Meet the world's 500 hottest security vendors

New list, topped by FireEye, Moka5 and AlienVault, claims to rank vendors based on subjective factors such as CISO feedback

FireEye has topped a list of hot IT security vendors that ranks entrants based on subjective factors such as end-user feedback.

Compiled by market intelligence outfit Cybersecurity Ventures, the first edition of Cybersecurity500 is dominated by California-based outfits, with the top four - FireEye, Moka5, AlienVault and Norse - all based in the Golden State.

Vendors were ranked based on a range of subjective factors, including feedback from CISOs and channel partners, media coverage and founder and management pedigree (see full list below).

"We didn't think a list of the largest cybersecurity companies would be very useful to our target audience of cyber and IT security decision makers, evaluators, and recommenders," explained Cybersecurity Ventures chief executive Steve Morgan. "They already know who the biggest vendors are".

US firms pulled off a clean sweep of the top 10, with data security vendor Splunk placing sixth, application security testing outfit Veracode ninth and cyber threat protection specialist CyberArk tenth.

In fact, 80 of the top 100 were US-based, with - perhaps surprisingly - only three (Checkmarx, Covertix and Waterfall) hailing from IT security hotspot Israel.

Czech Republic-based AVG was the highest-ranked European firm, at number 12, with Wetherby-based authentication vendor Swivel Secure the top-placing UK outfit, at 197.

There were only nine other UK firms ranked in the top 500. These were, in order, web vulnerability scanner specialist Acunetix (350), web application security testing outfit Burp (354), BT (359), BAE Systems (370), cyber intelligence feed player Digital Shadows (422), Sophos (441), two-factor authentication vendor Protectimus (487), e-authentication outfit Mega AS (488) and secure messaging solution Boldon James (493).

Of the big, established security vendors, Trend Micro stood out, finishing thirteenth, with RSA coming 22nd, Blue Coat 31st and Kaspersky 32nd. Symantec placed 159th.

"We are trying to create more awareness and recognition for the most innovative cybersecurity companies - ranging from the largest and most recognisable brands to VC-backed start-ups and emerging players," said Morgan.

Morgan was product vice president at McAfee from 1995 to 1999. According to its website, the California-based market research firm's board of directors includes vice presidents from several vendors, including Google and FireEye.

Based on consolidated estimated by analysts, Cybersecurity Ventures claimed cybersecurity will be a $155bn-plus industry by 2019, up from $71bn in 2014.

Cybersecurity 500 said the rankings were "subjective" and based on some or all of the following criteria when evaluating each company:

• Cybersecurity sector (market category)
• Problem(s) solved
• Customer base
• Feedback from CISOs and decision makers
• Feedback from IT security evaluators & recommenders
• Feedback from VARs, SIs and consultants
• VC funding
• Company growth
• Published product reviews
• Demos and presentations at conferences
• Corporate marketing and branding
• Media coverage
• Notable implementations
• Founder and management pedigree

Update

Since this article was published, Clearswift has got in touch to clarify it is in fact the top-ranked UK firm in the research, at number 93, although it had been incorrectly identified by Cybersecurity Ventures as a US firm.