Varonis Systems (VRNS) 10-K2020 FY Annual report

 

 

This report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. The statements contained in this report that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of words such as, but not limited to, “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “strategy,” “target,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions or variations intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of our management based on information currently available to management. For example, statements in this Form 10-K regarding the potential future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business and results of operations are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results and the timing of certain events to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below and those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” included under Part I, Item 1A below. Furthermore, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements. 

Our business faces significant risks. In addition to the summary below, you should carefully review the “Risk Factors” section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We may be subject to additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks, and the trading prices of our common stock could decline by virtue of these risks. These risks should be read in conjunction with the other information in this report. Some of the more significant risks relating to our business include:

 

 

 

 

 

base by expanding footprint and usage. We currently have six product families, consisting of DatAdvantage, DatAlert, Data Classification Engine, DataPrivilege, Data Transport Engine and DatAnswers with over twenty-five licenses under these product families. As of December 31, 2020, 63% of our customers with 500 employees or more had purchased four or more licenses and 30% purchased six or more licenses. We believe our existing customer base serves as a strong source of incremental revenues given our broad platform of products, their growing volume and complexity of enterprise data and the associated security concerns. As we innovate and expand our product offering, we expect to have an even broader suite of products to offer our customers. Our perpetual license maintenance renewal rate for the year ended December 31, 2020 continued to be over 90%. Our key strategies to ensure a high subscription license renewal rate and maintain our high maintenance renewal rate include focusing on the quality and reliability of our customer service and support teams to ensure our customers receive value from our products and providing software upgrades and enhancements when and if they are available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We believe our future success depends in large part on the growth of the market for software that enables enterprises to analyze, secure, govern, manage and migrate their data. In order for us to market and sell our products, we must successfully demonstrate to enterprise IT, security and business personnel the potential value of their data and the risk of that data getting

compromised or stolen. We must persuade them to devote a portion of their budgets to a unified platform that we offer to protect, secure, govern, manage and extract value from this resource. We cannot provide any assurance that enterprises will recognize the need for our products or, if they do, that they will decide that they need a solution that offers the range of functionalities that we offer. Software solutions focused on enterprise data may not yet be viewed as a necessity, and accordingly, our sales effort is and will continue to be focused in large part on explaining the need for, and value offered by, our solution. We can provide no assurance that the market for our solution will continue to grow at its current rate or at all. The failure of the market to develop would materially adversely impact our results of operations.

Our business depends on our current and prospective customers’ ability and willingness to invest in IT services, including cybersecurity projects, which in turn is dependent upon their overall economic health. Negative conditions in the general economy both in the United States and abroad, including conditions resulting from COVID-19, similar to the negative impact on our results of operations we experienced at the early stages of the pandemic in the last two weeks of the first quarter in 2020, changes in gross domestic product growth, potential future government shutdowns, the federal government's failure to raise the debt ceiling, financial and credit market fluctuations, the imposition of trade barriers and restrictions such as tariffs, political deadlock, restrictions on travel, natural catastrophes, warfare and terrorist attacks, could cause a decrease in business investments, including corporate spending on enterprise software in general and negatively affect the rate of growth of our business.

Uncertainty in the global economy makes it extremely difficult for our customers and us to forecast and plan future business activities accurately. This could cause our customers to reevaluate decisions to purchase our product or to delay their purchasing decisions, which could lengthen our sales cycles.

We have a significant number of customers across a variety of verticals, some of which are impacted significantly by the economic turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A downturn in any of our leading industries, or a reduction in any revenue-generating vertical, may cause enterprises to react to worsening conditions by reducing their spending on IT. Customers may delay or cancel IT projects, choose to focus on in-house development efforts or seek to lower their costs by renegotiating maintenance and support agreements. To the extent purchases of licenses for our software are perceived by customers and potential customers to be discretionary, our revenues may be disproportionately affected by delays or reductions in general IT spending. In addition, the increased pace of consolidation in certain industries may result in reduced overall spending on our software. If the economic conditions of the general economy or industries in which we operate worsen from present levels, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

While there are some companies which offer certain features similar to those embedded in our solutions, as well as others with whom we compete in certain tactical use cases, we believe that we do not currently compete with a company that offers the same breadth of functionalities that we offer in a single integrated solution. Nevertheless, we do compete against a select group of software vendors that provide standalone solutions, similar to those found in our comprehensive software suite, in the specific markets in which we operate. We also face direct competition with respect to certain of our products, specifically Data Transport Engine, DatAnswers and DatAdvantage for Directory Services. As we continue to augment our functionality with insider threat detection and user behavior analytics and as we expand our classification capabilities to better serve compliance needs, such as GDPR, CCPA and other data privacy laws, we may face increased perceived and real competition from other security and classification technologies. As we expand our coverage and penetration in the cloud, we may face increased perceived and real competition from other cloud-focused technologies. In the future, as customer requirements evolve and new technologies are introduced, we may experience increased competition if established or emerging companies develop solutions that address the enterprise data market. Furthermore, because we operate in a relatively new and evolving area, we anticipate that competition will increase based on customer demand for these types of products.

In particular, if a more established company were to target our market, we may face significant competition. They may have competitive advantages, such as greater name recognition, larger sales, marketing, research and acquisition resources, access to larger customer bases and channel partners, a longer operating history and lower labor and development costs, which may enable them to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements or devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of their products than we do. Increased competition could result in us failing to attract customers or maintain licenses at the same rate. It could also lead to price cuts, alternative pricing structures or the introduction of products available for free or a nominal price, reduced gross margins, longer sales cycles, lower renewal rates and loss of market share.

In addition, our current or prospective channel partners may establish cooperative relationships with any future competitors. These relationships may allow future competitors to rapidly gain significant market share. These developments could also limit our ability to obtain revenues from existing and new customers.

Our ability to compete successfully in our market will also depend on a number of factors, including ease and speed of product deployment and use, the quality and reliability of our customer service and support, total cost of ownership, return on investment and brand recognition. Any failure by us to successfully address current or future competition in any one of these or other areas may reduce the demand for our products and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Privacy and data information security have become a significant issue in the United States and in many other countries where we have employees and operations and where we offer licenses to our products. The regulatory framework for privacy and personal information security issues worldwide is rapidly evolving and is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. The U.S. federal and various state and foreign government bodies and agencies have adopted or are considering adopting laws and regulations limiting, or laws and regulations regarding, the collection, distribution, use, disclosure, storage and security of personal information. For example, the CCPA, which went into effect on January 1, 2020, requires, among other things, covered companies to provide new disclosures to California consumers and afford such consumers new abilities to opt-out of certain sales of personal information.

Internationally, virtually every jurisdiction in which we operate has established its own data security and privacy legal framework with which we or our customers must comply. Laws and regulations in these jurisdictions apply broadly to the collection, use, storage, disclosure and security of data that identifies or may be used to identify or locate an individual, such as names, email addresses and, in some jurisdictions, Internet Protocol addresses. These laws and regulations often are more restrictive than those in the United States and are rapidly evolving. For example, the EU data protection regime, the GDPR became enforceable on May 25, 2018. Additionally, the United Kingdom enacted legislation in May 2018 that substantially implements the GDPR, but the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU (which formally occurred on January 31, 2020), commonly referred to as “Brexit," has created uncertainty with regard to the regulation of data protection in the United Kingdom. In particular, it is unclear how data transfers to and from the United Kingdom will be regulated following Brexit. Complying with the GDPR or other laws, regulations or other obligations relating to privacy, data protection or information security may cause us to incur substantial operational costs or require us to modify our data handling practices. Non-compliance could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities or others, could result in substantial fines or other liability and may otherwise adversely impact our business, financial condition and operating results.

Some statutory requirements, both in the United States and abroad, include obligations of companies to notify individuals of security breaches involving particular personal information, which could result from breaches experienced by us or our service providers. Even though we may have contractual protections with our service providers, a security breach could impact our reputation, harm our customer confidence, hurt our sales or cause us to lose existing customers and could expose us to potential liability or require us to expend significant resources on data security and in responding to such breach.

In addition to government regulation, privacy advocates and industry groups may propose new and different self-regulatory standards that either legally or contractually apply to us. We also expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws and regulations concerning privacy, data protection and information security, and we cannot yet determine the impact such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business. New laws, amendments to or re-interpretations of existing laws and regulations, industry standards, contractual obligations and other obligations may require us to incur additional costs and restrict our business operations. Because the interpretation and application of laws and other obligations relating to privacy and data protection are still uncertain, it is possible that these laws and other obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our existing data management practices or the features of our software. If so, in addition to the possibility of fines, lawsuits and other claims, we could be required to fundamentally change our business activities and practices or modify our software, which could have an adverse effect on our business. We may be unable to make such changes and modifications in a commercially reasonable manner or at all, and our ability to develop new features could be limited. Any inability to adequately address privacy concerns, even if unfounded, or comply with applicable privacy or data protection laws, regulations and policies, could result in additional cost and liability to us, damage our reputation, inhibit sales and adversely affect our business.

Furthermore, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, regulations and policies that are applicable to the businesses of our customers may limit the use and adoption of, and reduce the overall demand for, our products. Privacy and personal information security concerns, whether valid or not valid, may inhibit market adoption of our products particularly in certain industries and foreign countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to control its spread have significantly curtailed the movement of people, goods and services worldwide, including in most or all of the regions in which we sell our products and services and conduct our business operations. Internationally and domestically, federal, state, and local governments have taken a variety of actions to contain the spread of COVID-19. Many jurisdictions have required mandatory business closures, or imposed capacity limitations and other restrictions affecting our operations. At the end of the first quarter of 2020, we closed our offices and instructed employees to work remotely as a precautionary measure intended to minimize the risk of the virus to them, our customers, partners and the communities in which we operate. Since that time, we have complied with state and local requirements and have been opening and closing our offices based on these guidelines and recommendations. To the extent there are extended restrictions or closures, this may adversely affect economies and financial markets globally, leading to an economic downturn. Our operations, and the operations of our customers and partners, have been disrupted and may continue to be so for a period of time that cannot currently be predicted.

