Firms in the cybersecurity sector are actively working to counteract digital threats, evaluate potential risks in the industry, and enhance knowledge and understanding about cybersecurity.
The financial impact of cybercrime is projected to reach a staggering $8 trillion worldwide in 2024, and it could escalate to an estimated $10.5 trillion by 2025.
This alarming trend is driving cybersecurity firms to take on a more proactive role in safeguarding a variety of entities.
Given their role as large-scale data gatherers and repositories, businesses are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks.
This sentiment is echoed by IBM’s president and CEO, Ginni Rometty, who declared, “Cybercrime is the single biggest threat to every corporation globally.” The need for advanced cybersecurity measures is more pressing than ever, and firms are poised to implement cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions. Cybersecurity firms listed below are experts in anticipating, alleviating, and neutralizing cyber threats, allowing their clients and their clients’ customers to concentrate more on proactive measures rather than reactive defenses.
Network Security Companies
Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks, a company renowned for its extensive security solutions, is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Since its inception in 2005, the company has grown significantly, boasting an annual revenue of $8.18 billion. It has made its mark on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists, appearing 19 times.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) has consistently achieved high scores in independent security tests, including next-gen firewalls (NGFW), endpoint detection and response (EDR), and more.
The company’s comprehensive cybersecurity solutions are well-known, and it has also demonstrated its prowess in security services, securing a top-four position in the inaugural MITRE managed security tests. Its consistent excellence in security product tests, including the latest MITRE endpoint security tests and CyberRatings firewall tests, has not gone unnoticed by cybersecurity buyers. Industry analysts forecast that the Santa Clara-based company, now in its 18th year, will see its annual revenue grow at a rate of 27% over the next five years.
Palo Alto has been named to 19 top product lists and is expected to continue this trend in the future. Last year, the company won three categories in our cybersecurity product awards. Palo Alto continues to innovate, making significant announcements in areas such as automated threat response, DevSecOps, vulnerability and configuration management, and other areas of cyber resilience that are often overlooked in the detection-focused cybersecurity market.
While Palo Alto is primarily known for its robust security features, it has also made impressive strides in improving ease of use, pricing, and perceived value, indicating a concerted effort to expand its customer base. One setback was the discontinuation of Okyo, Palo Alto’s promising venture into home office security, although competitor Fortinet maintains its Wi-Fi security partnership with Linksys.
In addition to NGFW, EDR, and DevSecOps, Palo Alto excels in several other enterprise security areas, including:
- Cloud security
- Network security
- Zero trust
- Threat intelligence
- Cloud access security broker (CASB)
- User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA)
- Intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS)
- Extended detection and response (XDR)
- Container and Kubernetes security
- Cybersecurity products
- IoT security
- SD-WAN
- SASE
- SOAR
- Cloud workload protection (CWPP)
- Cloud security posture management tools
Fortinet
Fortinet, a leading company in network security, is based in Sunnyvale, California. It was established in 2000 and has an annual revenue of $6.37 billion. The company has been featured 18 times on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists.
Last year, Fortinet secured the second position and is expected to maintain its rank this year as well. The company is predicted to grow at a rate of 17.9% annually over the next five years.
Fortinet is not one to back down from intensive testing, which has earned it a spot on 18 of our top cybersecurity software and hardware lists. The company excels in its primary area of network security, but it also demonstrates robust capabilities in other crucial security areas like SIEM and EDR.
Leveraging its networking expertise, Fortinet has successfully established itself as a leader in related markets such as SD-WAN. The company receives high customer satisfaction ratings in critical areas like product capabilities, value, ease of use, and support, which has helped it penetrate the small business market.
Industry analysts have praised Fortinet, placing it alongside Palo Alto and others in frequent appearances in Gartner Magic Quadrants and Forrester Wave reports. Fortinet has been recognized in the following eSecurity Planet top product lists:
- Security information and event management (SIEM)
- Network access control (NAC)
- Web application firewalls (WAF)
- Unified threat management (UTM)
- Enterprise VPNs
- Email gateways
- Small business security
- Next-generation firewalls (NGFW)
- Endpoint detection and response (EDR)
- User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA)
- Cloud access security brokers (CASB)
- IoT security
- Network security
- Cybersecurity products
- Software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WAN)
- Zero trust architecture
- Secure access service edge (SASE)
- Email security
Cisco
Cisco, a leading company in distributed network security, is headquartered in San Jose, California. Since its inception in 1984, it has grown to generate an annual revenue of $54.53 billion. Cisco has been recognized 14 times on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists.
As a long-standing leader in the networking industry, Cisco has leveraged its strong market position to branch out into network security. Its security division, valued at $4 billion, is expanding at a robust 9% rate, outpacing the overall growth of the company.
Cisco’s customer base often consists of businesses that already use its networking products. These customers tend to adopt Cisco’s firewall, endpoint, and other security solutions. With annual sales exceeding $50 billion, Cisco’s existing clientele represents a substantial market. Moreover, Cisco has also achieved success in attracting new customers.
