As hard as it is to report, incidences of cyber attacks and hacking are on the rise and the numbers are projected to go even higher in the coming years. As reported by Gregory Garrett, BDO’s Head of US and International Cybersecurity, cases of ransomware is set to increase by 350%; spoofing will rise by 250% while spear-phishing attacks in companies will surge 70%.” Since these numbers are worrying, cybersecurity firms like FireEye are somewhere drooling over them.
Cybercriminals are wreaking havoc, let slip the dogs of war and whoever is in position to stop them will reap big. FireEye is one among the firms on the frontline of this war. Although the company has had a troubling past, burning through cash and reporting significant losses, the future looks bright for it and even rewarding for optimists willing to overlook the company’s past and dwell on the unlimited future possibilities.
Company’s recent Accolades Collection
Based on FireEye’s last quarterly results, the company is slowing approaching the profitability lane. The company is already high flying with its futuristic security product that leverages on artificial intelligence to detect and stop threats. Unlike traditional firewalls and anti-malware software, FireEye’s offering can predict attacks making them easier to stop before they occur.
FireEye® Endpoint Security recently received the 2018 AV-Comparatives Approved Business Product Award. For a security product to be considered for the award, it must score at least 90% in Malware Protection Test and another 90% in overall Real-world protection test for a minimum period of 4 months. FireEye’s product aced these tests with a score of 99.3% and reporting zero false positive alerts.
Speaking during the award ceremony, Michelle Salvado, the Vice President of Endpoint Engineering- FireEye said that, “FireEye’s unique differentiator is the extensive intelligence gained from the front lines of cybersecurity, including responding to incidents, breach intelligence, and machine intelligence. Our focus is on integrating that intelligence to constantly improve our anti-malware engines, like our machine learning and behavioral analysis models, to detect the latest malicious techniques – and when FireEye Endpoint triggers an alert, our customers know it’s worth investigating.”
A while before receiving the AV-Comparatives Approved Business Product Award; the company had been named the Channelnomics Innovation Award winner for the Endpoint Security with MalwareGuard. These awards underline the company’s effective counter-cyber attacks mechanisms.
Driving in Revenue
Under the leadership of Kevin Mandia (after the ousting of former CEO David DeWalt in 2016) the company has been focused on driving in revenue as opposed to the previous acquisition strategy. Mandia unveiled Helix in 2016- a cybersecurity option offered on a subscription basis. Through this, the company has been earning reliable, recurring revenue. FireEye’s paying customer-base is expanding gradually with 243 clients joining in during the last quarter.
FireEye’s stock
The company’s stock has been a let-down lately having closed at $15.39 during the last trading period representing a 3.63% drop from the opening price of $15.66. The company currently controls a market share of $3.03 billion. Analysts covering the stock have given it a consensus recommendation of BUY with a price target of $20.27.
Source: Stockcharts.com
With IT spending expected to hit $124 billion in 2019 and a mouth-watering $170 billion by 2022, as I mentioned, the future looks bright for FireEye.