Overall, and in addition to other risks discussed in this Form 10-K filing, the COVID-19 pandemic gives rise to a number of risks, including, but not limited to, the following:

High-profile cyberattacks and security breaches have increased in recent years, with the potential for such acts heightened as a result of the number of employees working remotely due to COVID-19. Security industry experts and government officials have warned about the risks of hackers and cyberattacks targeting IT products and enterprise infrastructure. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a specific target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. As we continue to increase our client base and expand our brand, we may become more of a target for third parties seeking to compromise our security systems and we anticipate that hacking attempts and cyberattacks will increase in the future. We cannot give assurance that we will always be successful in preventing or repelling unauthorized access to our systems. We also may face delays in our ability to identify or otherwise respond to any cybersecurity incident or any other breach. Additionally, we use third-party service providers to provide some services to us that involve the storage or transmission of data, such as SaaS, cloud computing, and internet infrastructure and bandwidth, and they face various cybersecurity threats and also may suffer cybersecurity incidents or other security breaches. Despite our security measures, our IT and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks. Threats to IT security can take a variety of forms. Individual and groups of hackers and sophisticated organizations, including state-sponsored organizations or nation-states, continuously undertake attacks that pose threats to our customers and our IT. These actors may use a wide variety of methods, which may include developing and deploying malicious software or exploiting vulnerabilities in hardware, software, or other infrastructure in order to attack our products and services or gain access to our networks, using social engineering techniques to induce our employees, users, partners, or customers to disclose passwords or other sensitive information or take other actions to gain access to our data or our users’ or customers’ data, or acting in a coordinated manner to launch distributed denial of service or other coordinated attacks. Inadequate account security practices may also result in unauthorized access to confidential and/or sensitive data.

Security risks, including, but not limited to, unauthorized use or disclosure of customer data, theft of proprietary information, theft of intellectual property, theft of internal employee’s PII/PHI information, theft of financial data and financial reports, loss or corruption of customer data and computer hacking attacks or other cyberattacks, could require us to expend significant capital and other resources to alleviate the problem and to improve technologies, may impair our ability to provide services to our customers and protect the privacy of their data, may result in product development delays, may compromise confidential or technical business information, may harm our competitive position, may result in theft or misuse of our intellectual property or other assets and could expose us to substantial litigation expenses and damages, indemnity and other contractual obligations, government fines and penalties, mitigation expenses, costs for remediation and incentives offered to affected parties, including customers, other business partners and employees, in an effort to maintain business relationships after a breach or other incident, and other liabilities. We are continuously working to improve our IT systems, together with creating security boundaries around our critical and sensitive assets. We provide advanced security awareness training to our employees and contractors that focuses on various aspects of the cybersecurity world. All of these steps are taken in order to mitigate the risk of attack and to ensure our readiness to responsibly handle any security violation or attack. However, because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not recognized until successfully

launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. If an actual or perceived breach of our security occurs, the market perception of the effectiveness of our security measures and our products could be harmed, we could lose potential sales and existing customers, our ability to operate our business could be impaired, and we may incur significant liabilities, and we could suffer harm to our reputation and competitive position, and our operating results could be negatively impacted.

Our revenues and other results of operations have fluctuated from quarter to quarter in the past and could continue to fluctuate in the future partially due to the front-loaded revenue recognition nature of our business. Additionally, we have a limited operating history under our new subscription model, which makes it difficult to forecast our results. As a result, comparing our revenues and results of operations on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful, and should not be relied on for any particular past quarter or other period results. Our revenues depend in part on the conversion of enterprises that have undergone risk assessments, which can be and are frequently performed remotely, into paying customers; however, given the spread of COVID-19 and the impact on our prospects, these risk assessments may not be converted at the same historical rates. At the same time, the majority of our sales are typically made during the last three weeks of every quarter. We may fail to meet market expectations for that quarter if we are unable to close the number of transactions that we expect during this short period and closings are deferred to a subsequent quarter or not closed at all. In addition, our sales cycle from initial contact to delivery of and payment for the software license generally becomes longer and less predictable with respect to large transactions and often involves multiple meetings or consultations at a substantial cost and time commitment to us. The closing of a large transaction in a particular quarter may raise our revenues in that quarter and thereby make it more difficult for us to meet market expectations in subsequent quarters and our failure to close a large transaction in a particular quarter or any renewals may adversely impact our revenues in that quarter. Moreover, we base our current and future expense levels on our revenue forecasts and operating plans, and our expenses are relatively fixed in the short-term. Accordingly, we would likely not be able to reduce our costs sufficiently to compensate for an unexpected shortfall in revenues and even a relatively small decrease in revenues could disproportionately and adversely affect our financial results for that quarter.

The variability and unpredictability of these and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, could result in our failing to meet or exceed financial expectations for a given period. If our revenues or results of operations fall below the expectations of investors or any securities analysts that cover our stock, the price of our common stock could decline substantially.

We have completed our transition to a subscription-based business model but it is uncertain whether the expected benefits will continue. Market acceptance of our products is dependent on our ability to include functionality and usability that address certain customer requirements. Additionally, we must optimally price our products in light of marketplace conditions, our costs and customer demand. At the start of the transition, we suffered a negative revenue and earnings impact, including on our quarterly results of operations. Such negative implications might return if we are unable to achieve the renewals we anticipate, either at all or on a timely basis.

This subscription strategy may give rise to a number of risks, including the following:

We intend to continue to grow our business and plan to continue to hire new sales employees either for expansion or replacement of existing sales personnel. If we cannot adequately and timely hire new employees and if we fail to adequately train these new employees, including our sales force, engineers and customer support staff, which processes have become more challenging during the COVID-19 period, our sales may not grow at the rates we project and/or our sales productivity might suffer, our customers might decide not to renew or reduce the scope of their original purchases, or our customers may lose confidence in the knowledge and capability of our employees or products. We must successfully manage our growth to achieve our objectives. Although our business has experienced significant growth in the past, we cannot provide any assurance that our business will continue to grow at the same rate, or at all.

Our ability to effectively manage any significant growth of our business will depend on a number of factors, including our ability to do the following:

These activities will require significant investments and allocation of valuable management and employee resources, and our growth will continue to place significant demands on our management and our operational and financial infrastructure. There are no guarantees we will be able to grow our business in an efficient or timely manner, or at all. Moreover, if we do not effectively manage the growth of our business and operations, the quality of our software could suffer, which could negatively affect our brand, results of operations and overall business.

We have a relatively short history operating our business at its current scale. For example, we have increased the number of our employees and have expanded our operations and product offerings. This limits our ability to forecast our future operating results and subjects us to a number of uncertainties, including our ability to plan for and model future growth. We have encountered and will continue to encounter risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies in new

markets that may not develop as expected. Because we depend in part on the market’s acceptance of our products, it is difficult to evaluate trends that may affect our business. If our assumptions regarding these trends and uncertainties, which we use to plan our business, are incorrect or change in reaction to changes in our markets, or if we do not address these risks successfully, our operating and financial results could differ materially from our expectations and our business could suffer. Moreover, although we have experienced significant growth historically, we may not continue to grow as quickly in the future.

Our future success will depend in large part on our ability to, among other things:

If we fail to address the risks and difficulties that we face, including those associated with the challenges listed above as well as those described elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section, our business will be adversely affected, and our results of operations will suffer.

Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to support new and existing customer growth and maintain customer satisfaction. Due to COVID-19, our sales and marketing teams have avoided in-person meetings and are increasingly engaging with customers online and through other communications channels, including virtual meetings. While our revenues increased for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the year ended December 31, 2019, there is no guarantee that in the future our sales and marketing teams will be as successful or effective using these other communications channels as they try to build relationships. If we cannot provide the tools and training to our teams to efficiently do their jobs and satisfy customer demands, we may not be able to achieve anticipated revenue growth as quickly as expected.

Our future growth depends upon expanding sales of our products to existing customers and their organizations and receiving subscription and maintenance renewals. If our customers do not purchase additional licenses or capabilities, our revenues may grow more slowly than expected, may not grow at all or may decline. There can be no assurance that our efforts would result in increased sales to existing customers ("upsells") and additional revenues. If our efforts to upsell to our customers are not successful, our business would suffer.

Our future growth also depends in part upon increasing our customer base, particularly those customers with potentially high customer lifetime values. Our ability to achieve significant growth in revenues in the future will depend, in large part, upon the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts, both domestically and internationally, and our ability to attract new customers. Our ability to attract new customers may be adversely affected by newly enacted laws that may prohibit certain sales and marketing activities, such as recent legislation passed in the State of New York, pursuant to which, due to the declared disaster state of emergency attributed to COVID-19, unsolicited telemarketing sales calls are prohibited. If we fail to attract new customers and maintain and expand those customer relationships, our revenues may be adversely affected, and our business will be harmed.

We have incurred net losses in each year since our inception, including a net loss of $94.0 million, $78.8 million and $28.6 million in each of the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Due to our continued investment in the growth of our business, in 2020 our operating expenses increased to $326.8 million compared to $295.0 million and $271.7 million in 2019 and 2018, respectively. Because the market for our software is rapidly evolving and has still not yet reached widespread adoption, it is difficult for us to predict our future results of operations. We expect our operating expenses to

increase over the next several years as we hire additional personnel, expand and improve the effectiveness of our distribution channels, and continue to develop features and applications for our software. In addition, as a public company, we have incurred, and will continue to incur, significant legal, accounting and other operating expense.

We rely on channel partners, such as distribution partners and resellers, to sell licenses and support and maintenance agreements for our software and to perform some of our professional services. In 2020, our channel partners fulfilled substantially all of our sales, and we expect that sales to channel partners will continue to account for substantially all of our revenues for the foreseeable future. Our ability to achieve revenue growth in the future will depend in part on our success in maintaining successful relationships with our channel partners.

Our agreements with our channel partners are generally non-exclusive, meaning our channel partners may offer customers the products of several different companies. If our channel partners do not effectively market and sell our software, choose to use greater efforts to market and sell their own products or those of others, or fail to meet the needs of our customers, including through the provision of professional services for our software, our ability to grow our business, sell our software and maintain our reputation may be adversely affected. Our contracts with our channel partners generally allow them to terminate their agreements for any reason upon 30 days’ notice. A termination of the agreement has no effect on orders already placed. The loss of a substantial number of our channel partners, our possible inability to replace them, or the failure to recruit additional channel partners could materially and adversely affect our results of operations. If we are unable to maintain our relationships with these channel partners, our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows could be adversely affected. Finally, even if we are successful, our relationships with channel partners may not result in greater customer usage of our products and professional services or increased revenue.

