Report: Security Vendor Zscaler Could Raise $2 Billion in IPO

Internet security vendor Zscaler is on the path to an initial public offering later this year, according to a report by Reuters, who said the company is interviewing investment banks in the coming weeks to hire as underwriters.

According to people familiar with the matter, Zscaler could raise as much as $2 billion, Reuters said.

Launched in 2008, Zscaler is based in San Jose, and protects more than 15 million users at more than 5,000 enterprises and government organizations against cyberattacks and data breaches. Zscaler’s Security Cloud is an internet security and compliance platform that runs in more than 100 data centers.

Other security vendors expected to go public soon include Carbon Black and ForeScout, both of which filed confidentially for IPOs.

While security events such as WannaCry and Petya have heightened public awareness of security best practices, the average IT budget still only allocates about 10 percent to security, according to a report by Bloomberg.  

“There's also a deep disconnect between the souped-up security technology on offer and the ransomware breaches that are currently hitting the headlines. WannaCry and Petya seem effective at exposing basic holes in corporate cyber-defenses that are as much human as they are technological,” Bloomberg said.

In conversation with ITPro this week Dell EMC Global Security CISO Alan Daines agreed that there is no one security technology to rule them all.

“The reality is that there are so many security vendors, so much repetition," he said. And while there are “some really good and valuable security products out there” it can be hard for an organization to determine the best from the rest.