A new report has revealed that the global critical infrastructure protection market is projected to grow from an estimated $143 billion in 2023 to $162.5 billion by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.3%.

As the report from MarketsandMarkets says, rising cyber-attacks organizations have faced in recent years are one of the factors driving the market growth.

The report highlights that by solution, software is set to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period. As cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure have been increasing, they are becoming more sophisticated and complex, primarily targeted toward organizations in the energy, utilities and other sectors, causing system shutdowns and disruptions in operations.

Solutions use various software, including biometric authentication, to capture, verify and record user identities and provide staff with permissible access to various enterprise resources. Introducing and integrating AI and machine learning technologies can help critical infrastructure protection software proactively detect and remediate suspicious activities and unauthorized and invasive access requests on enterprise networks.

By region, the report says that North America accounts for the largest market size during the forecast period. The North American region consists of developed countries that are technologically advanced with well-developed infrastructures. The most robust economies in the region, the US and Canada, are the top contributing countries to the critical infrastructure protection market. 

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) and international collaborations have led to adequate critical infrastructure security and resilience in the region. As per the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the private sector owns 85% of the US critical infrastructures, such as oil and gas, banking and finance, transportation, utilities, electric power grids and defence public sector regulates the rest.

The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) enables state, regional, federal, local and international governments to work within and with their private partners for a networked community to maintain adequate risk management and security of the region’s critical infrastructure.

The major vendors in the critical infrastructure protection market include BAE Systems (US), Lockheed Martin (US), General Dynamics (US), Northrop Grumman (US), Honeywell (US), Airbus (France), Thales (France), Hexagon AB (Sweden), Johnson Controls (US) and Huawei (China).