Our accounts receivable and contract assets are subject to collection and credit risks. These agreements may include purchase commitments for multiple years of subscription-based software licenses and maintenance services, which may be invoiced over multiple reporting periods increasing these risks. For example, our operating results may be impacted by significant bankruptcies among customers, which could negatively impact our revenues and cash flows. Although we have processes in place that are designed to monitor and mitigate these risks, we cannot guarantee these programs will be effective. If we are unable to adequately control these risks, our business, operating results and financial condition could be harmed. Furthermore, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, existing customers may attempt to renegotiate contracts and obtain concessions, including, among other things, longer payment terms or modified subscription dates, or may fail to make payments on their existing contracts, which may materially and negatively impact our operating results and financial condition.

Our functional and reporting currency is the U.S. dollar, and we generate the majority of our revenues and incur the majority of our expenses in U.S. dollars. Revenues and expenses are also incurred in other currencies, primarily Euros, Pounds Sterling, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars and New Israeli Shekels ("NIS"). Accordingly, changes in exchange rates may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. The exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies have fluctuated substantially in recent years and may continue to fluctuate substantially in the future. Furthermore, a strengthening of the U.S. dollar could increase the cost in local currency of our software and our subscription licenses and maintenance renewals to customers outside the United States, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Volatility in exchange rates may continue in the short-term after the United Kingdom's recent exit from the EU.

We incur expenses for employee compensation and other operating expenses at our non-U.S. locations in local currencies. The weakening of the U.S. dollar against such currencies would cause the U.S. dollar equivalent of such expenses to increase which could have a negative impact on our reported results of operations and our ability to attract employees in such non-U.S. locations due to the actual increase in the compensation to be paid to such employees. We use forward foreign exchange contracts to hedge or mitigate the effect of changes in foreign exchange rates on our operating expenses denominated in certain foreign currencies. However, this strategy might not eliminate our exposure to foreign exchange rate fluctuations and involves costs and risks of its own, such as cash expenditures, ongoing management time and expertise, external costs to implement the strategy and potential accounting implications. Additionally, our hedging activities may contribute to increased losses as a result of volatility in foreign currency markets and the difference between the interest rates of the currencies being hedged.

We believe that enhancing the “Varonis” brand identity and maintaining our reputation in the IT industry is critical to our relationships with our customers and to our ability to attract new customers. Our brand recognition and reputation is dependent upon:

We may not be able to successfully promote our brand or maintain our reputation. In addition, independent industry analysts often provide reviews of our products, as well as other products available in the market, and perception of our product in the marketplace may be significantly influenced by these reviews. If these reviews are negative, or less positive than reviews about other products available in the market, our brand may be adversely affected. Furthermore, negative publicity relating to events or activities attributed to us, our employees, our channel partners or others associated with any of these parties, may tarnish our reputation and reduce the value of our brand. If we do not successfully enhance our brand and maintain our reputation, our business may not grow, we may have reduced pricing power relative to competitors with stronger brands, and we could lose customers or renewals, all of which would adversely affect our business, operations and financial results. Moreover, damage to our reputation and loss of brand equity may reduce demand for our products and have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Any attempts to rebuild our reputation and restore the value of our brand may be costly and time consuming, and such efforts may not ultimately be successful.

Moreover, it may be difficult to enhance our brand and maintain our reputation in connection with sales to channel partners. Promoting our brand requires us to make significant expenditures, and we anticipate that the expenditures will increase as our market becomes more competitive, as we expand into new markets and geographies and as more sales are generated to our channel partners. To the extent that these activities yield increased revenues, these revenues may not offset the increased expenses we incur.

We derive a portion of our revenues from contracts with federal, state, local and foreign governments and government-owned or -controlled entities (such as public health care bodies, educational institutions and utilities), which we refer to as the public sector herein. We believe that the success and growth of our business will continue to depend on our successful procurement of public sector contracts. Selling to public sector entities can be highly competitive, expensive and time consuming, often requiring significant upfront time and expense without any assurance that our efforts will produce any sales. Government demand and payment for our products and services may be impacted by public sector budgetary cycles, or lack of, and funding authorizations, including in connection with an extended government shutdown, with funding reductions or delays adversely affecting public sector demand for our products and services. Factors that could impede our ability to maintain or increase the amount of revenues derived from public sector contracts include:

Furthermore, we must comply with laws and regulations relating to public sector contracting, which affect how we and our channel partners do business in both the United States and abroad. These laws and regulations may impose added costs on our

business, and failure to comply with these or other applicable regulations and requirements, including non-compliance in the past, could lead to claims for damages from our channel partners, penalties, termination of contracts, and temporary suspension or permanent debarment from public sector contracting. Moreover, governments routinely investigate and audit government contractors’ administrative processes, and any unfavorable audit could result in the government refusing to continue buying our products, which would adversely impact our revenue and results of operations, or institute fines or civil or criminal liability if the audit uncovers improper or illegal activities.

The occurrence of any of the foregoing could cause public sector customers to delay or refrain from purchasing licenses of our software in the future or otherwise have an adverse effect on our business, operations and financial results.

We incorporate encryption technology into certain of our products and these products are subject to U.S. export control. We are also subject to Israeli export controls on encryption technology since our product development initiatives are primarily conducted by our wholly-owned Israeli subsidiary. We have obtained the required licenses to export our products outside of the United States. In addition, the current encryption means used in our products are listed in the “free means encryption items” published by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, which means we are exempt from obtaining an encryption control license. If the applicable U.S. or Israeli legal requirements regarding the export of encryption technology were to change or if we change the encryption means in our products, we may need to apply for new licenses in the United States and may no longer be able to rely on our licensing exception in Israel. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain the required licenses under these circumstances. Furthermore, various other countries regulate the import of certain encryption technology, including import permitting and licensing requirements, and have enacted laws that could limit our ability to distribute our products or could limit our customers’ ability to implement our products in those countries.

We are also subject to U.S. and Israeli export control and economic sanctions laws, which prohibit the shipment of certain products to embargoed or sanctioned countries, governments and persons. Our products could be exported to these sanctioned targets by our channel partners despite the contractual undertakings they have given us and any such export could have negative consequences, including government investigations, penalties and reputational harm. Any change in export or import regulations, economic sanctions or related legislation, shift in the enforcement or scope of existing regulations, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies targeted by such regulations, could result in decreased use of our products by, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our products to, existing or potential customers with international operations. Moreover, any new export or import restrictions, new legislation or shifting approaches in the enforcement or scope of existing regulations, or in the countries, persons or technologies targeted by such regulations, could result in decreased use of our products. Any decreased use of our products or limitation on our ability to export or sell our products would likely adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As we operate and sell internationally, we are subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the "FCPA"), the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010 (the "UK Bribery Act") and other laws that prohibit improper payments or offers of payments to foreign governments and their officials and political parties for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. We have operations, deal with and make sales to governmental customers in countries known to experience corruption, particularly certain emerging countries in Eastern Europe, South and Central America, East Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Our activities in these countries create the risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments by one of our employees, consultants, channel partners or sales agents that could be in violation of various anti-corruption laws, even though these parties may not be under our control. While we have implemented safeguards to prevent these practices by our employees, consultants, channel partners and sales agents, our existing safeguards and any future improvements may prove to be less than effective, and our employees, consultants, channel partners or sales agents may engage in conduct for which we might be held responsible. Violations of the FCPA or other anti-corruption laws may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, including suspension or debarment from government contracting, and we may be subject to other liabilities, which could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

As we continue to pursue business opportunities, we may make acquisitions that could be material to our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Acquisitions involve many risks, including the following:

We may not succeed in addressing these or other risks or any other problems encountered in connection with the integration of any acquired business. Our ability as an organization to successfully acquire and integrate technologies or businesses is unproven. The inability to integrate successfully the business, technologies, products, personnel or operations of any acquired business, or any significant delay in achieving integration, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our business requires intensive sales and marketing activities. Our sales and marketing personnel are essential to attracting new customers and expanding sales to existing customers, both of which are key to our future growth. We face a number of challenges in successfully expanding our sales force. Our transition to a subscription-based model, and the additional demands involved in selling multiple products, has increased the complexity and to some extent impose new challenges in finding, hiring and retaining qualified sales force members. We must locate and hire a significant number of qualified individuals, and competition for such individuals is intense. In addition, as we expand into new markets with which we have less familiarity and develop existing territories, we will need to recruit individuals who have skills particular to a certain geography or territory, and it may be difficult to find candidates with those qualifications. We may be unable to achieve our hiring or integration goals due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the challenge in remotely recruiting employees and adequately training them due to COVID-19, the number of individuals we hire, challenges in finding individuals with the correct background due to increased competition for such hires, increased attrition rates among new hires and existing personnel as well as the necessary experience to sell our Data Security Platform rather than individual software products. Furthermore, based on our past experience in mature territories, it often can take up to 12 months before a new sales force member is trained and operating at a level that meets our expectations, and during the COVID-19 pandemic such training may take even longer. We invest significant time and resources in training new members of our sales force, and we may be unable to achieve our target performance levels with new sales personnel as rapidly as we have done in the past, or at all, due to larger numbers of hires or lack of experience training sales personnel to operate in new jurisdictions or because of the remote hiring and training process. Our failure to hire a sufficient number of qualified individuals, to integrate new sales force members within the time periods we have achieved historically or to keep our attrition rates at levels comparable to others in our industry may materially impact our projected growth rate.

