New Delhi, Aug 13: The growth of the information technology (IT) security market in Asia Pacific dipped to 28.3 percent in 2008 from 36 percent a year before, a leading global IT industry researcher said in a report released on Thursday.

"This growth is remarkable considering in the fourth quarter of 2008, global economies began to feel the impact of the credit crunch and the global economic downturn," said IT sector tracker Gartner.

"Double digit growth in a challenging economic climate confirms that security remains a key priority for Asia Pacific chief information officers and IT security leaders," said Matthew Cheung, senior research analyst at Gartner in the report.

According to Gartner, data security and privacy, along with the need to protect IT infrastructure from the ever-increasing rise in sophisticated and targeted attacks in Asia Pacific, were among the key drivers fuelling the growth of spending on IT security software.

The consumer security and enterprise end-point protection remained the two largest sub-segments of the Asia Pacific security market in 2008, totalling $1.08 billion, the report said.

China led the market in terms of security in 2008, followed by Australia and South Korea.

"The region is vibrant and fast-growing, which is fostered by the need for modernisation," said Cheung.

"Demand for IT security in emerging markets such as China is high, and even other small countries, such as Vietnam and Indonesia, are considered fast-emerging economies. Asia Pacific is viewed as a large long-term sustainable market, especially amid the global economic recession."

Cheung attributes China's high growth to local security players, such as Rising and Kingsoft, the heavy spending on Olympic Games in 2008 and the rapid increase in foreign investments.

Symantec continued to be the market leader, accounting for 22 percent of security software revenue in Asia Pacific in 2008. However, the company's market share dipped from 22.8 percent in 2007 to 22 percent in 2008.

Gartner's estimates for 2009 predict that security will produce good growth levels, although the full impact of the global economic recession will result in a decrease in spending and the fall of growth rates to around half the levels achieved in 2008.

Also, emerging markets in Asia Pacific are expected to provide the highest growth opportunities over the coming years, although the more mature markets are expected to provide sustainable levels of investment.