William Blair's Jonathan Ho Sees 'More Opportunities' For Hackers In Near-Term

William Blair's Jonathan Ho, who holds a Buy rating on cybersecurity company Cyberark Software Ltd CYBR, commented on Wednesday's rather large stream of "technical glitches" in an interview with Benzinga.

While Ho said there's no confirmation the events were a coordinated attack or a DOS strike, he did comment on what it means for Cyberark and the rest of its publicly-traded peers.

The Effect Of Glitches, Breaches On Cybersecurity Stocks

"Based on the sheer number of breaches disclosed on a daily basis, I think even the threat of a breach helps to highlight the importance of security," the analyst said. "Investors are expecting spending levels to rise as enterprises try to combat these threats," which should benefit a basket of companies whose businesses will benefit from a "rising tide" of clients.

Related Link: U.S. Treasury Official Talks NYSE And Cybersecurity

Ho stated, "I think Cyberark falls squarely in that camp as their privileged identity management solutions have been bought by only a small percentage of the market and is a critical solution that everyone should be utilizing." In other words, there could be opportunity for Cyberark and its investors.

Ho shed more light on how the company's business works. "It helps stop the spread of a breach to critical systems and data through the use of compromised credentials like system administrator accounts," he explained, which limits "the damage of a breach even if you can’t completely prevent it."

Looking Ahead

This saga is far from over, Ho predicted. "Infrastructure changes like the shift to SaaS/cloud, virtualization, mobility, BYOD and SDN will only create more opportunities for the hackers near term," he said.

That's bad news for hundreds of companies and millions of consumers, but likely provides a range of catalysts for Cyberark, FireEye Inc FEYE, Palo Alto Networks Inc PANW and other cybersecurity players.

Ho doesn't hold a price target on Cyberark, but Oppenheimer, Barclays and JMP Securities all see upside from current prices.

Full analyst disclosure here.