GFI SOFTWARE: CZECH AND SLOVAK COMPANIES ARE STRENGTHENING THEIR FIREWALLS AND VPNS

According to the survey, SMB companies run on average 2 to 4 security applications.

PRAGUE, March 21, 2022 – GFI Software, a provider of enterprise network security solutions, said that according to its survey of partners in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, local businesses have strengthened their IT security most in the areas of firewall/VPNs, email protection and software vulnerabilities over the past year. The survey was conducted in February 2022 among resellers of ZEBRA SYSTEMS, a distributor of GFI Software solutions in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Southeast Europe.

Respondents, who deliver solutions primarily to the small and medium business (SMB) segment, also indicated that their customers most often run 2 to 4 security applications. Interest in perpetual licenses still prevails, although there is a clear shift towards subscription and cloud-based models. The main reason for the preference for the perpetual model is the cost savings on software, but the major drawbacks in the long term are the lack of updates and the gradual obsolescence of systems.

The most interesting statistics from the survey include:

• Companies have most often stepped up their firewall/VPN solutions (35.2%), email protection (24.5%), patch management (15.7%) and password management (15.7%) in the past year.
• On average, 79% of SMBs use 2-4 standalone IT security applications, with 16% using a single application and 5% using 5-8 solutions.
• Perpetual software licenses are preferred by 59.8% of firms, a subscription model is used by 23.5% and cloud services by 13.7%. The remaining 3% prefer open source.
• Faxing is used by less than 7% of businesses, especially larger organisations, and only in the form of digital faxing or faxing as a service.

“Czech and Slovak companies are responding to new threats by strengthening the protection of their key infrastructures,” said Marie Baranová, Sales Manager for GFI Software solutions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia at ZEBRA SYSTEMS. “However, the survey also showed that a large number of companies still rely on solutions without continuous maintenance, which can be quite dangerous in a situation where new risks arise very quickly and require updating security tools.”