Security Software IPOs: Where'd They Go?

When it comes to initial public offerings, the security software sector has had an unusually long dry spell.

Its last IPO was in 2001, when NetScreen stepped up to the public trough. Three years later, the company was acquired by Juniper Networks (JNPR Quote).

And those that have come close to going public -- antispam company Brightmail in 2004 and enterprise security firm Sybari in 2005, for instance -- were snapped up by Symantec (SYMC Quote) and Microsoft (MSFT Quote), respectively, at the last minute. ...