With Its Stock Riding High, FireEye Sells More Shares for $1.1 Billion

With the Target hacking scandal, Edward Snowden and Chinese cyberattacks all in the news, there could hardly be a better environment for FireEye, the security software company that went public last fall.

Now, with its stock having risen fourfold since its market debut, the company is taking advantage by selling more shares.

The secondary offering Thursday evening raised $1.1 billion, as FireEye sold 14 million shares for both itself and some of its earlier backers. Among those selling are FireEye’s founder, Ashar Aziz, and chief executive, David G. DeWalt, as well as Norwest Venture Partners.

It’s the latest big news for the nine-year-old company, which specializes in defending against computer attacks by reading Internet traffic for potential threats. In January, the company bought Mandiant, a leading responder to hacking attacks, for more than $1 billion, a deal paid for in part with stock.

Those shares have leaped, making the company’s offering one of the most successful by any computer security provider. Pricing at $20 a share in its I.P.O., FireEye’s shares have reached as high as $97.35. (Its shares were down 9 percent, to around $81 a share, by late afternoon trading Friday, largely because of the new stock entering the market.)

Mr. DeWalt said in an interview on Friday that during an abbreviated road show for the secondary offering, investors continued to show strong interest in the company.

“Every single investor believes that cybersecurity is critical,” Mr. DeWalt said. “FireEye is the leader in that domain.”

With its share of the offering proceeds â€" nearly $458 million â€" the company plans to continue expanding, especially internationally. Among the areas that the company plans to focus on now are protecting mobile devices and cloud services, both of which are in need of stronger security. While FireEye plans to continue building out its offering, it will also look to make acquisitions, though probably at a smaller scale than the Mandiant deal.

Ultimately, Mr. DeWalt says he believes that demand for his company’s services will only grow in coming years.

“This is the new norm for cybersecurity,” he said. “We see increasing escalations around the world.”