FireEye

FireEye is a major developer of a family of software and hardware complexes and services to combat modern Internet threats that are malicious ON on shared file resources and in mobile applications.

Products

Among the key competitive advantages of FireEye is the ability to analyze all suspicious web traffic of the user and transmitted files in the context; Use of a proprietary hardware hypervisor protected from detection supports dynamic analysis on multiple desktop operating systems with multiple versions of application software locally on the device (Multi-Version).

The manufacturer's flagship solutions are FireEye Network Security (FireEye NX), FireEye Endpoint Security (FireEye  HX)  and FireEye Email Security (FireEye  EX). FireEye NX  is an effective  system for threat protection, providing high-precision detection of the sources of complex, targeted  and other attacks  in Internet traffic,  as well as their immediate  elimination. The FireEye HX solution  allows you to identify  and neutralize known  and unknown threats at end stations,  as well as understand their  nature  and goals. The FireEye  EX system protects email from  complex attacks, uses ignorant technology to analyze all attachments of emails.

Performance indicators

2020: Revenue growth by 6%, up to $941 million, losses - $207.3 million

FireEye completed 2020 with revenue, which at the end of this period reached $941 million, an increase of 6% compared to 2019. The growth in sales of the company's products was partly facilitated by the coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19 due to which the business actively switched to remote operation and in this regard spent money on tools and services to ensure the safety of remote jobs.

According to the results of 2020, the main earnings of FireEye fell on the sale of products, as well as subscriptions to their software and support services. The corresponding revenue was $724.9 million against $708.8 million a year earlier. Professional services brought the company $215.6 million, which also exceeds the figure of a year ago ($180.3 million).

In the structure of annual revenue, products, as well as related subscriptions and support services took 45%. In second place are platforms, cloud solutions and management services (32%), in third - professional services (23%).

FireEye revenue in 2020 increased by 6% due to subscriptions

As FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia noted, in 2020, professional services, as well as platforms, cloud subscriptions and management services occupied more than half (55%) of revenue, which is significantly more than the result in 2019 (23%).

As for the regions, the United States still brings the lion's share of income. In 2020, it was a 62% indicator. EMEA accounted for 17% of turnover, the Asia-Pacific region - 15%.

Due to the pandemic, FireEye was forced to reduce capital spending by about $20 million - to $26 million in 2020 from $46 million in 2019.

It also follows from the company's accounts that in 2020 it concluded 171 contracts in the amount of $1 million, while a year earlier there were 160 such transactions. In 2020, FireEye added 1080 customers, which is less than a year earlier (1122).^[1]

Business in Russia

An important stage in the development of the FireEye business was 2013, when, having made a number of acquisitions in the market, it decided to intensify its activities in Europe, including by expanding its presence in the eastern part of the Old World. It was then that she entered the Russian market, concluding the first business contracts in 2014.

By 2017, the company in Russia has a number of customers, mainly in the financial sector and telecom, the company intends to focus on expanding the partner network and the range of vertical customer segments. At this time, FireEye has several partners in Russia. Among them: Softline, Technoserv, Netwell and Axoft.

History

2022: Creation of Trellix based on assets and technologies McAfee Enterprise and FireEye

The investment firm Symphony Technology Group on January 19, 2022 announced the creation of Trellix, which will combine the assets and technologies of the IB firms McAfee Enterprise and FireEye, purchased by STG last year. More details here.

2021

Completion of STG Acquisition

On October 12, 2021, McAfee Enterprise and FireEye announced that Symphony Technology Group ("STG") completed the acquisition of FireEye totaling $1.2 billion. With the completion of this transaction, McAfee Enterprise and FireEye are merged into one company.

The combined company has more than 5,000 employees, and the customer base is more than 40 thousand customers around the world, with annual revenue of almost $2 billion.

Brian Palma has been appointed CEO of this merged business.

