The 20 Coolest Network Security Companies Of 2023: The Security 100

From vendors offering SASE platforms to those focused on securing IoT assets, here’s a look at 20 key network security companies.

Coolest Network Security Companies

The concept of network security has evolved in the shift to distributed workforces, and so have many of the vendors that have specialized in the area. Among the giants of the traditional network security world, many of the vendors have now expanded their offerings to enable secure access service edge (SASE) deployments for customers. In SASE, which is aimed at providing secure remote access to applications, offering a next-generation firewall (NGFW) is still a key component — but just one of many.

[Related: 10 Hot SASE Companies To Watch In 2023]

When it comes to defining SASE, Gartner — whose analysts coined the term in 2019 — points to five key capabilities: SD-WAN, secure web gateway (SWG), cloud access security broker (CASB) and zero trust network access (ZTNA), in addition to NGFW. In other words, SASE is a convergence of networking and cybersecurity that seeks to address the modern needs of organizations in the post-corporate perimeter era. Vendors that have expanded from firewall offerings to provide a full SASE platform include Check Point, Cisco, Fortinet, Juniper Networks, Palo Alto Networks and SonicWall.

At ePlus Technology, “we’re working with customers to help to understand what the future of work looks like and how to properly secure users’ traffic to applications,” said Lee Waskevich, vice president of security at Herndon, Va.-based ePlus, No. 30 on the 2022 CRN Solution Provider 500. With the arrival of multi-cloud computing and an increasing reliance on cloud-based SaaS applications, SASE “naturally lends itself to being that intermediary layer, the same way that the next-gen firewalls from before were at that perimeter,” Waskevich said. SASE becomes the new layer where “you can connect from anywhere, secure access to your applications, whether they’re on-prem or in the cloud.”

Together, the core capabilities of SASE enable “zero trust access based on the identity of the device or entity, combined with real-time context and security and compliance policies,” and can provide this secure access whether workers are in the office or working remotely, according to Gartner, which has pegged the market at growing an average growth rate of 32 percent a year to reach nearly $15 billion by 2025. In addition to improved security and compliance, SASE can boost visibility and agility for businesses while also simplifying the management of both security and network services, Gartner analysts have noted.

What follows are the 20 network security companies that made our Security 100 for 2023.

A10 Networks

Dhrupad Trivedi

President, CEO

A10 Networks in December launched a new tool aimed at protecting against dis­tributed denial-of-service attacks. A10 Defend is a SaaS offering that delivers insight about DDoS threats gleaned from the compa­ny’s analysis of past attacks and its deep knowledge of network traffic patterns.

Armis

Yevgeny Dibrov

Co-Founder, CEO

Offering what it calls a unified asset intelligence platfrom spanning IT, IoT and industrial IoT systems, the company’s Armis Asset Vulnerability Management platform enables prioriti­zation of threat mitigation activities across the full attack surface of an orga­nization.

Cato Networks

Shlomo Kramer

Co-Founder, CEO

A specialist in the fast-growing SASE area, Cato Networks offers a platform that combines its Cato SD-WAN offering with its cloud-native security service edge product, Cato SSE 360. Recent enhancements include the addition of data loss prevention capabilities.

Check Point Software Technologies

Gil Shwed

Founder, CEO

Check Point recently introduced a new version of its Quan­tum platform, Check Point Quantum Titan, with a number of new capabili­ties. The platform uses AI and deep learning to provide advanced threat prevention against attacks such as phishing, DNS exploits and IoT device compromises.

Cisco Systems

Chuck Robbins

Chair, CEO

Cisco last year said that Cisco Security Cloud will serve as the basis for its security strategy going forward. The platform features threat preven­tion, detection, response and remediation, with the aim of bringing together services across security, networking and threat intelligence with a unified policy engine.

Claroty

Yaniv Vardi

CEO

Claroty recently unveiled its cloud-based industrial cybersecurity offering, Claroty xDome, which aims to provide simplified deployment and scalabil­ity while also offering deep visibility and protection. Key capabilities include asset discovery, vulnerabil­ity and risk management, and advanced network segmentation controls.

