Palo Alto's IoT Product Gains FedRAMP's "In Process" Status

Palo Alto Networks’ (NYSE:PANW) FedRAMP recognitions are boosting the adoption of its products by government organizations.

The company recently announced that its IoT product — ZingboxIoT Guardian — has been deemed “In Process” for the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). This FedRAMP recognition reflects the trust the U.S. public sector puts in Palo Alto’s IoT security solutions.

The recognition is a significant progress for ZingboxIoT Guardian toward a FedRAMP Moderate Agency Authorization. Once ZingboxIoT Guardian earns a FedRAMP Ready status, it will help the U.S. government agencies to discover, secure and optimize connected IoT devices.

Notably, Palo Alto has earlier been awarded the FedRAMP “In Process” status for other products, including WildFire, Cortex XDR, Cortex Data Lake, Traps and Prisma Cloud. Notably, Palo Alto’s VM-Series Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls — Twistlock and PureSec — are being utilized by government agencies to secure network traffic, protect containers and enable secure serverless deployments.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. Price and Consensus

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. Price and Consensus

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Palo Alto Networks, Inc. Quote

Zingbox: A Key Growth Instrument

Palo Alto acquired Zingbox in September last year to boost its IoT security capabilities.

The growing number of connected devices among government agencies calls for efficient management and stronger security in their IoT landscape. Currently, IoT focuses mainly on-device profiling and inventory, neglecting the need to detect and prevent advanced attacks.

Moreover, in order to bridge this security gap, organizations are forced to use different IoT security products from multiple vendors, making it difficult to manage and look into the security interface along with appropriating higher costs.

Zingbox’s technology for device and threat identification capabilities enabled Palo Alto to expedite and improve the delivery of IoT security to organizations. The combination is allowing organizations to enhance the visibility and security of their IoT landscape.

Scope & Competition in IoT Security Market

Per Allied Market Research, the global IoT security market size is expected to reach $73.9 billion, at a CAGR of 31.2% during 2019-2026.

In this area, Palo Alto competes with major IoT security vendors like Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) , Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) and Mocana, among others. With the bright prospects of the IoT security market, security companies are constantly upping their game.

Last year, Mocana’s TrustCenter was integrated into the Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Secure Device Onboard service to simplify IoT device security.

Moreover, Fortinet’s network access control product line, FortiNAC, which delivers network segmentation and automated responses for IoT security, is gaining traction.

However, Palo Alto’s efforts to increase visibility among U.S. government agencies are expected to help it maintain position in the competitive environment.

Zacks Rank and A Key Pick

Palo Alto currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A better-ranked stock in the broader technology sector is HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) , sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term earnings growth rate for HP is currently pegged at 2%.

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