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Rostelecom Pentests the Market
Rostelecom (MOEX: RTKM), an information security provider of the Solar Group, has acquired a penetration testing company (information security auditor) Digital Security. According to analysts, by the end of 2024, the penetration services market in the Russian Federation is expected to be at the level of 2.7-4.5 billion rubles. It will continue to grow by 20-30% per year, including the requirements of cybersecurity regulators.
Solar (part of Rostelecom), a company working in the field of information security (IS) solutions, has acquired 100% of the shares of the IS auditor Digital Security, Solar told Kommersant. The purchase will allow it to "form one of the largest teams of penetration testing experts in Russia" to implement "large-scale projects, including the development of new ecosystem solutions," the company added. Digital Security said: "The form of integration is being discussed and will be decided later." The companies declined to disclose the amount of the deal.
Finam's senior investment consultant Timur Nigmatullin estimates the deal's book value at 170 million rubles. "The profit and loss statement estimate is around 100-180 million rubles," he added. "Considering our leading position in the industry and our team of experts, digital security costs may increase by 1.8-2.5 times compared to capital expenditures. The estimated upper limit is approaching 400 million rubles," says Anna Avakimyan, senior analyst at RegBlok.
By the end of 2024, the domestic market for information security audit services will amount to 2.7 billion rubles. According to Solar estimates, it will continue to grow by 20% per year. The company attributes the market growth to the requirements of regulators establishing mandatory requirements for information security, an increase in the number of cyber incidents, and an increase in the automation of penetration testing (information security audit). Denis Senyukov, head of the financial sector at Informzashchita, believes that the market growth this year will amount to more than 30%. A source from a large information security company estimates the size of the Russian penetration testing market at 4.5-5 billion rubles.
“At the same time, like information security in general, the penetration market suffers from a shortage of talent,” adds Solar. The problem was identified by Yulia Voronova, director and consultant of the Positive Technologies Competence Center. “The ability to penetrate the market is mainly limited by the number of experts. Secondly, they are not qualified enough, and penetration testing cannot be used to verify the integrity of contract performers.” She added that the market lacks between 500 and 1,000 quality penetration testers.
"The cybersecurity industry is gradually being nationalized. Dozens of private information security companies are already controlled to varying degrees by government agencies," emphasizes Rustem Khairutdinov, vice president of the Garda group of companies.