Cisco’s offerings have been featured 14 times on our top security product lists, including identity and access management (IAM), web gateways, network detection and response (NDR), SASE, SD-WAN, NGFW, IDPS, CASB, NAC, IoT, cybersecurity software, XDR, network security, and zero trust.
Two significant accomplishments of Cisco are its growing network security portfolio and its pioneering role in the crucial zero trust market.
CrowdStrike
CrowdStrike, a company specializing in Endpoint Security and Services, is based in Sunnyvale, California. Since its establishment in 2011, it has made significant strides in the cybersecurity industry. With an annual revenue of $3.04 billion, it has been featured six times on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists.
CrowdStrike (CRWD) has earned recognition in various areas including EDR, XDR, MDR, VMaaS, CSPM, and cybersecurity. Its robust standing in the fiercely competitive EDR market and the burgeoning XDR market underscores its potential for future growth. The company’s revenue is projected to increase from $3 billion to $3.9 billion in the coming year, with an impressive anticipated annual growth rate of 40.4% over the next five years. This indicates a high level of consumer interest in CrowdStrike’s offerings.
The company, now in its 12th year, has demonstrated its capabilities by successfully defending against an attack related to SolarWinds, a feat also accomplished by Palo Alto Networks. Its top-ranking performance in the MITRE MSSP evaluations indicates that it is well-equipped to thrive in the rapidly expanding MDR market.
Zscaler
Zscaler, a company based in San Jose, CA, is recognized for its excellence in cloud security. Established in 2007, the company has an impressive annual revenue of $2.07 billion.
It has been featured six times on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists. This year, Zscaler (ZS) has climbed a few ranks on our list. The company is expected to generate $1.53 billion in revenue this year and has a promising long-term growth projection of 47.8%.
Thanks to its comprehensive cloud security platform, Zscaler is well-equipped to handle emerging trends such as zero trust, edge security, and secure access service edge (SASE). The company has made its mark on our SASE, zero trust, web gateway, deception tools, cloud security, and SD-WAN lists.
IBM
IBM, a company with a long history dating back to 1911, is headquartered in Armonk, New York. Despite not being the growth powerhouse it once was, it still commands respect in various IT markets, including security, thanks to its strong research and development capabilities.
The company, also known as Big Blue, has made its mark in 11 key security product areas, including UEM, container security, SOAR, SIEM, encryption, database security, threat intelligence, single sign-on, patch management, managed security services, and cybersecurity products.
While customer feedback is generally average and the pace of updates could be improved, IBM continues to be favored by industry analysts such as Gartner. The company’s greatest asset is arguably its deep commitment to research, as evidenced by its recent advancements in fields like homomorphic encryption.
Despite an annual revenue of $60.69 billion, IBM’s presence is still felt on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists, with 11 appearances to its name.
Trend Micro
Trend Micro, a Tokyo-based company established in 1988, is a top choice for small businesses. With an annual revenue of $1.77 billion and a presence on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists nine times, it has a solid reputation in the industry.
Recently, Trend Micro has shown impressive independent test results and has been developing a portfolio that is particularly attractive to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and any security team that prioritizes user-friendly and robust security solutions.
The company, one of the pioneers in the antivirus market, not only excels in endpoint protection—being recognized as a Leader by Gartner for over 15 years—but also has a strong presence in Extended Detection and Response (XDR), application, cloud, and network security.
With high customer satisfaction scores for its value, ease of use, and capabilities, Trend Micro stands out as a strong contender for SMBs and others who prioritize these qualities. The company’s future prospects are also promising, with a projected long-term growth rate of 12%.
Okta
Okta, a company based in San Francisco and established in 2009, is recognized for its excellence in Access Management. Despite facing some hurdles, including security breaches, Okta maintains a strong presence in the crucial fields of Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Zero Trust.
The company stands out for its unique offering that provides organizations with a straightforward and efficient approach to adopt Zero Trust. Okta’s user-friendly, easy-to-deploy, and manageable products continue to draw the attention of security purchasers. The company’s revenue is projected to reach $2.22 billion this year, with an anticipated long-term growth rate of 25%.
Beyond IAM and Zero Trust, the company, which has been in operation for 14 years, has also earned a spot on our top lists for network security and single sign-on solutions. Okta has made four appearances on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists.
OneTrust
OneTrust, a company that excels in privacy and compliance, is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It was established in 2016 and is privately owned. According to GrowJo, its annual revenue is estimated to be around $508.9 million. It has made its mark on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists three times.
The company has shown remarkable growth, with its revenue increasing by approximately 200% since our last report. The venture capital investment of $933 million in OneTrust now seems like a smart move, considering its estimated annual revenue of $508.9 million and its “unicorn” valuation of $5.3 billion.
In the volatile cybersecurity startup market, OneTrust is emerging as a reliable entity. This 7-year-old privacy compliance tech startup has leveraged data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA to achieve swift expansion and high positions on our risk management, third-party risk management, and hot cybersecurity startups lists.
