Cyber-security firm FireEye Inc plans to take on Cisco Systems Inc and
Palo Alto Networks Inc in selling intrusion prevention systems, which
help companies detect cyber threats that breach their firewalls.
FireEye
said on Monday that it plans to start selling the new products by the
middle of this year, adding to its existing technology that helps
protect computers from infection by tainted messages and malicious
websites.
The intrusion prevention systems (IPS) market totaled
nearly $1.9 billion in 2012, according to market research firm IDC. That
is nearly 10 times the size of the market for specialized threat
analysis and protection technology, for which FireEye is best known.
"They
are really working to broaden their addressable market," said John
Grady, an analyst with IDC who was briefed by FireEye on the new IPS
technology.
Besides Cisco and Palo Alto Networks, other players in
the IPS market include Intel Corp and Trend Micro Inc, according to
Grady.
FireEye has been aggressively expanding since it went
public last year in one of the hottest U.S. stock market debuts. Its
shares have nearly quadrupled since September 2013, and were up 10.4
percent at $78.12 in Monday afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.
In
December, FireEye purchased cyber forensics and security software firm
Mandiant Corp for about $1 billion. The company is best known for
uncovering a Chinese military unit believed to be behind a series of
hacking attacks on U.S. companies.
Entering the IPS market is part
of FireEye Chief Executive Dave DeWalt's strategy of developing a
technology platform that customers can use to run a variety of products
to protect their networks from cyber attacks.
When he was named
CEO in November 2012, FireEye's technology was well regarded by industry
analysts, but many described it as a provider of a niche product that
companies needed to bolt on to software and equipment from bigger
security firms.
Adding new product lines could help the company
achieve profitability. FireEye has reported large losses over the past
year as DeWalt spent heavily to build a global sales force to market its
products.
FireEye posted an operating loss of $111 million in the
first nine months of last year, though revenue more than doubled from a
year earlier to $104 million.
In addition to the IPS product,
FireEye also plans to unveil tools to analyze security events and
describe how it has incorporated Mandiant's threat detection software
into its platform, according to a company spokesman.
When asked if
other acquisitions are in the works, DeWalt said by email that the
company would "be opportunistic with future acquisitions as the need
arises."
© Thomson Reuters 2014
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