Juniper Networks Added to Cyber Threat Alliance as an Affiliate Member

For investors interested in the cybersecurity sector, the Cyber Threat Alliance  (CTA) is chock-full of companies who are putting forth their best efforts in preventing cyber attacks and improving cybersecurity as a whole. 

On Tuesday (March 20), the not-for-profit organization announced a hefty addition to its organization in Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR), a company that provides automated, scale and secure networks.

According to the announcement, Juniper Networks will be added as an affiliate company, effectively expanding the CTA’s number of security companies to “share threat intelligence for a stronger global security community. An affiliate member of the CTA has representation on the committee that governs the CTA’s operations, including determining the amount of intelligence sharing needed, how the CTA communicates, and the CTA’s public policy positions.

“The Cyber Threat Alliance gives us the advantage of collaboration by uniting resources and threat intelligence to better defend against these ever-increasing threats,” Sherry Ryan, CISO and IT vice president at Juniper Networks said in the statement. “As we look toward the future of cybersecurity, threats and attack vectors will only continue to grow, which makes it all the more critical to work together to protect our customers from the unexpected.”

Not only is the CTA an independent organization, it’s also the cybersecurity industry’s first officially organized group of cybersecurity companies working together to minimize cyberthreats and improve defense against advanced cyber adversaries. As it currently stands there are 14 companies holding membership through three member categories: contributing, affiliate, and charter.

Notable public companies in the organization include its founders: Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT), Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW), Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC), Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO).

In its own post, Juniper Networks said “the necessity for strong cybersecurity has reached a critical high,” and that joining the CTA matches with Juniper Networks’ views of providing a cybersecurity platform that protects businesses and organizations from threats in any environment.

“The CTA is an organization working to improve the cybersecurity of our global digital ecosystem by enabling near real-time, high-quality cyber threat information by sharing intelligence among companies and organizations,” the statement read. “As such, it perfectly aligns with Juniper’s goals of open threat sharing and collaboration to help secure our customers’ networks and keep enterprises safe.”

Following Tuesday’s announcement, shares of Juniper Networks increased by 0.63 percent over a one day period to close at $25.42. The most recent analysis consensus on Tip Ranks currently has the company rated at a “hold” based on 13 analyst ratings. Over a 12 month period its average price target is $27.69 with a high of $33 and a low of $20.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.