The highly qualified teams of McAfee Enterprise and FireEye join forces to help our customers combat intruders, while developing an integrated security platform based on artificial intelligence and automation. We plan to become industry leaders, bringing innovation and experience to shape the future of cybersecurity, "said Brian Palma.

Integrating McAfee Enterprise cybersecurity solutions' from device to cloud 'with a broad portfolio of FireEye products offers opportunities to keep customers secure worldwide. The pooled business portfolio provides protection for endpoints, infrastructure, applications, and the cloud. The established company will be based on strong relations with the customers of McAfee Enterprise and FireEye.

We are very pleased that we have completed the legal process of merging the two leading companies in the field of information security. Thus, we can focus our efforts on merging two portfolios and provide solutions that meet the needs of tomorrow, "said Yevgeny Garbul, Regional Director of McAfee Enterprise in Russia and Central Asia.

Selling IBM business for $1.2 billion

In early June 2021, FireEye announced the sale of its IBM business to a consortium led by private investment company Symphony Technology Group (STG) for $1.2 billion. It is assumed that the transaction will be closed by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021.

The transaction, which the buyer will pay with cash (without raising shares), will separate FireEye, the manufacturer of network infrastructure and cybersecurity products, from Mandiant's digital forensics and incident response division.

FireEye sold most assets and brand for $1.2 billion

The decision to split the two companies came almost a decade after FireEye acquired Mandiant and appointed Kevin Mandia as the company's chief executive officer.

Mandia noted:

STG's focus on supporting innovative software and cybersecurity market leaders makes the company an ideal partner for the development of FireEye products. We hope for our cooperation in the field of threat analysis and expertise.

STG Managing Partner William Chisholm said the company has "huge untapped business opportunities that it will be happy to provide to Mandiant using significant expertise in security software and market leadership.

With separation, we get simplicity, we get concentration. Together, we can reach multiple markets. In many ways, this was a limitation of resources. FireEye Everything is beyond its power, "he added.

FireEye became one of the most famous cybersecurity companies, known for its research into attacks by various hacker groups, some of which are associated with governments. For example, Mandiant was engaged to investigate an ransomware virus attack on the American pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline.^[2]

2020

Hacker attack, theft of IB tools

In December 2020, FireEye announced cyber attacks on the company. The manufacturer of solutions for cyber security believes that behind the attack are hackers government-sponsored ones. FireEye has a lot of state contracts related to ensuring national security USA and allied countries, he notes. Reuters

The FireEye reported the hacking in documents sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company's blog said that a very complex attack was committed using previously unknown methods, as a result of which "red team tools" [experts who simulate attacks to test the company's cyber defense or the skills of the main team of specialists - approx. TAdviser] were stolen.

Hackers hacked FireEye and stole IB tools from the company

FireEye investigates cyber attacks in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI FBI) and. USA Microsoft The FBI and Microsoft, as stated in the report, agree with the preliminary conclusions of the FireEye. Assistant Director of the FBI Cyber Department Matt Gorham also expressed confidence that the attackers on the FireEye were highly qualified, "corresponding to the state level."

The IB company took more than 300 countermeasures in the interests of its customers after the attack. At the time of the hacking claim, the FireEye found no evidence that the stolen tools were used anywhere. The company believes that hackers were interested in information related to certain government customers. ^[3]

Acquisition of Response Software

The FireEye company declared on November 19, 2020 completion of the transaction on acquisition of Respond Software and at the same time - attraction of investments of 400 million dollars from investment corporations Blackstone and ClearSky. The acquisition of Response cost FireEye $186 million. More details here.

2019

Revenue growth by 7% to $889.2 million; losses - $257.4 million

In 2019, FireEye earned $889.2 million, which is 7% more than a year earlier, and exceeds the company's own forecast. The volume of orders from the manufacturer of IB solutions increased by 8%, amounting to $926.1 million, but not reaching its own expectations.

FireEye revenues from sales of products, subscriptions and services for 2019 reached $708.8 million against $687.4 million recorded a year earlier. It is this business that investors closely monitor, since it in theory allows you to increase recurring revenues and profit margins. FireEye actively develops the subscription model of distribution of products instead of, as before, selling IB equipment.

