Cybersecurity as a Defensive Play: October Picks to Protect Your Portfolio

As the world gets more interconnected with our technology each and every day, watching how and who you interact with online has never been more important. October ushered in the start of cybersecurity awareness month, highlighting the ever growing need to watch how you and your clients interact online. Our online security isn’t the only thing we want to be strong… finding strong options fit for investment in our investment portfolio is of utmost importance as we move into the final quarter of 2025. Using NDW’s fund score and technical attribute ratings, we can hone in on a handful of technically strong cybersecurity options that might help “protect” your portfolio in October and the rest of Q4.

Starting broadly, we will provide technical commentary for a cybersecurity focused fund which scores strongly according to NDW’s fund score methodology. The First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF ([CIBR]) holds a strong 5.18 (out of 6.00) fund score, up over 21% so far this year as of 10/6. The fund trades on a pair of PnF buy signals on its default chart, sitting at all time highs at the time of this writing. In terms of technical landmarks to keep an eye on, [CIBR] offers an initial level of support ~6-7% below current levels… also around/above a range of old resistance, a net positive as demand appears strong. It outscores the “average” technology fund by nearly half a point and remains in actionable territory around current levels, offering an attractive entry point for long exposure.

The largest percentage holding in [CIBR] comes from Broadcom ([AVGO]), which makes up nearly 10% of total weight across the fund. [AVGO] is a high attribute name, earning a 4/5 TA score to open October. After taking a bit of a breather off all-time chart highs at $372, the stock returned to a PnF buy signal on 10/2, now sitting without technical resistance until that point. Towards the downside, buyers have stepped in a handful of times at $328, offering some localized support to look towards in the near-term.