Courtesy of Benzinga.
Oppenheimer hosted a Cyber Security Day last Tuesday. The event featured cybersecurity expert Shawn Carpenter and Chief Technology Officer Paul Garrett, both of the Ashcroft Group, a Washington, D.C.-based law and consulting firm that specializes in all areas of Homeland Security, including cyber security.
According to a report rolled out Thursday, Oppenheimer's analysts believe "the toxic threat landscape coupled with increased spending should bode well for security software names under coverage." Namely:
- Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP)
- Cyberark Software Ltd (NASDAQ: CYBR)
- FireEye Inc (NASDAQ: FEYE)
- Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ: FTNT)
- Imperva Inc (NYSE: IMPV)
- Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW)
- Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT)
- Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC)
- Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK)
Below are the main takeaways from the Cyber Security Day:
Takeaways
Security: Critical
As breaches intensify and get worse, security remains critical. As a result, Oppenheimer sees planned security spending increasing by 15 percent to 30 percent within the next six to nine months.
Big Data
Big data is becoming increasingly important.
Endpoint
"Endpoint = Wild West: Endpoint protection is challenging because in today's complex digital age, it must provide sophisticated capabilities to thwart advanced threats while not degrading the endpoint's performance and functionality.
"Endpoints are also much more diverse to include mobile devices and devices tied to IoT. The primary weakness tied to endpoint security is that endpoints are not generally able to defend themselves."
Automation
Security automation is becoming unavoidable.
Oppenheimer also rated all the above-mentioned companies as Outperform cases, except for FireEye, which carries a Perform rating.
Latest Ratings for CHKP
Date | Firm | Action | From | To |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jan 2015 | Jefferies | Maintains | Buy | |
Jan 2015 | Citigroup | Maintains | Buy | |
Jan 2015 | Macquarie | Downgrades | Outperform | Neutral |
View More Analyst Ratings for CHKP
View the Latest Analyst Ratings
Posted-In: Ashcroft Group Cyber Security Day Cybersecurity OppenheimerAnalyst Color Events Analyst Ratings Tech Best of Benzinga