Our future success and growth depend, in part, on our ability to continue to recruit and retain highly skilled personnel and to preserve the key aspects of our corporate culture. Because our future success is dependent on our ability to continue to enhance and introduce new products, we are particularly dependent on our ability to hire and retain engineers. Any of our employees may terminate their employment at any time, and we face intense competition for highly skilled employees. Competition for qualified employees, particularly in Israel, where we have a substantial presence and need for qualified engineers, from numerous other companies, including other software and technology companies, many of whom have greater financial and other resources than we do, is intense. Moreover, to the extent we hire personnel from other companies, we may be subject to allegations that they have been improperly solicited or may have divulged proprietary or other confidential information to us. In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is characterized as an unstable period, to some extent it may be more difficult to timely attract and train new employees. If we are unable to timely attract, retain or train qualified employees, particularly our engineers, salespeople and key managers, our ability to innovate, introduce new products and compete would be adversely impacted, and our financial condition and results of operations may suffer. Equity grants are a critical component of our current compensation programs. If we reduce, modify or eliminate our equity programs or if there will be decline in our stock price as a result of which the value of our equity compensation shall be lower, we may have difficulty attracting and retaining employees.

Much of our future performance depends in large part on the continued services and continuing contributions of our co-founder, Chief Executive Officer and President, Yakov Faitelson, to successfully manage our company, to execute on our business plan and to identify and pursue new opportunities and product innovations. The loss of Mr. Faitelson's services could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our development and strategic objectives and adversely affect our business.

The market is characterized by the exponential growth in enterprise data, rapid technological advances, changes in customer requirements, including customer requirements driven by changes to legal, regulatory and self-regulatory compliance mandates, frequent new product introductions and enhancements and evolving industry standards in computer hardware and software technology. As a result, we must continually change and improve our products in response to changes in operating systems, application software, computer and communications hardware, networking software, data center architectures, programming tools, computer language technology and various regulations. Moreover, the technology in our products is especially complex because it needs to effectively identify and respond to a user’s data retention, security and governance needs, while minimizing the impact on database and file system performance. Our products must also successfully interoperate with products from other vendors.

While we extend our technological capabilities though innovation and strategic transactions, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to anticipate future market needs and opportunities or be able to extend our technological expertise and develop new products or expand the functionality of our current products in a timely manner or at all. Even if we are able to anticipate, develop and introduce new products and expand the functionality of our current products, there can be no assurance that enhancements or new products will achieve widespread market acceptance.

Our product enhancements or new products could fail to attain sufficient market acceptance for many reasons, including:

If we fail to anticipate market requirements or stay abreast of technological changes, we may be unable to successfully introduce new products, expand the functionality of our current products or convince our customers and potential customers of the value of our solutions in light of new technologies. Accordingly, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Our business relies on our customers’ satisfaction with the technical support and professional services we provide to support our products. Our customers have no obligation to renew their subscription licenses or maintenance and support agreements with us after the initial terms have expired. Our customers who had originally purchased perpetual licenses have an option to renew their maintenance agreements. For us to maintain and improve our results of operations, it is important that our existing customers renew their subscription licenses and maintenance and support agreements, if applicable, when the existing contract term expires. For example, our perpetual license maintenance renewal rate for each of the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 continued to be over 90%. Customer satisfaction will become even more important as almost all of our licensing has shifted to subscription license agreements.

If we fail to provide technical support services that are responsive, satisfy our customers’ expectations and resolve issues that they encounter with our products and services, then they may elect not to purchase or renew subscription licenses or annual maintenance and support contracts and they may choose not to purchase additional products and services from us. Accordingly, our failure to provide satisfactory technical support or professional services could lead our customers not to renew their agreements with us or renew on terms less favorable to us, and therefore have a material and adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

In 2020, we generated substantially all of our revenues from sales of licenses from five of our current product families, DatAdvantage, DatAlert, Data Classification Engine, DataPrivilege and Data Transport Engine. We expect to continue to derive the majority of our revenues from license sales relating to these products in the future. As such, market acceptance of these products is critical to our continued success. Demand for licenses for our platform of products is affected by a number of factors, some of which are outside of our control, including continued market acceptance of our software by referenceable accounts for existing and new use cases, technological change and growth or contraction in our market. We expect the proliferation of enterprise data to lead to an increase in the data analysis demands, and data security and retention concerns, of our customers, and our software, including the software underlying our Data Security Platform, may not be able to scale and perform to meet those demands. If we are unable to continue to meet customer demands or to achieve more widespread market acceptance of our software, our business, operations, financial results and growth prospects will be materially and adversely affected.

Our continued growth depends in part on the ability of our existing and potential customers to quickly access our website and support website. Access to our support website is also imperative to our daily operations and interaction with customers, as it allows customers to download our software, fixes and patches, as well as open and respond to support tickets and register license keys for evaluation or production purposes. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, website disruptions, outages and other performance problems due to a variety of factors, including technical failures, cyberattacks, natural disasters, infrastructure changes, human or software errors, capacity constraints due to an overwhelming number of users accessing our website simultaneously and denial of service or fraud. In some instances, we may not be able to identify the cause or causes of these performance problems within an acceptable period of time. System failures or outages, including any potential disruptions due to significantly increased global demand on certain cloud-based systems during the COVID-19 pandemic, could compromise our ability to perform our day-to-day operations in a timely manner, which could negatively impact our business or delay our financial reporting. It may become increasingly difficult to maintain and improve the performance of our websites, especially during peak usage times and as our software becomes more complex and our user traffic increases. If our websites are unavailable or if our users are unable to download our software, patches or fixes within a reasonable amount of time or at all, we may suffer reputational harm and our business would be negatively affected.

Our software involves the transmission of data between data stores, and between data stores and desktop and mobile computers, and may in the future involve the storage of data. We have a legal and contractual obligation to protect the confidentiality and appropriate use of customer data. Any security breaches with respect to such data could result in the loss of this information, litigation, indemnity obligations and other liabilities. The security of our products and accompanied services is important in our customers’ decisions to purchase or use our products or services. Security threats are a significant challenge to companies like us whose business is providing technology products and services to others. While we have taken steps to protect the confidential information that we have access to, including confidential information we may obtain through our customer support services or customer usage of our products, we have no direct control over the substance of the content. Security measures might be breached as a result of third-party action, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise. We also incorporate open source software and other third-party software into our products. There may be vulnerabilities in open source software and third-party software that may make our products likely to be harmed by cyberattacks. Moreover, our products operate in conjunction with and are dependent on products and components across a broad ecosystem of third parties. If there is a security vulnerability in one of these components, and if there is a security exploit targeting it, such security vulnerability may adversely impact our product vulnerability and we could face increased costs, liability claims, reduced revenue, or harm to our reputation or competitive position. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not identified until they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures.

There can be no assurance that the limitations of liability in our contracts would be enforceable or adequate or would otherwise protect us from any such liabilities or damages with respect to any particular claim. While we maintain insurance coverage for some of the above events, the potential liabilities associated with these security breach events could exceed the insurance coverage we maintain.

Any or all of these issues could tarnish our reputation, negatively impact our ability to attract new customers or sell additional products to our existing customers, cause existing customers to elect not to renew their maintenance and support agreements or subject us to third-party lawsuits, regulatory fines or other action or liability, thereby adversely affecting our results of operations.

We use open source software and expect to continue to use open source software in the future. Some open source software licenses require users who distribute open source software as part of their own software product to publicly disclose all or part of the source code to such software product or to make available any derivative works of the open source code on unfavorable terms or at no cost. We may face ownership claims of third parties over, or seeking to enforce the license terms applicable to, such open source software, including by demanding the release of the open source software, derivative works or our proprietary source code that was developed using such software. These claims could also result in litigation, require us to purchase a costly license or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our software, any of which would have a negative effect on our business and results of operations. In addition, if the license terms for the open source code change, we may be forced to re-engineer our software or incur additional costs. Finally, while we implement policies and procedures, we cannot provide assurance that we have incorporated open source software into our own software in a manner that conforms with our current policies and procedures and we cannot assure that all open source software is reviewed prior to use in our solution, that our programmers have not incorporated open source software into our solution, or that they will not do so in the future.

In addition, our solution may incorporate third-party software under commercial licenses. We cannot be certain whether such third-party software incorporates open source software without our knowledge. In the past, companies that incorporate open source software into their products have faced claims alleging noncompliance with open source license terms or infringement or misappropriation of proprietary software. Therefore, we could be subject to suits by parties claiming noncompliance with open source licensing terms or infringement or misappropriation of proprietary software. Because few courts have interpreted open source licenses, the manner in which these licenses may be interpreted and enforced is subject to some uncertainty. There is a risk that open source software licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to market or provide our solution. As a result of using open source software subject to such licenses, we could be required to release proprietary source code, pay damages, re-engineer our solution, limit or discontinue sales or take other remedial action, any of which could adversely affect our business.

Our cybersecurity products may falsely detect threats that do not actually exist. For example, our DatAlert product may enrich metadata collected by our products with information from external sources and third-party data providers. If the information from these data providers is inaccurate, the potential for false positives increases. These false positives, while typical in the industry, may affect the perceived reliability of our products and solutions and may therefore adversely impact market acceptance of our products. As definitions and instantiations of personal identifiers and other sensitive content change, automated classification technologies may falsely identify or fail to identify data as sensitive. If our products and solutions fail to detect exposures or restrict access to important systems, files or applications based on falsely identifying legitimate use as an attack or otherwise unauthorized, then our customers’ businesses could be adversely affected. Any such false identification of use and subsequent restriction could result in negative publicity, loss of customers and sales, increased costs to remedy any problem and costly litigation.

The tax effects of the accounting for stock-based compensation may significantly impact our effective tax rate from period to period. In periods in which our stock price is higher than the grant price of the stock-based compensation vesting in that period, we will recognize excess tax benefits that will decrease our effective tax rate, while in periods in which our stock price is lower than the grant price of the stock-based compensation vesting in that period, our effective tax rate may increase. The amount and value of stock-based compensation issued relative to our earnings in a particular period will also affect the magnitude of the impact of stock-based compensation on our effective tax rate. These tax effects are dependent on our stock price, which we do not control, and a decline in our stock price could significantly increase our effective tax rate and adversely affect our financial results.

A U.S. corporation's ability to utilize its federal net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards is limited under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), if the corporation undergoes an ownership change.

We have accumulated a $207.8 million NOL since inception. Future changes in our stock ownership, including future offerings, as well as changes that may be outside of our control, could result in a subsequent ownership change under Section 382, that would impose an annual limitation on NOLs. In addition, the cash tax benefit from our NOLs is dependent upon our ability to generate sufficient taxable income. Accordingly, we may be unable to earn enough taxable income in order to fully utilize our current NOLs.

