Taipei- Sales of Taiwanese information security products are expected to surge by 15 per cent annually in the next three years as global companies become increasingly concerned about computer viruses and spam, a research agency said Monday.

According to the Market Information Centre (MIC) under the Institute of Information Industry, Taiwan's information security market was expected to exceed 14 billion Taiwan dollars (420 million US) in 2008 and 21 billion (650 million US) by 2011.

In 2009, 30 per cent of companies in the financial and healthcare sectors plan to boost their investment in information security.

Computer virus infections and large amounts of spam email have become the two major concerns for companies, MIC said in a report.

"Although many enterprises are cutting investments on information security-related software and hardware as part of overall budget cuts due to the weak economy, the intention of enterprises which rely heavily on IT to invest in information security has increased," the report quoted MIC's senior analyst Wang Yi-chih as saying.

"In future, enterprises could reduce information security costs through outsourcing and SaaS (Security as a Service), while maintaining their basic demand for information security." he added.

Although many types of information security-related products and specialized services are currently on the market, these products and services are unable to let enterprises feel completely secure, the report said. (dpa)