About the Software Industry category
What belongs in this category
The Software Industry category covers security products and services built for companies whose product is software: independent software companies and SaaS providers. The software companies are the customers here. Typical entries secure the way software is built and released, protect the cloud platform a SaaS product runs on, or help a software company prove its security to large customers.
A security product that serves every sector can also be entered in its product category in Cybersecurity Product / Service. Solutions for the rest of the technology sector, such as hardware and semiconductor makers, telecommunications operators, IT services companies and internet platforms, have their own category, Technology Industry. A solution that serves both kinds of company can enter both categories.
Related categories to enter
Each category is judged separately, so you can enter a solution in every category that fits, with a separate nomination for each. Write each nomination for its category: on these pages, show what the solution does for organizations in the sector. The same product or service can also be entered in the product category that matches what it does. Entering several related categories gives the solution more than one chance to be recognized.
How entries are judged
An independent jury of security practitioners, analysts and CISOs scores each nomination on leadership, innovation and impact. Each nomination competes in its category against entries from vendors of similar size and region, so a mid-sized vendor is not ranked against a global enterprise. Your entry package, any sponsorship and public votes do not affect the jury's scores.
Strong entries in this category show:
- Leadership — the software companies that use the solution: software and SaaS companies served, developers or code repositories covered, integrations with the tools developers use.
- Innovation — what was built for software companies, such as security checks inside the build process, fixes developers can apply themselves, or evidence that answers customer security questionnaires.
- Impact — results for software companies: weaknesses found before release, time to fix reduced, releases not delayed by security findings, customer security reviews completed. Give figures from software customers.
The jury awards Gold, Silver or Bronze, or a Finalist badge, and results are published on this site and announced to the 600,000+ member Cybersecurity Insiders community. Every approved nomination also enters the separate Community Choice award, decided by public votes.
How to enter
A vendor or service provider can enter its own solution, or someone else can enter it, for example a PR or marketing agency acting for a client. The nomination form has a confidential field for detail that is shared with the judges and not published, such as customer names, numbers of sites, users or devices protected, or contract details. Deadlines, pricing and entry steps are on the How it Works page.