Rapid7
Rapid7 Recognized for Affordability and User-Friendliness Location: Boston, Mass. Established: 2000 Yearly Revenue: $873.4 million Inclusions in eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists: 10 Rapid7 (RPD) has successfully integrated a robust vulnerability management system with SIEM and threat detection features, focusing on affordability and user-friendliness, which has led to an annual growth rate of 52% as per financial market experts.
This integration has earned Rapid7 a spot on 10 of our top product lists: SIEM, SOAR, MDR, vulnerability management, VMaaS, vulnerability scanning, breach and attack simulation, application security, UEBA, and DevSecOps.
Rapid7 has also been one of the most transparent cybersecurity providers in terms of pricing, a practice that the industry could benefit from.
Proofpoint
Proofpoint, a company recognized for its value and user-friendliness, is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Established in 2002, the company reported an annual revenue of $1.2 billion in 2021. It has been featured six times on eSecurity Planet’s list of top vendors.
In 2021, Proofpoint surpassed the $1 billion revenue threshold before transitioning to private ownership under Thomas Bravo. Although the company’s financial growth rate is no longer publicly available, it ended its public tenure on a high note with an impressive sales growth rate exceeding 20% in 2021.
The company has prioritized the security of end users. Its Security-as-a-Service (SECaaS) product suite has been recognized in six categories of our top product lists, including Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Zero Trust, Threat Intelligence, Email Security, and Email Gateways.
Proofpoint provides a range of services including email protection, network sandboxing, security awareness training, and cloud protection.
The company’s strategic acquisition of Wombat Security in 2018 bolstered its position in the field of security awareness training.
This move has enabled Proofpoint to effectively address one of the most significant security vulnerabilities: errors made by an organization’s own end users.
Tenable
Tenable, a company specializing in vulnerability management, is based in Columbia, Maryland. Established in 2002, the company has seen significant growth, with an annual revenue of $910.4 million. It has made its mark on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists seven times.
The company, also known as TENB, has a unique focus on minimizing the attack surface. This dedication has led to a substantial annual revenue and an anticipated long-term growth rate of 39%.
This commitment to a crucial and challenging aspect of cybersecurity has earned the company a place on seven of our top product lists. These include vulnerability management, vulnerability scanning, patch management, cloud security, Active Directory security, pen testing, and breach and attack simulation.
Across all product lines, user feedback has been consistently positive, indicating a high level of reliability.
KnowBe4
KnowBe4, a company based in Clearwater, Florida, is renowned for its Security Awareness Training. Established in 2010, it has an estimated annual revenue of $226.3 million according to GrowJo. It has been featured three times on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists.
KnowBe4 was a pioneer in the field of cybersecurity awareness training, quickly establishing itself as a key player. The company focuses on educating employees to avoid common mistakes such as clicking on harmful links or downloads, which are often the root cause of many cyber attacks. By implementing training and email gateways, KnowBe4 aims to minimize these employee errors, thereby reducing the likelihood of cyber attacks.
The company has received positive feedback from both users and employees, suggesting that it is not only a leader in its field but also a great place to work. In a significant development, KnowBe4 was acquired by Vista Equity Partners for $4.6 billion and became a private entity last year. This change may affect the transparency of the company’s growth in the future.
KnowBe4 has been recognized in three different categories. In addition to winning a product award for its security training, its PhishER email security product was also included in our list of top security products for small businesses.
Darktrace
Darktrace, a leader in AI Security, is headquartered in Cambridge, UK. It was established in 2013 and has an estimated annual revenue of $733.7 million according to GrowJo. The company has been featured twice on eSecurity Planet’s Top Vendors lists. Despite a recent slowdown in sales growth to about 25%, Darktrace’s innovative work in AI-based security keeps it relevant in the industry.
The company has been recognized in our top IDPS and NDR lists. However, its broad range of capabilities, including prevention, detection, response, and healing, makes it difficult to pigeonhole. This decade-old collaboration between British intelligence agencies and mathematicians from Cambridge University has received highly favorable user reviews. Darktrace continues to be a company worth keeping an eye on.
How Do You Choose A Cybersecurity Company?
Choosing a cybersecurity company involves several important steps:
- Define Your Cybersecurity Goals: The first and arguably the most important step when hiring any service provider is to define your goals. You need to have a clear understanding of your business needs and goals1.
- Create a Budget: Once you’ve successfully defined your goals, you can proceed to prepare a dedicated budget for your project1.
- Research Potential Partners: Look for a cybersecurity vendor that has a proven track record in the market. Research their industry recognition, looking for things like accolades in the form of awards, third-party evaluations, and industry analyst reports2.
- Shortlist the Top Firms: Based on your research, shortlist the firms that best meet your needs.
- Conduct Interviews: Interview the shortlisted firms to get a better understanding of their capabilities and whether they align with your goals.
- Narrow Down the Candidates: Based on the interviews, narrow down your options to the firms that best meet your needs.
- Onboard the Ideal Cybersecurity Firm for your Needs: Finally, select and onboard the cybersecurity firm that best fits your needs1.
Remember, the right cybersecurity company should offer services like proactive network security, penetration testing, and cybersecurity training. Their work is critical to ensuring companies maintain continuity for their operations by avoiding various cybersecurity threats1.