The Cybersecurity 500 list of the world’s hottest and most innovative cybersecurity companies was launched in Q1 2015. FireEye topped the list as the #1 company for all of 2015, and led a list of what were mainly cybersecurity product vendors.
[su_quote style=”modern-light”]“Cyber defense has never been more critical than it is today, and the Cybersecurity 500 recognizes the “companies to watch” on the front lines of this battle” said Dave DeWalt, Chairman and CEO at FireEye, at the time. “FireEye is committed to changing the way the world combats today’s advanced cyber attacks, and the Cybersecurity 500 spotlights the evolution taking place by raising awareness of the most innovative companies in the security industry” added DeWalt.[/su_quote]
By the end of 2015, the Cybersecurity 500 list evolved to include large tech companies with cybersecurity divisions, defense contractors that provide cybersecurity services to federal agencies, and professional services companies who deliver cybersecurity consulting services to corporate enterprises and governments globally.
Entering 2016, the big story around the Cybersecurity 500 is the emergence of “pure-play” cybersecurity firms. These pure-plays were born and raised (founded and started-up) as cybersecurity advisory, consulting, and professional services firms, and have remained so. True to their name, the pure-plays are all cybersecurity – and nothing else.
Why are these cybersecurity pure-play firms so critical to our industry? There’s a cybersecurity labor crisis with one million cybersecurity job openings which enterprises are struggling to fill. The pure-plays bring forward the talent and services to protect and defend when companies can not effectively recruit the cyber human capital to do it themselves.
There’s a final chance to review the Cybersecurity 500 list from 2015 before the Q1 2016 edition is published at the end of January.
Who will sit atop the Cybersecurity 500 in 2016? We can’t share that just yet. But one thing you can be sure of is that the list will be dotted with an increasing number of hot and innovative cybersecurity pure-play firms.
Stay tuned for the Q1 2016 Cybersecurity 500 which will be announced right here at Information Security Buzz.
[su_box title=”About Steve Morgan” style=”noise” box_color=”#336588″]
Steve Morgan is founder and CEO at Cybersecurity Ventures and editor-in-chief of the Cybersecurity Market Report and the Cybersecurity 500 list of the world’s hottest and most innovative cybersecurity companies. Steve is a contributor writer for Information Security Buzz, IDG’s CSO, Homeland Security Today, SandHill.com, and other business, technology, and cybersecurity media properties.[/su_box]
Founder of Cybersecurity Ventures and Editor-in-Chief at Cybercrime Magazine
The opinions expressed in this post belong to the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Information Security Buzz.