Palo Alto Networks, Oracle and ProofPoint are among the leading companies in the cloud security theme, according to the latest Thematic Scorecard for the security software sector from GlobalData.

Cloud security protects IT systems that run on the public or private cloud. It combines all the security elements associated with on-premises IT systems and applies them to an environment where IT infrastructure, platforms and applications are run from a remote, off-premises data center.

All three companies gained the highest Thematic score (5 out of 5) for the cloud security theme in GlobalData’s Thematic Scorecard for the security software sector. A Thematic score of 5 out of 5 indicates that the companies’ competitive position in this theme will significantly improve their future performance.

On their tail, with scores of 4 out of 5 in the cloud security theme, are IBM, SecureWorks, Fortinet, SAIC, SingTel, Trend Micro, Splunk, Sophos, Rambus, Rapid7, Broadcom, Citrix Systems, NCC, Mobile Iron, Verisign, Mimecast, F5 Networks, Qualys, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Check Point Software, and Akamai.

GlobalData’s Thematic Scorecard ranks companies within a sector on the basis of overall leadership in the 10 themes that matter most to their industry, generating a leading indicator of future performance.