Network Security a Growing Industry

With the growing popularity of the Internet hacktivism group, Anonymous, raising digital mayhem is in vogue. It should be no surprise that network security is a growing industry. Many organizations have increased spending on network security solutions especially to bolster their defenses against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Viruses are created for a wide variety of reasons, sometimes of nothing more complex than the novelty or thrill of altering the highly pliable digital world, sometimes in support of a political or idealistic agenda, and sometimes with a more heinous objective such as espionage, fraud, identity theft, or larceny. Regardless of the rationale behind the growing wave of attacks, network security companies are scrambling to meet the increased demand with varying degrees of success.

Leading the charge is Cisco which has grown nearly 19 percent in the last quarter alone due in large part to their aggressive pricing structure and their success in landing some large corporate contracts. Also up more than 19 percent is Checkpoint Software Technologies whose success is slightly more surprising were the two companies evaluated based on website design alone. Fortinet has also posted double digit growth. These three companies represent the top middle and budget ends of the spectrum in network security.

Cisco (News - Alert), the largest and least expensive of the trio, carries a measure of consumer confidence in the Cisco name alone. While the other two are operating in a broad range of network solutions, Checkpoint remains focused on security. Fortinet (News - Alert) stands as the balanced solution with more robust security than Cisco at a snappier speed than Checkpoint. Fortinet boasts the world’s fastest firewall. Like any purchase decision, buying a security solution is an act of compromise. Price, speed and resiliency are variables that need to be weighed against one another.

Not all companies in the network security space have figured out a successful growth formula. Juniper Networks has hemorrhaged more than 14 percent from the first quarter of last year. One cannot help but wonder if consumers value stability over the network innovation being championed by Juniper.