Welcome to the 2026 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards
Now in its second decade, the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards recognize the companies, products, and professionals shaping the future of cybersecurity. Presented by Cybersecurity Insiders and backed by a community of 600,000+ security practitioners, the program has honored 500+ winners across more than 100+ categories since its inception. Past winners include industry leaders like Zscaler, Fortinet, and Palo Alto Networks alongside hundreds of fast-growing innovators across every segment of the market.
Organizations, products, and professionals across every segment of cybersecurity are eligible to participate worldwide. Both self-nominations and nominations on behalf of others are welcome. Whether you’re showcasing a breakthrough product, highlighting your organization’s security leadership, or honoring the professionals driving real impact, you’ll find a category that fits.
What Recognition Delivers
For over a decade, the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards have served as an independent benchmark for buyers, analysts, and investors evaluating cybersecurity leadership. Recognition as a finalist or winner carries weight well beyond the award itself — it signals to the market that your solution, team, or leadership stands among the best in the industry.
Winners have been featured in Dark Reading, SC Magazine, and Forbes, and regularly leverage their status in press releases, analyst briefings, investor decks, sales conversations, RFP responses, and at global industry events including RSA Conference and Black Hat.
Every nomination includes a dedicated profile page in our searchable awards directory with logo, product images, and website links to strengthen SEO presence. Social promotion across LinkedIn, X, and Facebook amplifies each nomination to a high-value cybersecurity audience.
Winners receive an official award badge with a perpetual, worldwide license for use across websites, sales decks, marketing campaigns, and regional offices globally. Award certificates are provided for each winning nomination, and premium plaques and trophies are available through higher-tier packages. A winner toolkit with press release templates, social media assets, and promotional best practices helps nominees make the most of their recognition.
How Winners Are Selected
The program recognizes excellence through two independent tracks, each with its own evaluation method and announcement timeline.
Jury Awards — Announced in March before RSA Conference. All categories (except Community Choice Awards) are evaluated independently by our panel of expert judges using structured, merit-based criteria. Entries are judged within peer groups by company size, geography, and category, ensuring that winners are measured against true peers rather than the entire market. This segmented approach means recognition reflects genuine leadership within your competitive context. Social engagement and voting activity have no bearing on jury decisions. Neither sponsorship nor package selection influences outcomes.
Community Choice Award — Announced in July before Black Hat. The Community Choice Awards is the one category decided entirely by the cybersecurity community. Every nomination automatically enters, and voting begins the moment a nomination is accepted. Each social share on a nomination’s page counts as one vote, giving nominees a direct way to rally their networks and demonstrate market support. Voting remains open through early July, giving every nominee a meaningful window to build community support. Winners are announced in mid-July, timed for maximum visibility ahead of Black Hat in Las Vegas.
The two tracks measure different dimensions of excellence. Jury awards reflect expert evaluation of innovation, impact, and merit. Community Choice Awards reflects the breadth of peer support and market engagement a nomination can generate.
2026 Awards Timeline
The awards season spans two major industry moments:
- Jury Award Winners Announced — Starting the week of March 9, 2026, ahead of RSA Conference in San Francisco
- Community Choice Voting — Open from the moment of nomination acceptance through early July
- Community Choice Winners Announced — Mid-July 2026, ahead of Black Hat in Las Vegas
Entering early maximizes your Community Choice voting window. Nominees who submit in January or February accumulate months of social engagement before voting closes — a meaningful advantage that rewards early action. Late nominees benefit too: jury evaluation considers every nomination on its merits regardless of entry date, and the Community Choice voting window extends well beyond the jury announcement, giving every nominee real runway to build community support.
Winners in Action
Award recognition translates directly into market visibility. Here’s how recent winners have put their awards to work:
- Fortra — Announced Best Cybersecurity Company win via BusinessWire [Read Press Release]
- Zimperium — Leveraged triple win in Mobile Security for investor communications [Read Press Release]
- Lattice Semiconductor — Promoted multiple wins across Embedded Security and Network Security categories [Read Press Release]
- TekStream — Highlighted Team of the Year recognition in recruiting materials [Read Press Release]
Nomination Packages
Nomination packages offer better economics for organizations entering multiple categories and optional recognition visibility to promote nominations directly to cybersecurity audiences. Higher-tier packages unlock additional opportunities including custom award categories, homepage and social channel features, and premium plaques and trophies. Package selection does not affect judging or guarantee any award outcome; all eligible nominations are evaluated against the same merit-based criteria regardless of package level.
See more details in the 2026 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards Brochure
Award Newsletter
Subscribe to our Cybersecurity Excellence Awards newsletter to stay informed on deadlines, winner announcements, and recognition opportunities throughout the awards season.
Frequently Asked Questions
For additional details, see the FAQs below. If you have questions or feedback, the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards team is here to help.