Corelight

Brian Dye

CEO

With its Corelight Investigator offering, the company provides network pro­tection with advanced analytics that leverage open-source insight. The offering provides security teams with accelerated threat hunting and inves­tigations, as well as with improved alert scoring and reduced alert volume.

Darktrace

Poppy Gustafsson

CEO

Darktrace expanded its suite of AI-driven security prod­ucts into attack prevention with the debut of its new Prevent product family. The technology provides enhanced modeling of the potential paths an attacker might take to reach an organization’s most-prized assets, enabling those paths to be prioritized for security measures.

Forescout

Barry Mainz

CEO

Forescout last year launched its automa­tion-driven cybersecurity platform, the Forescout Continuum Platform. The offering aims to provide continuous management of the risk posture of an organization’s assets throughout its digital systems, spanning IT, operational technology, IoT and connected medical devices.

Fortinet

Ken Xie

Founder, Chairman, CEO

Key offerings from Forti­net include its FortiGate Next Gen­eration Firewall, which aims to outperform tradi­tional firewalls thanks to advanced capabilities such as deep-packet inspection, application control, intru­sion prevention, advanced malware detection and increased network visibility, which leverage the inspec­tion of encrypted traffic.

Gigamon

Shane Buckley

President, CEO

With the Gigamon Hawk Deep Observabil­ity Pipeline, Gigamon taps into net­work insight to provide greater visibility, as well as assured security and compliance governance. Meanwhile, with its Gigamon ThreatInsight offering, the company has added network detection and response capabilities.

Infoblox

Scott Harrell

President, CEO

Delivering what it has dubbed “next-gener­ation” DNS security, Infoblox provides BloxOne Threat Defense for rapid deployment of DNS-layer security across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments. Other key offerings include threat intelligence and advanced protection for DNS infra­structure.

Ivanti

Jeff Abbott

CEO

The Ivanti Neurons suite pro­vides a range of capabilities including secure access management that aims to modernize VPN usage with enhanced control of access and increased insight into network and access sta­tus. The suite also provides automatic discovery of assets, anomaly detection and self-healing for secu­rity issues.

Juniper Networks

Rami Rahim

CEO

Among Juniper’s security offerings is the Juniper Secure Edge, a cloud-delivered offering that provides firewall as a service as a single-stack software architecture. The service ultimately aims to enable organizations to more easily transition to a secure access service edge deployment model.

Palo Alto Networks

Nikesh Arora

Chairman, CEO

Palo Alto Net­works has an array of offer­ings including its next-gen­eration firewall portfolio and its secure access service edge platform. With Prisma SASE and Prisma Access, it provides advanced zero trust network access as well as cloud-based secure web gateway and cloud access security broker technologies.

Perimeter 81

Amit Bareket

Co-Founder, CEO

Perimeter 81 offers secure remote net­works based on zero trust architecture, designed to replace legacy firewall and VPN technology. The company’s secure access service edge platform combines network and security functionality while enabling an identity-driven and cloud-based approach to securing businesses.

SonicWall

Robert Vankirk

President, CEO

Key offer­ings from SonicWall in the realm of next-gener­ation firewalls include the SonicWall NSa 5700, which utilizes a scalable hardware architecture designed to fit in a single rack-mountable unit. The high port density of the NSa 5700 includes multiple 10-Gigabit Ether­net and 1-Gigabit Ethernet fiber and copper interfaces.

Vectra AI

Hitesh Sheth

President, CEO

With a focus on AI-pow­ered threat detection and response for hybrid cloud environ­ments, Vectra AI’s recent updates have included the launch of Attack Signal Intelligence. It aims to pro­vide greater automation for threat detection, triaging and prioritization of cyber­threats.

Versa Networks

Kelly Ahuja

CEO

While its roots were in SD-WAN, Versa Net­works has expanded to provide a full secure access ser­vice edge platform that also includes capabili­ties in zero trust network access, secure web gate­way, cloud access security broker, next-generation firewall-as-a-service, remote browser isolation and more.

WatchGuard Technologies

Prakash Panjwani

CEO

In the sphere of network security, WatchGuard delivers its Firebox platform comprising a range of offerings and capabili­ties including firewall and VPN, application control, network discovery, threat detection and response, web and spam blocking, intrusion prevention and SD-WAN.