In 2019, FireEye combined its solutions for verification, threat analysis, managed protection under the Mandiant Solutions brand to translate the company's service business into a "security as a service" model that is more convenient for customers. This should help transfer the connection between FireEye services and subscription offers, according to the company.

Financial performance FireEye

The provision of various types of professional services in 2019 brought the company $180.3 million, which exceeds the income of a year ago, equal to $143.6 million.

About 53% of FireEye turnover in 2019 was occupied by sales of products, as well as relevant subscriptions and support services. The share of sales of platforms and cloud services was 27%, the share of professional services from the subsidiary Mandiant - 20%.

The United States remains the largest market for FireEye - there in 2019, the company received 62% of total revenue. In EMEA countries, the vendor earned 18%, in the Asia-Pacific region - 15%, in other countries combined - 5%.

Net FireEye losses in 2019 increased to $257.4 million from $243.1 million in 2018. The reason for the increase in monetary losses in the company was associated with an increase in costs, including sales organization, marketing, research and development.^[4]

Purchase of Verodin Critical Business Security Software Developer for $250 million

May 28, 2019 FireEye announced the acquisition of a developer ON to monitor the protection of critical business systems for Verodin $250 million. More. here

2018: Revenue growth by 7% to $831 million; losses - $243.1 million

In 2018, FireEye sales reached $831 million, an increase of 7% compared to 2017, and were at the top of the company's projected range of $827-831 million. The volume of orders, which is an indicator of future revenues, jumped by 12% and amounted to $856 million.

On the sale of products, as well as related subscriptions and support services, FireEye earned $499 million in 2018 against $479.5 million in 2017. Sales of cloud subscriptions and their management services jumped from $166.4 million to $188.4 million. Annual revenue in the field of professional services increased from $133.7 million to $143.6 million.

Financial performance FireEye

Most of FireEye 's products and services are still sold in the United States. There, the company's revenue at the end of 2018 amounted to $523.2 million, which is slightly more than a year ago ($521.2 million).

The vendor's income in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) rose from $116.2 million to $135.7 million, and in the Asia-Pacific region - from $105.2 million to $122.5 million.

The report also states that the average contract duration associated with the use of subscriptions and support services for FireEye increased to 25.7 months by the end of 2018. A year ago, the figure was 25 months.

In 2018, FireEye launched a new pricing model for subscriptions to its network, email and endpoint security products. Almost all new customers who are attracted by partners use a new model, Frank Verdecanna, chief financial officer and chief accountant of the FireEye, told CRN.

FireEye still works without profit. In 2018, the company's net losses were measured at $243.1 million against monetary losses of $285.2 million a year earlier.^[5]

2016

Losses of $480 million

In early February 2017, FireEye presented financial results. The revenue of the manufacturer of IB solutions decreased for the first time since the company entered the exchange.

In 2016, FireEye received a net loss of $480.1 million against $539.2 million in cash losses a year earlier. Sales during this time rose to $714.1 million from $623 million. At the same time, revenue decreased in October-December, and this decline in quarterly terms was the first since 2013, when the company made an IPO.

Revenue distribution in revenue FireEye for 2016

FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia said that one of the reasons for the decline in revenue was the lack of enough sales specialists in key positions in Europe and other divisions. By the beginning of 2017, the shortage of personnel was eliminated.

In 2016, sales of product subscriptions brought FireEye about 45% of revenue. Sales of the products themselves provided 21% of revenues, the shares of professional services and support services amounted to 17% each.

Most of the turnover of FireEye is generated by the United States - 69% in 2016. EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) brought 14% of revenues, Asia-Pacific - 13%.

In 2016, the volume of FireEye orders, which determines future revenues, amounted to $819.5 million, an increase of 3% compared to 2015. In January-March 2017, the company expects orders at the level of $130-150 million, which is less than the average forecast of analysts ($186.3 million) who took part in a survey of the research firm FactSet StreetAccount.