We are subject to income taxation in the United States, Israel and numerous other jurisdictions. Determining our provision for income taxes requires significant management judgment. In addition, our provision for income taxes could be adversely affected by many factors, including, among other things, changes to our operating structure including a review of our intellectual property ("IP") structure, changes in the amounts of earnings in jurisdictions with different statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities and changes in tax laws. Significant judgment is required to determine the recognition and measurement attributes prescribed in Accounting Standards Codification 740-10-25 (“ASC 740-10-25”). ASC 740-10-25 applies to all income tax positions, including the potential recovery of previously paid taxes, which if settled unfavorably could adversely impact our provision for income taxes. Our income in certain countries is subject to reduced tax rates provided we meet certain employment and capital investment criteria. Failure to meet these commitments could adversely impact our provision for income taxes.

We are also subject to the regular examination of our income tax returns by the U.S. Internal Revenue Services and other tax authorities in various jurisdictions. Tax authorities may disagree with our intercompany charges, cross-jurisdictional transfer pricing, IP structure or other matters and assess additional taxes. While we regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes, there can be no assurance that the outcomes from these regular examinations will not have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows. Further, we may be audited in various jurisdictions, and such jurisdictions may assess additional taxes against us. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of any tax audits or litigation could be materially

different from our historical tax provisions and accruals, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or cash flows in the period or periods for which a determination is made.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "TCJA") that significantly reforms the Code was enacted. The TCJA, among other things, includes changes to U.S. federal tax rates, imposes significant additional limitations on the deductibility of certain expenses, restricts the use of net operating loss carryforwards arising after December 31, 2017, allows for the expensing of capital expenditures. Due to the expansion of our international business activities, any changes in the U.S. taxation of such activities may increase our worldwide effective tax rate and adversely affect our financial position and results of operations. Further, foreign governments may enact tax laws in response to the TCJA that could result in further changes to global taxation and materially affect our financial position and results of operations.

We conduct our operations in a number of jurisdictions worldwide and report our taxable income based on our business operations in those jurisdictions. Therefore, our intercompany relationships are subject to transfer pricing regulations administered by taxing authorities in various jurisdictions. While we believe that we are currently in material compliance with our obligations under applicable taxing regimes, the relevant taxing authorities may disagree with our determinations as to the income and expenses attributable to specific jurisdictions and may seek to impose additional taxes on us, including for past sales. If such a disagreement were to occur, and our position were not sustained, we could be required to pay additional taxes, interest and penalties, which could result in one-time tax charges, higher effective tax rates, reduced cash flows and lower overall profitability of our operations.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”) introduced the base erosion and profit shifting project which sets out a plan to address international taxation principles in a globalized, digitized business world (the “BEPS Plan”). During 2018, as part of the BEPS Plan, more than 80 countries chose to implement the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent BEPS (“MLI”). The MLI significantly changes the bilateral tax treaties signed by any country that chose to implement the MLI. In addition, during 2019 the OECD, the EU and individual countries (e.g., France, Austria and Italy) each published an initiative to tax digital transactions executed by a non-resident entity and a local end-user or local end consumer. Under each initiative, the local payer is obligated to withhold a fixed percentage from the gross proceeds paid to the non-resident entity as a tax on executing a digital transaction in that territory, provided the entity’s sales in that territory exceeds a certain threshold (“Digital Service Tax”). As a result of participating countries adopting the international tax policies set under the BEPS Plan, MLI and Digital Service Tax, changes have been and continue to be made to numerous international tax principles and local tax regimes. Due to the expansion of our international business activities, those modifications may increase our worldwide effective tax rate, create tax and compliance obligations in jurisdictions in which we previously had none and adversely affect our financial position.

Our ability to meet our payment obligations under the 2025 Notes and any outstanding indebtedness under our Credit Facility, depends on our future cash flow performance. This, to some extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative and regulatory factors, as well as other factors that may be beyond our control. There can be no assurance that our business will generate positive cash flow from operations, or that additional capital will be available to us, in an amount sufficient to enable us to meet our debt payment obligations and to fund other liquidity needs. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow to service our debt obligations, we may need to refinance or restructure our debt, sell assets, reduce or delay capital investments, or seek to raise additional capital. Our ability to refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations. As a result, we may be more vulnerable to economic downturns, less able to withstand competitive pressures and less flexible in responding to changing business and economic conditions. In addition, our Credit Facility limits our ability to incur additional indebtedness under certain circumstances. If we are unable to obtain capital on favorable terms or at all, we may have to reduce our operations or forego opportunities, and this may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In the event that the 2025 Notes are converted and we elect to deliver shares of common stock, the ownership interests of existing stockholders will be diluted, and any sales in the public market of any shares of our common stock issuable upon such conversion could adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock. In addition, the anticipated conversion of the 2025 Notes could depress the market price of our common stock.

If the Company undergoes a “fundamental change”, subject to certain conditions, holders may require the Company to repurchase for cash all or part of their 2025 Notes at a fundamental change repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2025 Notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the fundamental change repurchase date. In addition, if such fundamental change also constitutes a “make-whole fundamental change”, the conversion rate for the 2025 Notes may be increased upon conversion of the 2025 Notes in connection with such “make-whole fundamental change”. Any increase in the conversion rate will be determined based on the date on which the “make-whole fundamental change” occurs or becomes effective and the price paid (or deemed paid) per share of our common stock in such transaction. Any such increase will be dilutive to our existing stockholders. Our obligation to repurchase the 2025 Notes or

increase the conversion rate upon the occurrence of a make-whole fundamental change may, in certain circumstances, delay or prevent a takeover of us that might otherwise be beneficial to our stockholders.

Under Accounting Standards Codification 470-20, “Debt with Conversion and Other Options” (ASC 470-20), an entity must separately account for the liability and equity components of the convertible debt instruments (such as the 2025 Notes) that may be settled entirely or partially in cash upon conversion in a manner that reflects the issuer’s economic interest cost. The effect of ASC 470-20 on the accounting for the 2025 Notes is that the equity component is required to be included in the additional paid-in capital section of stockholders’ equity on our consolidated balance sheet at the issuance date and the value of the equity component would be treated as debt discount for purposes of accounting for the debt component of the 2025 Notes. As a result, we will be required to record non-cash interest expense through the amortization of the excess of the face amount over the carrying amount of the expected life of the 2025 Notes. We will report larger net losses (or lower net income) in our financial results because ASC 470-20 requires interest to include both the amortization of the debt discount and the instrument’s cash coupon interest rate, which could adversely affect our reported or future financial results, the trading price of our common stock and the trading price of the 2025 Notes.

In addition, under certain circumstances, convertible debt instruments (such as the 2025 Notes) that may be settled entirely or partly in cash may be accounted for utilizing the treasury stock method, the effect of which is that the shares issuable upon conversion of such 2025 Notes are not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share except to the extent that the conversion value of such 2025 Notes exceeds their principal amount. Under the treasury stock method, for diluted earnings per share purposes, the transaction is accounted for as if the number of shares of common stock that would be necessary to settle such excess, if we elected to settle such excess in shares, are included in the denominator for purposes of calculating diluted earnings per share.

In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, ASC Subtopic 470-20 “Debt—Debt with “ Conversion and Other Options” and ASC subtopic 815-40 “Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity” that changes the accounting for the convertible debt instruments described above. Under the new standard, an entity may no longer separately account for the liability and equity components of convertible debt instruments. Additionally, the treasury stock method for calculating earnings per share will no longer be allowed for convertible debt instruments whose principal amount may be settled using shares. Rather, the if-converted method may be required. Application of the “if converted” method may reduce our reported diluted earnings per share. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, including interim periods within those fiscal years and early adoption is permitted. We cannot be sure whether other changes may be made to the accounting standards related to the 2025 Notes, or otherwise, that could have an adverse impact on our financial statements.

In connection with the issuance of the 2025 Notes, we entered into Capped Call Transactions with certain financial institutions. The Capped Call Transactions are expected generally to reduce or offset the potential dilution upon conversion of the 2025 Notes and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted 2025 Notes, as the case may be, with such reduction and/or offset subject to an initial cap price of $141.72 (the "Cap Price"), subject to certain adjustments under the terms of the Capped Call Transactions.

From time to time, certain financial institutions (with which we entered into the Capped Call Transactions) or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivatives with respect to our common stock and/or purchasing or selling our common stock or other securities of ours in secondary market transactions prior to the maturity of the 2025 Notes. This activity could also cause or avoid an increase or a decrease in the market price of our common stock.

The potential effect, if any, of these transactions and activities on the price of our common stock or 2025 Notes will depend in part on market conditions and cannot be ascertained at this time. Any of these activities could adversely affect the value of our common stock.

As of December 31, 2020, our stock price was higher than the Cap Price under the Capped Call Transactions, hence, as of December 31, 2020, and as long as our common stock price shall be higher than $141.72, the incremental amount by which the stock price exceeds the Cap Price is not protected under the Capped Call Transactions.

All or some of the financial institutions (which are counterparties to the capped call transactions) might default under the Capped Call Transactions. Our exposure to the credit risk of the counterparties will not be secured by any collateral. Past global economic conditions have resulted in the actual or perceived failure or financial difficulties of many financial institutions. If an option counterparty becomes subject to insolvency proceedings, we will become an unsecured creditor in those proceedings with a claim equal to our exposure at the time under the capped call transactions with such option counterparty. Our exposure will depend on many factors but, generally, an increase in our exposure will be correlated to an increase in the market price and in the volatility of our common stock. In addition, upon a default by an option counterparty, we may suffer adverse tax consequences and more dilution than we currently anticipate with respect to our common stock. We can provide no assurance as to the financial stability or viability of the option counterparties.

