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Microsoft
Why they’re here: Leveraging its massive installed base of Windows, Office, and Active Directory customers, Microsoft has built a security platform that integrates with its software portfolio and extends to its Azure cloud. Microsoft offers endpoint protection, identity and access management, security information and event management (SIEM), threat detection, web application gateways and a variety of Azure-based cloud security services.
By the numbers: US$10B: In January, Microsoft said it had generated more than $10 billion in security revenue in the previous 12 months, up more than 40 per cent year over year.
Power moves: Microsoft continues to fill in the gaps in its security portfolio with the recent purchases of RiskIQ and CloudKnox.
Outlook: By embedding Microsoft Defender into Windows, Microsoft is able to get a leg up on third-party security vendors. In the past, competitors could argue that their tools were superior to the security features provided by Microsoft. But that’s no longer the case. For example, Gartner rates Microsoft as a leader in endpoint protection and a visionary for its SIEM product, Azure Sentinel. “Both Defender for Endpoint and the protection engines built into Windows 10 have evolved exponentially throughout the year, along with the addition of new capabilities in each release of Windows to create a holistic set of security layers,” says Gartner. The Microsoft security platform is cloud-based and the company is set up to accommodate organisations moving more of their applications securely to the cloud.
Palo Alto Networks
Why they’re here: The largest pure-play security vendor (annual revenue of US$4.3 billion, up 25 per cent year-over-year), Palo Alto Networks has been driving innovation ever since it shook up the industry with the first next-generation firewall back in 2007. Today, Palo Alto sports a broad range of cloud-based security products and services. Forrester ranks Palo Alto as a leader in zero trust. And Forrester’s evaluation of endpoint security states that the Palo Alto offering “is the most comprehensive in this study, offering threat prevention, detection, and access controls spanning endpoint, IoT, network, and cloud apps.”
Power moves: In November, Palo Alto Networks announced its intent to acquire attack surface management vendor Expanse for US$800 million. In February 2021, Palo Alto Networks bought cloud security company Bridgecrew for around US$156 million.
By the numbers: 14: The number of Palo Alto acquisitions over the past four years.
Outlook: Palo Alto stock jumped recently when the company announced that its buying spree was over, at least for the time being. The company plans to continue to integrate recent acquisitions into its product lines and take advantage of the headwinds associated with the increasingly dangerous security environment that enterprises are facing. Jefferies analyst Brent Thill says, “We believe that the leader in network security remains well-positioned to meet customer needs in a hybrid world given its formidable investments in cloud security.” Mizuho analyst Gregg Moskowitz adds that Palo Alto “easily possesses the strongest array of cloud assets among traditional network security vendors.”
Rapid7
Why they’re here: Named a leader in Gartner’s most recent evaluation of SIEM products, Rapid7 has built a wide-ranging portfolio of cloud-native security offerings under the Insight banner. The Rapid7 platform includes threat detection and incident response, vulnerability management, application security, cloud posture management, user behavior analytics, network traffic analysis, logging and reporting.
Power moves: Rapid7 recently purchased threat intelligence startup IntSights for US$335 million to provide customers with a unified view into threats, attack surface monitoring, and proactive threat mitigation.
By the numbers: US$335 million: The amount of that Rapid7 paid for IntSights.
Outlook: Rapid7 is well positioned for the future. As a cloud-native platform, it is built for today’s hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The company’s strong suits are analytics and automation, two areas that are increasingly important for enterprise security organisations. It offers a managed detection and response service, which can be critical for understaffed and overwhelmed security professionals who are dealing with an increasingly dangerous attack landscape. And Rapid7 is constantly adding new capabilities to its platform. For example, in July the company launched InsightCloudSec, which brings together the cloud and container security capabilities of recent acquisitions DivvyCloud and Alcide.
Zscaler
Why they’re here: Enterprises may start out simply wanting secure remote access to cloud services, but they quickly realised that they need more: a really security cloud access system includes zero trust network access (ZTNA), remote browser isolation (RBI), sandboxing, firewall as a service (FWaaS), data loss prevention (DLP), cloud access security broker (CASB) and other cloud-based security services. In Gartner’s latest analysis of secure web gateways, Zscaler was the only vendor to appear in the leader category.
Power Moves: In May, Zscaler has agreed to buy Smokescreen Technologies, which provides technology to proactively hunt for emerging adversary tactics and uses deception technology to confuse adversaries.
By the numbers: 59.6 per cent: The year-over-year revenue increase for Zscaler in its latest quarter (US$110.5M to US$176.4M.)
Outlook: Zscaler is in great shape to take full advantage of the trends toward zero trust security, increased remote access by employees and the surge of applications and data to the cloud. Zscaler also positions itself not simply as a cloud-based security vendor, but as a partner to enterprises embarking on their digital transformation journeys.