Along with the publication of financial results FireEye reported about leaving the company of the financial director Mike Berry and the executive chairman of the board David DeWalt who till June, 2016 headed the company.

On the day when FireEye announced the performance and resignation of top managers, the company's shares fell in price by almost 20%. In 2016, quotes decreased by 23%.^[6]

==

In early May 2016, Kevin Mandia was appointed to the post of CEO of FireEye. After this message, the company's shares collapsed.

Kevin Mandia officially will become the CEO of FireEye on June 15, 2016, having replaced on this position of David DeWalt who headed the company since November, 2012.

Positioning Products as Universal Security

For 2016, FireEye solutions are positioned as "universal next-generation threat protection" designed to dynamically detect and block cyber attacks in real time.

Cyber attacks are multi-stage and, as a rule, go unnoticed for many firewalls, antivirus software and IPS systems. They are aimed at stealing data, embedded in local directories, scanning components of the IT infrastructure of the enterprise, or hidden work until attackers attack the network. Software and hardware systems FireEye investigate data obtained through the Internet and e-mail, files on disk arrays, detect threats of fraud, phishing attacks through mobile applications and attempts to penetrate the local infrastructure. Simultaneously with blocking the ability of malicious files to be managed by attackers and quarantining objects, the workstations and servers to which the attack was directed are identified.

The company's development integrates with many classes of traditional security tools, ensuring timely response to all modern Internet threats and preventing possible consequences. The family of hardware and software systems is represented by several systems:

• Web Malware Protection System is responsible for security when browsing websites and navigating the URLs contained in email messages;
• Email Malware Protection System protects against targeted phishing by bypassing anti-spam filters and technologies based on the sender's reputation;
• File Malware Protection System is designed to detect and destroy malware on file resources, which went unnoticed by traditional anti-virus programs;
• Malware Analysis System is designed for in-depth expert launch and analysis of cyber threats through the use of customizable test environments;
• The Central Management System is a system for local real-time threat communication and enterprise software installation management;
• Dynamic Threat Intelligence is a cloud-based solution for dynamic threat analysis, consolidation of information from all FireEye devices, and global data sharing to reduce the risk of today's attacks.

In addition, for dynamic threat analysis, FireEye developed Multi-Vector Virtual Execution (MVX) technology, which, functioning as a separate hardware and software complex, allows you to identify suspicious objects in incoming network traffic (containing Internet links, attachments to emails, executable code files, etc.) and check them for security in special isolated virtual machines. To run suspicious programs, a special protected hypervisor FireEye Hardened Hypervisor is used, which prevents the analyzed program from knowing that it is running on a virtual machine. If malicious features are detected, such objects are blocked. In addition, FireEye solutions analyze outbound traffic to identify suspicious objects and then detect infected nodes in the organization's IT infrastructure.

2015: Increased losses on the 20%

On February 11, 2016, FireEye released a financial report in which it reported an increase in loss of more than 20% and a forecast of larger cash losses than expected on Wall Street. As a result, the company's quotes continued to decline after an already strong decline in 2015.

In 2015, net FireEye losses amounted to $539.2 million against a $443.8 million loss a year earlier. Revenue at the same time rose 46% to $623 million. The volume of orders, which is considered a key indicator of the state of FireEye, increased by 35% and reached almost $800 million.

FireEye shares continued to fall in price amid rising losses

According to David DeWalt, the entire information security market grew in 2015 due to the "extraordinary expenses" of companies on protection against hacker attacks.

Now I see a much more normalized situation with expenses, "said the head of FireEye.

At the same time, the company's forecast for losses in the first quarter of 2016 was higher than the analytical one - 49-53 cents per share against 40 cents expected by market experts who were interviewed by Thomson Reuters. Against this background, FireEye shares on the day the financial report was published (February 11, 2016) fell 3.4% in price. In 2015, vendor quotes collapsed by 65%.^[7]

Notes