The 2014 RSA Security Conference is in full swing in San Francisco. One thing is for sure, like 2013, the increase in hype around security is apparently very evident, and end demand also appears much more sustainable. It is easy to understand why. On almost a daily basis we hear or read about a security breach. From major corporations to the largest governments around the world, nobody seems immune to hackers bent on gaining restricted entrance and access to classified data.

The research team at Jefferies attended the conference, like almost all of the major firms on Wall Street. They came away more convinced than ever that the future for companies specializing in fighting and containing security threats is bigger than ever. Plus, the sector is sequentially growing faster than any other subsector in technology due to the overwhelming demand. From advanced persistent threat (APT) to analytics-based security and to software designed networking (SDN), companies leading the charge are the companies with stocks that may have the greatest upside for investors.

Here are the technology stocks to buy that are the current leaders in the security space.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) competes in a small part of the overall security market but has aspirations to expand to ancillary areas. The company sees the recent Prolexic acquisition as very different but adjacent to its Kona suite. And it could look at additional network-based security capabilities to address the area between the application and end user, as well as technologies that cover DDoS appliances, app changes, identity management and analytics. Combined with the company’s huge server business, this could make it a top name for investors. The Thomson/First Call price target is $62.59. Akamai closed Wednesday at $61.48.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) remains one of the top stocks to buy on Wall Street for a security presence. The company continues down the path of its Software Blade strategy and is arguably more candid about its installed base advantage, where it will look to continue to consolidate product features within its platform and provide customers a superior cost of ownership. The consensus price target is $72.90, and the stock closed Wednesday at $67.67.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) has posted three poor quarters in a row, and it is looking to bounce back in the second half of the year. The company believes a more holistic solution — inclusive of endpoint, cloud and after the attack presence — is needed to deal with advanced malware and could expand along these lines. The company’s acquisition of Sourcefire has made it a much more competitive security player. Investors receive a solid 3.4% dividend. The consensus price target is $23.55. Cisco closed Wednesday at $21.93.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) leads the list of top small caps to buy at many Wall Street firms that we cover. The company announced last year a new high-performance, compact network firewall appliance for enterprise data centers, large service providers, cloud providers and carriers. Fortinet is the first network security company to deliver 100 Gbps+ firewall throughput and 40 GbE ports in a compact appliance. The consensus price target is $25.57. Fortinet closed Wednesday at $23.38.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) remains a leader of the cybersecurity group when it comes to market share gains. Despite ongoing patent infringement litigation with Juniper Networks, with a trial that just began, customers are still confident in the company and its products. The company’s platform comprises Next-Generation Firewall that delivers application, user and content visibility and control. It delivers its platform in the form of a hardware or virtual appliance, and includes a suite of subscription services, as well as support and maintenance services. The consensus price target is $60.95. Palo Alto closed Wednesday at $76.06.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) provides the leading software platform for real-time operational intelligence. Splunk software and cloud services enable organizations to search, monitor, analyze and visualize machine-generated big data coming from websites, applications, servers, networks, sensors and mobile devices. More than 6,400 enterprises, government agencies, universities and service providers in more than 90 countries use Splunk software. The consensus price target is only $81.23. The stock closed Wednesday at $92.96.

Big data, cybersecurity, cloud computing and hosting continue to be dominant themes on Wall Street for 2014 and far beyond. With the onslaught of cyberattacks expected to continue, the companies that innovate and stay one-step ahead will prosper. Investors will be well-served to add some of these top names to their portfolios, especially if they are the technology names that will outperform in a year when many Wall Street firms are overweighting the technology sector as a whole.

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