Our principal research and development facility, which also houses a portion of our support and general and administrative teams, is located in Israel. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, a number of armed conflicts have taken place between Israel and its neighboring countries, as well as incidents of terror activities and other hostilities, and a number of state and non-state actors have publicly committed to its destruction. Political, economic and security conditions in Israel could directly affect our operations. We could be adversely affected by hostilities involving Israel, including acts of terrorism or any other hostilities involving or threatening Israel, the interruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its trading partners, a significant increase in inflation or a significant downturn in the economic or financial condition of Israel. Any on-going or future armed conflicts, terrorist activities, tension along the Israeli borders or with other countries in the region, including Iran, or political instability in the region could disrupt international trading activities in Israel and may materially and negatively affect our business and could harm our results of operations.

Certain countries, as well as certain companies and organizations, continue to participate in a boycott of Israeli companies, companies with large Israeli operations and others doing business with Israel and Israeli companies. The boycott, restrictive laws, policies or practices directed towards Israel, Israeli businesses or Israeli citizens could, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business in the future.

Some of our officers and employees in Israel are obligated to perform routine military reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces, depending on their age and position in the armed forces. Furthermore, they have been and may in the future be called to active reserve duty at any time under emergency circumstances for extended periods of time. Our operations could be disrupted by the absence, for a significant period, of one or more of our officers or key employees due to military service, and any significant disruption in our operations could harm our business.

Our insurance does not cover losses that may occur as a result of an event associated with the security situation in the Middle East or for any resulting disruption in our operations. Although the Israeli government has in the past covered the reinstatement value of direct damages that were caused by terrorist attacks or acts of war, we cannot be assured that this government coverage will be maintained or, if maintained, will be sufficient to compensate us fully for damages incurred and the government may cease providing such coverage or the coverage might not suffice to cover potential damages. Any losses or damages incurred by us could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our Israeli subsidiary has benefited from a status of a “Beneficiary Enterprise” under the Israeli Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 5719-1959, or the Investment Law, since its incorporation. Based on an evaluation of the relevant factors under the Investment Law, including the level of foreign (i.e., non-Israeli) investment in our company, we have determined that the effective tax rate to be paid by our Israeli subsidiary as a “Beneficiary Enterprise” has historically been approximately 10%. If our Israeli subsidiary does not meet the requirements for maintaining this status, for example, if the Israeli subsidiary materially changes the nature of its business or, if the level of foreign investment in our company decreases, it may no longer be eligible to enjoy this or any other reduced tax rate. As a result, our Israeli subsidiary would be subject to Israeli corporate tax at the standard rate, which, as of January 1, 2021 was set at 23%. Even if our Israeli subsidiary continues to meet the relevant requirements, the tax benefits that the status of “Beneficiary Enterprise” provides terminated on December 31, 2020 with respect to income generated after that date. Unless new tax benefits become available to us, the amount of taxes that our Israeli subsidiary would pay would increase, as all of our Israeli operations would consequently be subject to corporate tax at the

standard rate, which could adversely affect our tax expenses and effective tax rates. Additionally, if our Israeli subsidiary increases its activities outside of Israel, for example, through acquisitions, these activities may not be eligible for inclusion in Israeli tax benefit programs. The tax benefit derived from the status of “Beneficiary Enterprise” is dependent upon the ability to generate sufficient taxable income. Accordingly, our Israeli subsidiary may be unable to earn enough taxable income in order to fully utilize its tax benefits.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock into the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, for whatever reason, including as a result of the conversion of the outstanding 2025 Notes, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We are unable to predict the effect that such sales may have on the prevailing market price of our common stock.

As of December 31, 2020, we had options, restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and performance stock units ("PSUs") outstanding that, if fully vested and exercised, would result in the issuance of approximately 3.1 million shares of our common stock. All of the shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of options and vesting of RSUs and PSUs have been registered for public resale under the Securities Act. Accordingly, these shares will be able to be freely sold in the public market upon issuance as permitted by any applicable vesting requirements.

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain any future earnings and do not expect to pay any dividends in the foreseeable future. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will be dependent on a number of factors, including our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, the Credit and Security Agreement for our Credit Facility contains a prohibition on the payment of cash dividends. Until such time that we pay a dividend, stockholders, including holders of our 2025 Notes who receive shares of our common stock upon conversion of the 2025 Notes, must rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investments. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investments.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may delay, discourage or prevent an acquisition of us or a change in our management, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares, or transactions that our stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests. These provisions include:

In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which limits the ability of stockholders owning in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock to merge or combine with us, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner. Although we believe these provisions collectively provide for an opportunity to obtain greater value for stockholders by requiring potential acquirers to

negotiate with our board of directors, they would apply even if an offer rejected by our board were considered beneficial by some stockholders. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management.

In addition, if a “fundamental change” occurs prior to the maturity date of the 2025 Notes, holders of the 2025 Notes will have the right, at their option, to require us to repurchase all or a portion of their Convertible Notes. If a “make-whole fundamental change” (as defined in the Indenture) occurs prior the maturity date, we will in some cases be required to increase the conversion rate of the 2025 Notes for a holder that elects to convert its 2025 Notes in connection with such “make-whole fundamental change”. These features of the 2025 Notes may make a potential acquisition more expensive for a potential acquiror, which may in turn make it less likely for a potential acquiror to offer to purchase our company, or reduce the amount of consideration offered for each share of our common stock in a potential acquisition. Furthermore, the Indenture prohibits us from engaging in certain mergers or acquisitions unless, among other things, the surviving entity assumes our obligations under the 2025 Notes. Last, under our Credit Facility we cannot sell or transfer or otherwise dispose of any assets of the Company to any person or entity subject to certain exceptions and we cannot merge, amalgamate or consolidate with any other entity.

The success of our business and competitive position depends on our ability to obtain, protect and enforce our trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights. We attempt to protect our intellectual property under patent, trademark, copyrights and trade secret laws, and through a combination of confidentiality procedures, contractual provisions and other methods, all of which offer only limited protection and may not now or in the future provide us with a competitive advantage.

As of January 29, 2021, we had 74 issued patents in the United States and 28 pending U.S. patent applications. We also had 41 patents issued and 63 applications pending for examination in non-U.S. jurisdictions, and three pending PCT patent applications, all of which are counterparts of our U.S. patent applications. We may file additional patent applications in the future. The process of obtaining patent protection is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner all the way through to the successful issuance of a patent. We may choose not to seek patent protection for certain innovations and may choose not to pursue patent protection in certain jurisdictions. Furthermore, it is possible that our patent applications may not issue as granted patents, that the scope of our issued patents will be insufficient or not have the coverage originally sought, that our issued patents will not provide us with any competitive advantages, and that our patents and other intellectual property rights may be challenged by others or invalidated through administrative process or litigation. In addition, issuance of a patent does not guarantee that we have an absolute right to practice the patented invention. Our policy is to require our employees (and our consultants and service providers that develop intellectual property included in our products) to execute written agreements in which they assign to us their rights in potential inventions and other intellectual property created within the scope of their employment (or, with respect to consultants and service providers, their engagement to develop such intellectual property), but we cannot provide assurance that we have adequately protected our rights in every such agreement or that we have executed an agreement with every such party. Finally, in order to benefit from patent and other intellectual property protection, we must monitor, detect and pursue infringement claims in certain circumstances in relevant jurisdictions, all of which is costly and time-consuming. As a result, we may not be able to obtain adequate protection or to enforce our issued patents or other intellectual property effectively.

In addition to patented technology, we rely on our unpatented proprietary technology and trade secrets. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary technologies and our intellectual property rights, unauthorized parties, including our employees, consultants, service providers or customers, may attempt to copy aspects of our products or obtain and use our trade secrets or other confidential information. We generally enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, service providers, vendors, channel partners and customers, and generally limit access to and distribution of our proprietary information and proprietary technology through certain procedural safeguards. These agreements may not effectively prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of our intellectual property or technology and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of our intellectual property or technology. We cannot provide assurance that the steps taken by us will prevent misappropriation of our trade secrets or technology or infringement of our intellectual property. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries where we operate do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as the laws of the United States, and many foreign countries do not enforce these laws as diligently as government agencies and private parties in the United States.

Moreover, industries in which we operate, such as data security, cybersecurity, compliance, data retention and data governance are characterized by the existence of a large number of relevant patents and frequent claims and related litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. From time to time, third parties have asserted and may assert their patent, copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights against us, our channel partners or our customers. Successful claims of infringement or misappropriation by a third party could prevent us from distributing certain products, performing certain services or could require us to pay substantial damages (including, for example, treble damages if we are found to have willfully infringed patents and increased statutory damages if we are found to have willfully infringed copyrights), royalties or other fees. Such claims also could require us to cease making, licensing or using solutions that are alleged to infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property of others or to expend additional development resources to attempt to redesign our products or services or otherwise to develop non-infringing technology. Even if third parties may offer a license to their technology, the terms of any offered license may not be acceptable, and the failure to obtain a license or the costs associated with any license could cause our business, results of operations or financial condition to be materially and adversely affected. In some cases, we indemnify our channel partners and customers against claims that our products infringe the intellectual property of third parties. Defending against claims of infringement or being deemed to be infringing the intellectual property rights of others could impair our ability to innovate, develop, distribute and sell our current and planned products and services. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights and ensure that we are not violating the intellectual property rights of others, we may find ourselves at a competitive disadvantage to others who need not incur the additional expense, time and effort required to create the innovative products that have enabled us to be successful to date.

We have registered the “Varonis” name and logo and “DatAdvantage”, “DataPrivilege”, “DatAlert”, “DatAnywhere” and other names in the United States and, as related to some of these names, certain other countries. However, we cannot provide assurance that any future trademark registrations will be issued for pending or future applications or that any registered trademarks will be enforceable or provide adequate protection of our proprietary rights.

We also license software from third parties for integration into our solution, including open source software and other software available on commercially reasonable terms. We cannot provide assurance that such third parties will maintain such software or continue to make it available. We also rely on confidentiality agreements, consulting agreements, work-for-hire agreements and invention assignment agreements with our employees, consultants and others.

Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary technology and trade secrets, unauthorized parties may attempt to misappropriate, reverse engineer or otherwise obtain and use them. In addition, others may independently discover our trade secrets, in which case we would not be able to assert trade secret rights or develop similar technologies and processes. Further, the contractual provisions that we enter into may not prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary technology or intellectual property rights and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary technology or intellectual property rights. Moreover, policing unauthorized use of our technologies, trade secrets and intellectual property is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not be as protective of intellectual property rights as those in the United States and where mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights may be weak. We may be unable to determine the extent of any unauthorized use or infringement of our solution, technologies or intellectual property rights.

