Tag Archive for: Zscaler

Illinois CISO Adam Ford steps down for role at cyber firm Zscaler


After five years as chief information security officer for the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology, Adam Ford has moved into a new role at Zscaler, a cloud security company in San Jose, California.

Ford worked for the state of Illinois since 2000, starting his government tenure as a network architect and engineer. In 2023, he was the recipient of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers’ Thomas M. Jarrett State Cybersecurity Leadership Award for strengthening the state’s cybersecurity infrastructure, multi-factor authentication initiatives for network and system access and the improvements he made to information sharing, joint training exercises and coordinated responses to cyber incidents across state government agencies.

Prior to his departure, Ford posted on social media thanking the state’s administration for “strong sponsorship of cybersecurity initiatives” and the technology department’s leadership.

“In my more than 20 years with the state of Illinois, I’ve never failed to be impressed by the people who work here,” Ford wrote on LinkedIn earlier this week. “Public service isn’t all glamour, folks! Thank you to all my co-workers at DoIT and other agencies for putting in long hours, for wading into seemingly impossible problems and solving them, and for your friendship while doing so.”

The CISO position at the Illinois DoIT is open to applications until Jan. 19.

Sophia Fox-Sowell

Written by Sophia Fox-Sowell

Sophia Fox-Sowell reports on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and government regulation for StateScoop. She was previously a multimedia producer for CNET, where her coverage focused on private sector innovation in food production, climate change and space through podcasts and video content. She earned her bachelor’s in anthropology at Wagner College and master’s in media innovation from Northeastern University.

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SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Holdings in Zscaler as the Company Outperforms Expectations in Recent Earnings Report


On September 19, 2023, investment firm SG Americas Securities LLC revealed a significant decrease in its holdings of Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) shares during the second quarter. According to the company’s latest Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Zscaler saw a reduction of 64.1%, equivalent to selling 49,646 shares. As a result, the fund now possesses 27,800 shares of the company’s stock. The total value of these remaining shares at the time of filing was estimated to be $4,067,000.

This decrease in SG Americas Securities LLC’s stake in Zscaler demonstrates a significant shift in their investment strategy within the technology sector. Typically, such moves speak volumes about an investor’s outlook on a particular company or industry.

Earlier this month, Zscaler released its quarterly earnings results for the period ending September 5th. The company exceeded analysts’ expectations by reporting earnings per share (EPS) of $0.64 compared to consensus estimates of $0.49 EPS, representing an increase of $0.15 EPS.

During this quarter, Zscaler generated revenue totaling $455 million, surpassing analysts’ projected revenue of $430.38 million. This marks a substantial growth rate of 43% compared to the same quarter last year when considering revenue figures alone.

Moreover, it is worth noting that Zscaler struggled with negative financial performance indicators such as negative return on equity and negative net margin during this reporting period. These factors reveal potential concerns about profitability and operational efficiency within the organization.

Despite these challenges, research analysts anticipate that Zscaler will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year when considering all quarters combined.

Zscaler holds significant importance within the technology sector due to its specialization in cloud-based security services and solutions aimed at safeguarding enterprise networks and data. As the reliance on cloud computing and remote work continues to expand, companies like Zscaler are well-positioned to capitalize on this growing market.

Investors closely monitor the financial…

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Zscaler 2023 Ransomware Report Shows a Nearly 40% Increase in Global Ransomware Attacks


Zscaler, Inc.

Zscaler, Inc.

Annual ThreatLabz Ransomware Report Tracks Trends and Impacts of Ransomware Attacks Including Encryption-less Extortion and Growth of Ransomware-as-a-Service

Key Findings:

  • Ransomware impact is felt most acutely in the United States, which was the target for nearly half of ransomware campaigns over the last 12 months.

  • Organizations in the arts, entertainment, and recreation industry experienced the largest surge in ransomware attacks, with a growth rate over 430%.

  • The manufacturing sector remains the most targeted industry vertical, accounting for nearly 15% of total ransomware attacks. It is followed by the services sector, which experienced approximately 12% of the total quantity of ransomware attacks last year.

  • 25 new ransomware families were identified as using double extortion or encryption-less extortion attacks this year.

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS), the leader in cloud security, today announced the release of the 2023 ThreatLabz Ransomware Report. This year’s report tracks the ongoing increase in complex ransomware attacks and spotlights recent ransomware trends, including the targeting of public entities and organizations with cyber insurance, growth of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), and encryption-less extortion. Since April 2022, ThreatLabz has identified thefts of several terabytes of data as part of several successful ransomware attacks, which were then used to extort ransoms.

“Ransomware-as-a-Service has contributed to a steady rise in sophisticated ransomware attacks,” said Deepen Desai, Global CISO and Head of Security Research, Zscaler. “Ransomware authors are increasingly staying under the radar by launching encryption-less attacks which involve large volumes of data exfiltration. Organizations must move away from using legacy point products and instead migrate to a fully integrated zero trust platform that minimizes their attack surface, prevents compromise, reduces the blast radius in the event of a successful attack, and prevents data exfiltration.”

The evolution of ransomware is characterized by the inverse relationship between attack sophistication and barrier of entry for new…

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Intech Investment Management LLC Has $761,000 Stock Holdings in Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS)


Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZSGet Rating) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,805 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,144 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Zscaler were worth $761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Zscaler by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 557,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,476,000 after buying an additional 68,982 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zscaler during the 1st quarter worth approximately $244,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Zscaler by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zscaler during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,232,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 121,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,338,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.33% of the company’s stock.

Zscaler Stock Performance

ZS opened at $125.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.54. Zscaler, Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.93 and a 52 week high of $194.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZSGet Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $387.60 million for the quarter, compared to…

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