further below.

 

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• Despite the high levels of cyber risk in both nations, The Netherlands and Italy remain relatively immature markets with low levels of local cyber security product competition, per the European Cyber Security Organization (ECSO) as well as the European CBI.
• As depicted within the ECSO map below, The Netherlands and Italy are home to among the fewest "European-based cybersecurity companies," in contrast with nations such as France which face a high cyber security threat but are highly saturated with local product competition.

 

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• Validating this finding, the European CBI similarly reports that The Netherlands currently has a "lack of national champions" in the cyber security industry, while Italy is served by only a limited range of US-based companies.

II. Opportunity of Large Businesses

• Large businesses currently represent the greatest market opportunity for cyber security product sales within Europe, given the shift in cyber attacks to enterprises during the global pandemic as well as the greater awareness and interest in purchasing cyber protection products among larger organizations.
• Leading up to the pandemic, small businesses in the UK and wider Europe had become a growing victim of cyber threats and associated costs, however INTERPOL found that COVID-19 resulted in a "significant target shift from individuals and small businesses to major corporations, governments and critical infrastructure."
• In parallel with the rise in attacks against large organizations, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) found as recently as September 2021 that large enterprises are more likely than small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the region to place a high value on preventing cyber attacks.
• Although 36% of SMEs in Europe have experienced a cyber crime within the past five years, "cyber attacks are still not considered as a major risk for a large number of SMEs," per ENISA.
• Moreover, smaller organizations are characterized by a general lack of awareness about the threat of cyber attacks, and have a "lack of budget to cover costs incurred for implementing cybersecurity measures."

III. Most Impacted Industries

• Meanwhile, digital services, government, financial services and healthcare consistently rank as the "most targeted sectors" for cyber crime in Europe, according to 2020 and 2021 reporting by ENISA.

 

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• In particular, digital services such as social media, e-mail providers, online collaboration platforms and cloud software providers have faced an onslaught of cyber attacks, not only as targets themselves but as convenient proxies for reaching "more attractive" industries and companies.
• The pandemic only accelerated this trend, with digital service providers experiencing a substantially greater number of cyber incidents than most other industries in Europe between April 2020 and July 2021, as depicted below.

 

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• However, COVID-19 also raised the profile of government and healthcare organizations among cyber criminals, making these the first and third most attacked industries in Europe in terms of cyber crime, respectively, as of mid last year.

Research Strategy