Here we go again. Just like the Colonial Pipeline and beef supplier JBS, hackers have once again brought an alarming number of businesses to their knees. As many as 1,500 organizations were compromised by ransomware following an incident in the United States at information technology firm Kaseya, which remotely controls programs for companies that manage internet services for businesses.

Officials think that the breach may be affiliated with the Russian-linked REvil ransomware gang and is one of the largest criminal ransomware hacks in history. In Sweden, as many as 800 stores of the supermarket chain Coop couldn’t open on Saturday after the attack knocked their cash registers offline.
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Once again investors are reminded that cybersecurity software is crucial for business and government, and it is a pretty safe bet that those in decision-making positions will continue to demand security that is impenetrable. With the most recent hack, the criminals are demanding $70 million to restore the stolen data. After both Colonial and JBS paid up, it’s a good bet that others will have to as well.

We screened our 24/7 Wall St research database looking for the top cybersecurity software companies and found four that make sense for more aggressive growth investors seeking a stake in this dynamic silo of technology. It is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Cloudflare

This off-the-radar cybersecurity pick has big potential upside in a red-hot industry, and it could be a potential takeover target. Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE: NET) provides an integrated cloud-based security solution to secure a range of combinations of platforms, including public cloud, private cloud, on premise, software-as-a-service applications, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Cloudflare’s security products include Cloud Firewall, Bot Management, Distributed Denial of Service, Infrastructure Protection, IoT, SSL/TLS, Secure Origin Connection and Rate Limiting. The company also offers performance solutions, which include Content Delivery, Intelligent Routing, and Mobile Software Development Kit, as well as Content, Mobile, and Image Optimization.

In addition, the company provides Reliability solutions, comprising Load Balancing, Anycast Network, Virtual Backbone, DNS, DNS Resolver and Always Online. Further, the company provides solutions to protect an organization’s internal resources, such as devices, users, applications and data, comprising Zero Trust Security and Access Management, which secures, authenticates and monitors user access to internal applications and infrastructure hosted on-premise or in-cloud environments, as well as Secure Web Gateway to secure and filter outbound internet traffic to protect employees from threats on the public internet and to help protect internet-browsing employees from bringing malware or vulnerable code into an organization.

The Truist Securities Buy rating comes with a $110 price target, which tops the $99.47 consensus target. Cloudflare stock rose almost 3% on Tuesday and closed at $108.93 a share.

This cybersecurity giant’s stock has had a stellar run but still offers solid upside potential. CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) is a leader in the endpoint protection platform (EPP) market. EPP solutions help protect enterprises’ internet-connected devices from cyberattacks, and there is a market shift from signature-based on-premises solutions to cloud-based platforms that use machine learning.
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CrowdStrike’s platform is one of the few 100% cloud-based architectures and is uniquely positioned to displace incumbents with its platform breadth, including advanced detection and remediation capabilities.

Many analysts feel that the company is well positioned for sustainable success in a market in which the share leaders have failed to innovate. Outside of core endpoint security, most expect CrowdStrike can continue to drive strong multi-module adoption, leading to increased stickiness and better long-term positioning.

Truist Securities has a Buy rating and a $300 price target on the stock. The Wall Street consensus target is much lower at $265.32. The final Crowdstrike stock trade for Tuesday was reported at $264.98, which was up almost 5% for the day.

Palo Alto Networks

This continues to be one of the most dominant players in its industry. Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW) provides cybersecurity platform solutions worldwide. The company provides firewall appliances and software; Panorama, a security management solution for the control of appliances and software deployed on an end-customer’s network as a virtual or a physical appliance; and virtual system upgrades, which are available as extensions to the virtual system capacity that ships with physical appliances.

Palo Alto Networks also offers subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, uniform resource locator filtering, malware and persistent threat, laptop and mobile device protection and firewall, as well as cyberattacks, threat intelligence and data loss prevention. In addition, the company provides professional services, including architecture design and planning, configuration and firewall migration, as well as online and in-classroom education training services and support services.
Palo Alto Networks sells its products and services through its channel partners, as well as directly to medium to large enterprises, service provider, and government entities operating in various industries, including education, energy, financial services, government entities, health care, internet and media, manufacturing, public sector and telecommunications.

Piper Sandler has set a $450 price target with its Buy rating. The posted consensus price objective is $444.61 a share, and Palo Alto Networks stock closed on Tuesday at $391.90, after a gain of over 5% for the day.
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Sailpoint Technologies

This is another off-the-radar company that has outstanding upside potential. Sailpoint Technologies Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SAIL) engages in the provision of enterprise identity governance solutions in the United States and throughout the world. It also offers licensing of software, sale of professional services, maintenance and technical support.

Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning, SailPoint’s predictive identity governance platform delivers adaptive security and continuous compliance, while dramatically improving operational efficiency. With SailPoint, organizations of all sizes can embrace innovation, expand their workforce globally and evolve their business, securely and confidently.

The analysts at Wedbush have a Buy rating and a $70 price target, which compares to the consensus target of $63.79. The shares closed trading on Tuesday at $51.43, which was up over 2% on the day.

While the whirlwind around the top stocks in the industry has slowed dramatically from the pace of six and seven years ago, the need in corporate America and government is increasing every year. These top stocks offer investors solid ways to play the industry in a multitude of areas, especially when it appears that ransomware attacks are increasing at an alarming pace. Given the interest after yet another high-profile attack, it may make sense to buy partial positions and see if the shares don’t pull back some.

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