Because our software uses complex technology, undetected errors, failures or bugs may occur. Our software is often installed and used in a variety of computing environments with different operating system management software, and equipment and networking configurations, which may cause errors or failures of our software or other aspects of the computing environment into which it is deployed. In addition, deployment of our software into computing environments may expose undetected errors, compatibility issues, failures or bugs in our software. Despite testing by us, errors, failures or bugs may not be found in our software until it is released to our customers. Moreover, our customers could incorrectly implement or inadvertently misuse our software, which could result in customer dissatisfaction and adversely impact the perceived utility of our products as well as our brand. Any of these real or perceived errors, compatibility issues, failures or bugs in our software could result in negative publicity, reputational harm, loss of or delay in market acceptance of our software, loss of competitive position or claims by customers for losses sustained by them. In such an event, we may be required, or may choose, for customer relations or other reasons, to expend additional resources in order to help correct the problem. Alleviating any of these problems could require significant expenditures of our capital and other resources and could cause interruptions or delays in the use of our solutions, which could cause us to lose existing or potential customers and could adversely affect our operating results and growth prospect.

Historically, we have generated the majority of our revenues from customers in North America. For the year ended December 31, 2020, approximately 70% of our total revenues were derived from sales in North America. Nevertheless, we have operations across the globe, and we plan to continue to expand our international operations as part of our long-term growth strategy. The further expansion of our international operations will subject us to a variety of risks and challenges, including:

Any of these risks could adversely affect our international operations, reduce our revenues from outside the United States or increase our operating costs, adversely affecting our business, results of operations and financial condition and growth prospects. There can be no assurance that all of our employees, independent contractors and channel partners will comply with the formal policies we have and will implement, or applicable laws and regulations. Violations of laws or key control policies by our employees, independent contractors and channel partners could result in delays in revenue recognition, financial reporting misstatements, fines, penalties or the prohibition of the importation or exportation of our software and services and could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We continue to make investments to support our business growth and may require additional funds to respond to business challenges, including the need to develop new features or enhance our software, improve our operating infrastructure or acquire complementary businesses and technologies. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financing to secure additional funds. If we raise additional funds through future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Any debt financing that we may secure in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. We may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing on

terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly impaired, and our business may be adversely affected.

A significant natural disaster, such as a fire, flood or an earthquake, an outbreak of a pandemic disease (such as COVID-19) or a significant power outage could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In the event our customers’ IT systems or our channel partners’ selling or distribution abilities are hindered by any of these events, we may miss financial targets, such as revenues and sales targets, for a particular quarter. Further, if a natural disaster occurs in a region from which we derive a significant portion of our revenue, customers in that region may delay or forego purchases of our products, which may materially and adversely impact our results of operations for a particular period. In addition, acts of terrorism could cause disruptions in our business or the business of channel partners, customers or the economy as a whole. Given our typical concentration of sales at each quarter end, any disruption in the business of our channel partners or customers that impacts sales at the end of our quarter could have a significant adverse impact on our quarterly results. All of the aforementioned risks may be augmented if the disaster recovery plans for us and our channel partners prove to be inadequate. To the extent that any of the above results in delays or cancellations of customer orders, or the delay in the development, deployment or shipment of our products, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

A change in accounting standards or practices could harm our operating results and may even affect our reporting of transactions completed before the change is effective. New accounting pronouncements and varying interpretations of accounting pronouncements have occurred and may occur in the future. Changes to existing rules or the questioning of current practices may harm our operating results or the way we conduct our business. Additionally, the adoption of new or revised accounting principles may require that we make significant changes to our systems process and controls.

The market price for our common stock has been, and is likely to continue to be, volatile for the foreseeable future, and

is subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors, as well as the volatility of our common stock, could affect the price at which our convertible noteholders could sell the common stock received upon conversion of the 2025 Notes and could also impact the trading price of the 2025 Notes. Since shares of our common stock were sold in our initial public offering in March 2014 at a price of $22.00 per share, our common stock’s price on The Nasdaq Global Select Market has ranged from $13.25 to $191.98 through February 5, 2021. On February 5, 2021, the closing price of our common stock was $189.78. The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to a number of factors, many of which we cannot predict or control, including the factors listed below and other factors described in this “Risk Factors” section:

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business, our market and our competitors. We do not have any control over these analysts or their expectations regarding our performance on a quarterly or annual basis. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock or change their opinion of our stock, our stock price would likely decline. If we fail to meet one or more of these analysts' published expectations regarding our performance on a quarterly basis, our stock price or trading volume could decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the listing requirements of The Nasdaq Global Select Market and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations have increased our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources.

The Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and results of operations. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet this standard, significant resources and management oversight is required. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations. We may need to hire more employees in the future or engage outside consultants, which will increase our costs and expenses. In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices.

Being a public company, these rules and regulations have made it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and in the future we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit and compensation committees, and qualified executive officers.

As a result of disclosure of information in our filings with the SEC, our business and financial condition have become more visible, which we believe may result in threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors and other third parties. If such claims are successful, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected, and even if the claims do not result in

litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting on an annual basis. This assessment includes disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. We are also required to have our independent registered public accounting firm issue an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting on an annual basis. During the evaluation and testing process, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective.

If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline, and we may be subject to investigation or sanctions by the SEC.

Future sales and issuances of our capital stock or rights to purchase our capital stock could result in substantial dilution to our existing stockholders. We may sell common stock, convertible securities and other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner as we may determine from time to time. If we sell any such securities in subsequent transactions, investors may be materially diluted. New investors in such subsequent transactions could gain rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock.

 

We do not have any unresolved comments from the SEC staff.

Our corporate headquarters are located in New York City in an office consisting of approximately 46,000 square feet. This lease expires in February 2026, although we have the option to terminate the lease in February 2023 which we intend to exercise. In addition, we lease offices in North Carolina consisting of approximately 68,500 square feet, which is our primary U.S. customer support and inside sales center. This lease expires in July 2030, although we have an option to extend the lease for an additional 10 years. We also lease an office located in Herzliya, Israel, consisting of approximately 130,000 square feet, where we employ the majority our research and development team and a portion of our support and general and administrative teams. The lease for this office expires in December 2028, although we have the option to extend the lease for an additional five years. We also have a lease in Tel Aviv, Israel consisting of approximately 2,700 square feet, where we employ additional research and development personnel which expires in May 2021. Further, we lease offices in Cork, Ireland consisting of approximately 40,000 square feet, which is our primary EMEA customer support and inside sales center and which expires in December 2035, although we have the option to terminate the lease in December 2030. We also lease smaller offices in France, the United Kingdom, Oregon, Virginia, New Jersey, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium (which serve as regional sales offices and some of which are customer support centers). We plan to invest in additional space as needed to accommodate our growth.

 

We are not currently a party to any material litigation.

 

Not applicable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1)       Includes non-cash stock-based compensation as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

We currently offer more than 25 licenses across our six product families, and since commencing our transition to a subscription model in the beginning of 2019, we have seen a significant increase in the number of licenses purchased by new customers, and in the engagement of our existing customers who are adopting more licenses. As of December 31, 2020, 63% of our customers with 500 employees or more had purchased four or more licenses, compared to 54% a year ago, and 30% purchased six or more licenses, compared to 20% a year ago. We believe the increase in these metrics underscores the logic behind our transition to a subscription model and confirms how we are unleashing the potential of our platform. This is reflected in ARR, which as of December 31, 2020 grew 37% year-over-year to $287.3 million. Additionally, renewal rates of maintenance on perpetual

licenses continued to be over 90% for the year ended December 31, 2020. As a result, the recurring component of our revenue base has significantly increased as we have completed our subscription transition, which now provides more visibility into future revenues and places us in a stronger position. Lastly, our dollar-based net retention rate ("NRR") as of December 31, 2020 was 116%. NRR is calculated as of a period end by starting with the ARR from the cohort of active customers as of the 12 months prior to such period end, or Prior Period ARR. We then calculate the ARR from the same customers as of the current period end, or Current Period ARR. Current Period ARR includes any upsells and is net of contraction or attrition over the trailing 12 months, but excludes subscription revenues from new customers in the current period. We then divide the total Current Period ARR by the total Prior Period ARR to arrive at the dollar-based net retention rate.

 

Varonis is a pioneer in data security and analytics, fighting a different battle than conventional cybersecurity companies. We are pioneers because over a decade ago, we recognized that enterprise capacity to create and share data far exceeded its capacity to protect it. We believed the vast movement of information from analog to digital mediums combined with increasing information dependence would change both the global economy and the risk profiles of corporations and governments. Since then our focus has been on using innovation to address the cyber-implications of this movement, creating software that provides new ways to track, alert and protect data wherever it is stored.

Data continues to amass in new and existing data stores both on premises and in the cloud, a trend we have seen accelerate as companies around the world embark on a wave of digital transformation initiatives. As these data stores grow, the relationships between the data they hold and the users that collaborate with it grow more complex, making those relationships difficult to visualize, understand and control without automation. Because enterprises now use many different combinations of data stores and require different levels of protection, our offering provides coverage flexibility through software licensing. We aim to keep pace with the relentless growth and complexity of data, starting in 2005 with a single license, offering ten licenses at the time of our initial public offering in 2014, and today offering more than 25 integrated licenses across the most common on premises and cloud data stores. We plan to continue investing in product development to deliver new products in the future.

Our software specializes in data protection, threat detection and response and compliance. Varonis software enables enterprises to protect data stored on premises and in the cloud: sensitive files and emails; confidential personal data belonging to customers, patients and employees; financial records; strategic and product plans; and other intellectual property. Recognizing the complexities of securing data, we have built an integrated platform for security and analytics to simplify and streamline security and data management.

