Security software products in the identity management, endpoint protection, and email security segments dominated the top of the list in G2's first-ever ranking of the "best security products."
G2, a business software intelligence marketplace that reports having amassed more than 1.6 million user reviews, today released the inaugural security products ranking as part of its 2022 Best Software Awards.
The "best security products" list includes 50 products, ranked based on an algorithm that considers user-submitted reviews of the products, as well as factors such as the product's market presence and competitiveness of its category, G2 said.
"If a product makes the Best Security Products list, it’s a reflection of a heavy volume of very positive customer feedback, satisfaction, and value, as well as a demonstrable market presence," G2 wrote in a statement provided to VentureBeat.
Ranking first on the security products list is identity and access management platform Okta — which also ranked 35 on G2's overall list of the 100 Best Software Products for 2022. Okta reported that revenue in its latest quarter, ended Oct. 31, surged by 61% to $351 million.
Other identity security products that made the top 10 on G2's security list include One Identity's OneLogin (ranked third) and JumpCloud (ranked fifth).
Endpoint security products also had a strong showing in the top 10, led by Cynet 360, an endpoint detection and response (EDR) platform, ranked second CrowdStrike Falcon: Endpoint Protection ranked seventh on the list, while Sophos Intercept X: Next-Gen Endpoint came in at eighth.
Fast-growing categories
G2 also disclosed that Endpoint Protection Suites is among the security categories that is finding the fastest-growing demand from visitors to the site.
Four categories within security saw a 500% increase in traffic to G2 in 2021 compared to 2020, the site said:
The growth seen in MDR "specifically signals that many businesses aren’t ready to handle all aspects of security internally," said Aaron Walker, research principal for cybersecurity at G2, in an email. "Endpoint security is a broad and difficult task that’s increasingly complicated with remote workforces, networks, data centers, etc. – and relying on a managed service can be quicker and easier than fully-fledged development and staffing."
Conversely, "companies that have the capabilities to manage endpoint security internally are doing so," Walker said. "The need to secure endpoint devices is clearly present and prioritized."
Meanwhile, patch management is trending upward amid concerns about cyberattacks on unpatched software and hardware — "most of which are preventable by simply patching systems to protect them against known vulnerabilities," he said.
As for the growth in firewall software, that "likely stems from modern tools used to secure remote connections, which often relies on firewall virtualization," Walker said.
Other security categories seeing a major pick-up in traffic on G2's site include Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), which has grown by 899% since November 2020; Security Awareness Training, which grew 449% in 2021 from the previous year; and IoT Security, up 444% last year.
"IoT Security has been noted as a trend in past years, but it’s finally taking off," Walker said. "It appears there are finally now enough IoT systems in the field for companies to start identifying a need to secure them."
While not one of the fastest growing categories in terms of traffic to G2's site, email security saw a pair of products land in the top 10 on the security list — Check Point's Avanan Cloud Email Security (ranked fourth) and Proofpoint Email Security and Protection (ranked ninth).
Startups rising
While many of the products on G2's security list are from larger cybersecurity vendors, exceptions include top-10 finishers Cynet and JumpCloud, as well as CrowdSec (No. 17), Beagle Security (No. 20), and Virtru (No. 37).
In its statement provided to VentureBeat, G2 noted that all of its reviews must pass a "rigorous quality assurance process in order to be approved." The site's rejection rate is roughly 30%, reflecting efforts to make sure that reviews are authentic and unbiased, G2 said.
Here is the list of G2's ranking of the "best security products" for 2022:
1 Okta: Okta 2 Cynet: Cynet 360 3 One Identity: OneLogin 4 Check Point Software Technologies: Avanan Cloud Email Security 5 JumpCloud Inc.: JumpCloud 6 Rippling: Rippling 7 CrowdStrike: CrowdStrike Falcon: Endpoint Protection 8 Sophos: Sophos Intercept X: Next-Gen Endpoint 9 Proofpoint: Proofpoint Email Security and Protection 10 Rapid7: InsightIDR 11 IBM: IBM Security QRadar 12 GitLab Inc.: GitLab 13 ESET: ESET PROTECT Advanced 14 GoTo [formerly LogMeIn] LastPass 15 Microsoft: Microsoft Azure Active Directory 16 BetterCloud: BetterCloud 17 CrowdSec: CrowdSec 18 Cisco: Duo Security 19 Microsoft: GitHub 20 Beagle Security: Beagle Security 21 Symantec: Symantec Protection Suite Enterprise Edition 22 WatchGuard: Panda Adaptive Defense 360 23 Malwarebytes: Malwarebytes for Business 24 Webroot: Webroot Business Endpoint Protection 25 Microsoft: Microsoft System Center 26 Symantec: Symantec End-user Endpoint Security 27 Trend Micro: Trend Micro Hybrid Cloud Security Solution 28 Fortinet: FortiGate NGFW 29 Check Point Software Technologies: Harmony Endpoint (SandBlast Agent) 30 Dynatrace: Dynatrace 31 WatchGuard: WatchGuard Network Security 32 Tenable: Tenable.sc 33 Fortinet: FortiClient 34 Acronis: Acronis Cyber Protect 35 Rapid7: InsightVM (Nexpose) 36 Virtru: Virtru 37 Trend Micro: Trend Micro Apex One 38 Check Point Software Technologies: CloudGuard Posture Management (Dome9) 39 Tenable: Nessus 40 Citrix: Citrix Workspace (featuring Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops) 41 KnowBe4, Inc.: PhishER 42 Acronis: Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud 43 Tenable: Tenable.io 44 Ping Identity: PingFederate 45 NinjaOne: NinjaOne (formerly NinjaRMM) 46 Palo Alto Networks: Palo Alto Networks Panorama 47 Absolute Software: Absolute 48 HelpSystems: Frontline Vulnerability Manager 49 Microsoft: Microsoft Authenticator 50 Atera: Atera