VARs to cash in on 'anger and confusion' in security market

EMC and RSA believe the pressure big data puts on security could be good news for partners

EMC-owned RSA has told its partners that there could be huge opportunities for them to make money by easing "anger and confusion" in the security market.

Speaking at EMC's Global Partner Summit event in Las Vegas, RSA's chairman Art Coviello said the increasing security threats thrown up from the explosion of big data and mobility has left the industry struggling to keep up – leading to customer anger.

He explained that the increasingly large amounts of data being created has opened up even more opportunities for cybercriminals, and that VARs are needed more than ever to help customers stay safe.

Speaking at EMC World, Coviello said: "I have never seen our customers more angry and confused than they are right now. It is a combination of this expansion of the attack surface as well as the increasing sophistication of threats... but we together can solve this and help our customers going forward.

"[Supporting customers] is a big job for our partners and a big opportunity for them. Our risk-based authentication and Silvertail acquisition [offerings] – these are all products you can leverage."

Coviello admitted that the industry has been "behind the curve" when it comes to security, and hailed the new era of an intelligence-driven security which he claims helps detect security attacks before they become a problem.

Security and trust in IT remained a strong theme throughout the first day of the event, and EMC's vice president for product operations and marketing Jeremy Burton said partners betting on big data, cloud and security are likely to be well placed to succeed in the future.

Burton cited a recent EMC survey in which its IT leader respondents named the trio as their three top concerns when it comes to IT.

"With security, we want to identify and repel modern threats. Those [investing in] big data, security and cloud – which are the top trends driving IT spend – they are on the right track," he said.