The Varonis Data Security Platform, built on patented technology, helps enterprises protect data against cyberattacks from both internal and external threats. Our products enable enterprises to analyze data, account activity and user behavior to detect attacks. Our Data Security Platform prevents or limits unauthorized use of sensitive information, prevents potential cyberattacks and limits others by automatically locking down data, allowing access to those who need it and automating the removal of stale data when it is no longer useful. Our products efficiently sustain a secure state with automation and address additional important use cases including data protection, data governance, zero trust, compliance, data privacy, classification and threat detection and response. Our Data Security Platform is driven by a proprietary technology, our Metadata Framework, that

extracts critical metadata, or data about data, from an enterprise’s IT infrastructure. Our Data Security Platform uses this contextual information to map functional relationships among employees, data objects, systems, content and usage.

 

We started operations in 2005 with a vision to make enterprise data more accessible, manageable, secure and actionable. We began offering our flagship product, DatAdvantage, which provides centralized visibility for enterprise data, in 2006. Since then we have continued to invest in innovation and have consistently introduced new products and software features to our customers.

In 2017, we introduced the Automation Engine to allow customers to automatically repair and maintain file systems so that organizations are less vulnerable to attacks and security breaches, more compliant and consistently meeting a least privilege model. We enhanced DatAlert, which was originally introduced in 2013 to monitor and alert on sensitive data and file activity, with DatAlert Analytics Rewind to allow customers to analyze past user and data activity to identify security breaches that may have occurred in the past and pre-emptively tune out false positives. We updated our web UI for DatAlert and added new threat models to detect suspicious mailbox, Exchange and Exchange Online behaviors, password resets and unusual activity from personal devices. We introduced a new security dashboard in DatAlert, along with enhanced behavioral analytics, geolocation and more to make it easier than ever to perform security investigations and forensics. In 2017, we also released GDPR Patterns, part of the Data Classification Engine family, to help enterprises identify data that falls under the EU GDPR and expanded our offerings that can help enterprises meet compliance and regulation requirements.

In 2018, we introduced Varonis Edge to extend our proactive security approach, enabling customers to spot signs of attack at the perimeter by analyzing telemetry from DNS, VPN and web proxy. We introduced Data Classification Labels to integrate with Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) and enable customers to better classify, track and secure files across enterprise data stores. We enhanced DatAnswers, a secure enterprise search solution for enterprise data that delivers highly relevant and secure search results to enterprise employees and which was originally introduced in 2014, to address additional compliance requirements from new data privacy laws and standards. We added classification categories to the Data Classification Engine, to better identify and analyze regulated data like GDPR, PII, PCI and PHI. We updated the DataPrivilege UI for improved usability and added classification categories making it easier to see who can access regulated data. We updated our web UI and introduced new features to DatAlert, including new threat models to combat cyberattacks, support for more data stores and optimizations to make DatAlert faster and more intuitive for security investigations.

In 2019, we introduced updates to our existing products to include new dashboards to highlight cloud, Active Directory and GDPR security risks so that customers can more easily identify critical risk in their hybrid environments, including vulnerable user accounts, at-risk cloud data and potential compliance violations. We extended our cloud support to include Box, added threat intelligence to our security insights, built incident response playbooks directly into the UI, and made usability and performance improvements. We also added classification functionality to help enterprises automatically discover and classify data that falls under data covered by the CCPA.

In the second quarter of 2020, we introduced an update to our platform to increase visibility into potential security issues related to remote work. Our “Remote Work Update” included a new dashboard to help customers spot unusual VPN, DNS and web activity, built-in threat hunting queries to accelerate investigations, deeper visibility into Microsoft Teams, and additional threat models for Office 365. In the fourth quarter of 2020, we completed the acquisition of Polyrize, a software provider that maps and analyzes the relationships between users and data across a number of cloud applications and services, including Google Drive, Salesforce, Okta, GitHub, Slack, AWS, Jira and others, making it simple for security teams to control access to cloud data and infrastructure and analyze cloud activity.

In 2020, we successfully completed the strategic shift to a subscription-based business model, which allows our customers to better unleash the power of our platform through faster adoption of our integrated products. We currently have six product families, consisting of DatAdvantage, DatAlert, Data Classification Engine, DataPrivilege, Data Transport Engine and DatAnswers with over twenty-five licenses under these product families. As of December 31, 2020, 63% of our customers with 500 employees or more had purchased four or more licenses, compared to 54% a year ago, and 30% purchased six or more licenses, compared to 20% a year ago. Additionally, as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, 100.0% of our customers had purchased DatAdvantage; 57.8%, 54.5% and 50.4% of our customers, respectively, had purchased DatAlert; 57.2%, 53.8% and 49.3% of our customers, respectively, had purchased Data Classification Engine; 15.6%, 15.6% and 15.4% of our customers, respectively, had purchased DataPrivilege; 10.2%, 8.9% and 7.7% of our customers, respectively, had purchased Data Transport Engine; and 3.2%, 2.5% and 1.8% of our customers, respectively, had purchased DatAnswers. As of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, 22.0%. 24.1% and 27.0% of our customers, respectively, made standalone purchases of DatAdvantage. No other product families outside of DatAdvantage can be sold on a standalone basis. As of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, approximately 78%, 76% and 73% of our customers, respectively, had purchased products in two or more families, one of which was DatAdvantage for all of these customers. As of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, approximately 49%, 45%

and 40% of our customers, respectively, had purchased products in three or more families. Our perpetual license maintenance renewal rate for each of the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 continued to be over 90%. Our key strategies to ensure and maintain a high subscription and maintenance renewal rate include focusing on the quality and reliability of our customer service and support to ensure our customers receive value from our products and providing software upgrades and enhancements when and if they are available.

We sell substantially all of our products and services to channel partners, including distributors and resellers, which sell to end-user customers, which we refer to in this report as our customers. We believe that our sales model, which combines the leverage of a channel sales model with our highly trained and professional sales force, has and will continue to play a major role in our ability to grow and to successfully deliver our unique value proposition for enterprise data. While our products serve customers of all sizes, in all industries and all geographies, the marketing focus and majority of our sales focus is on targeting organizations with 1,000 users or more who can make larger initial purchases with us and, over time, have a greater potential lifetime value. Our customers span leading firms in the financial services, public, healthcare, industrial, insurance, energy and utilities, technology, consumer and retail, media and entertainment and education sectors. We believe our existing customer base serves as a strong source of incremental revenues given our broad platform of products, their growing volumes and complexity of enterprise data and associated security concerns. We will continue our focus on targeting organizations with 1,000 users or more who can make larger purchases with us initially and over time.

We believe there is a significant long-term growth opportunity in both domestic and foreign markets, which could include any organization that uses file shares, intranets and email for collaboration, regardless of region. For the year ended December 31, 2020, 71% of our revenues were derived from North America, while EMEA accounted for approximately 26% of our revenues and Rest of World (“ROW”) accounted for approximately 3% of our revenues. Additionally, even with our subscription mix increasing from 65% for the year ended December 31, 2019 to 99% for the year ended December 31, 2020, we still had revenue growth of approximately 15% worldwide. We believe the transition from a perpetual-based model to a subscription-based model has positioned us well for the future, and, although revenues are still front-end loaded, they are more predictable and recurring in nature. We continue to expect sales growth in North America and international expansion to be key components of our long-term growth strategy.

Despite the challenges currently resulting from COVID-19, we continue to expand our domestic and international operations as part of our long-term growth strategy. While the expansion of our domestic operations is focused primarily on our under penetrated territories, the expansion of our international operations depends in particular on our ability to hire, integrate and retain local sales personnel in these international markets, acquire new channel partners and implement an effective marketing strategy. Given the nominal amount of our ROW revenues, our ROW revenue growth rates have fluctuated in the past and may fluctuate in the future based on the timing of deal closures. In addition, the further expansion of our international operations will increase our sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses and will subject us to a variety of risks and challenges, including those related to economic and political conditions in each region, compliance with foreign laws and regulations, and compliance with domestic laws and regulations applicable to our international operations.

We derive almost all of our revenues from subscription sales and renewals of maintenance contracts and, to a lesser extent, from professional services and perpetual license sales of our products. Subscription revenues are comprised of time-based licenses whereby new and existing customers use our software with related maintenance for a specified period. Perpetual license revenues consist of the revenues recognized from sales of perpetual licenses to new and existing customers. While prior to 2019 fees from subscription licenses comprised an insignificant amount of our revenues, as we transitioned to a subscription-based business in 2019, subscription licenses became a significantly larger portion of our total revenues. Subscription licenses accounted for 55%, 30% and 3% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Perpetual license sales accounted for less than 1%, 17% and 52% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Subscription licenses accounted for 99%, 65% and 6% of our license revenues for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

We have achieved significant revenue growth and scale since inception under a perpetual business model. We have continued to grow our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2020 despite our transition to a subscription-based business model, and headwinds caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, subscription revenues were $161.2 million, $76.7 million, and $8.8 million, respectively, representing year-over-year growth of 110% and 777%. For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, our total revenues were $292.7 million, $254.2 million and $270.3 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, we had operating losses of $78.4 million, $76.0 million and $29.1 million and net losses of $94.0 million, $78.8 million and $28.6 million, respectively.

 

associated with maintenance ratably, on a straight-line basis, over the associated maintenance period. We measure the perpetual license maintenance renewal rate for our customers over a 12-month period, based on a dollar maintenance renewal rate for contracts expiring during that time period. Our perpetual license maintenance renewal rate for each of the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 continued to be over 90%. We have historically experienced growth in maintenance revenues primarily due to increased perpetual license sales to new and existing customers and high renewal rates. However, due to our transition to a subscription-based model, we have seen and expect to continue to see insignificant perpetual license revenues in the future and, therefore, less associated maintenance revenues. We also offer professional services focused on training our customers in the use of our products, providing advice on deployment planning, network design, remediation, product configuration and implementation, automating and customizing reports and tuning policies and configuration. We recognize the revenues associated with these professional services, which are generally provided on a time and materials basis, as we deliver the services, provide the training or when the service term has expired. Although professional services have always been a small percentage of our total revenues, we have recently seen, and expect to continue to see, that percentage decline as many of our newer licenses can provide remediation in a more automated way and our planned long-term strategy to allow our channel partners to take on more professional services work. As such, our overall maintenance and services revenues is also expected to continue to decline.

year. Conversely, the fourth quarter typically results in the highest gross margin as our fourth quarter revenues have historically been the highest for the year.