According to the firm's recent survey of over 1,000 companies across nine countries in Asia-Pacific, 72 percent of enterprises have experienced an Internet security breach while 39 percent felt their online threats have increased in the past year.
And while 97 percent of those surveyed have some form of Internet security in place, these tended to be off-the-shelf anti-virus products, said Nathan Midler, a senior analyst with IDC Asia-Pacific.
"The perception that security threats are increasing, coupled with further integration of e-business in the Asian workplace, is driving enterprises to look beyond anti-virus software," he added.
They may turn to a provider for corporate-class security services, such as disaster recovery services, encryption technology, and intrusion detection, he said.
The survey covered Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, with 1,021 organisations interviewed, all of which had over 100 employees and at least a computer network.
In a related announcement, the firm today adjusted its regional technology spending forecasts downwards in light of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory) outbreak.
IDC said in a statement the disease will have a -significant but not dramatic" impact on the Asian tech sector. The firm has just taken US$1 billion off its 2003 regional IT market estimate of US$77.1 billion.
IDC said it now expects the Asian IT market to grow by 6.1 percent this year, compared with the former projection of 7.6 percent.
The firm said much of the vendors' pain will be felt this quarter, but the blow should be significantly softened by the third and fourth quarters of 2003.
While the outbreak has had an immediate effect on vertical sectors such as travel and hospitality, its toll on tech companies will be more prolonged and varied.
Some IT buyers may have tightened their purse strings in the short term, while others have started taking notice of disaster recovery and mobile workforce products such as telephone and video-conferencing.
