(FORTUNE Small Business) – Sadly, global terrorism is a growth industry nowadays. The result? Safety sells. Small manufacturers of everything from surveillance cameras to stun guns have watched their shares take off in recent months. But stock analysts predict that only a few firms will survive the fierce competition for a piece of the homeland-security market. Here are three that might just make it in the long run. BY DAISY CHAN

IDENTIX (IDNX)

-- This Minnetonka, Minn., company is "the state of the art and the market" in forensic fingerprinting and facial recognition, says Jay Meier, a senior analyst at Miller Johnson Steichen Kinnard. The FBI receives 600,000 fingerprint files a day from Identix. The company's new Ibis Mobile ID System lets border guards and police scan fingerprints in the field. Identix is still in the red, despite having grossed $85 million in fiscal 2003 (in part because of the sale of a subsidiary). But the company is betting big on technology that identifies you by your skin type and the shape of your face. The stock jumped from $5.64 to $6.36 between March 16 and April 30. And as more countries imprint biometric data in passports and visas, Identix is well positioned to win contracts.

IPIX (IPIX)

-- IPIX started out doing still imaging for online real estate tours. But in March the Oak Ridge, Tenn., firm released its CommandView360 camera, the only security camera on the market that shows the entire area surrounding the device. The product was recently tested at a high traffic tunnel between Tennessee and Kentucky. IPIX, which turned a profit on sales of $28 million last year, hopes border checkpoints and dams will be major markets for the CommandView. The stock rose from $2.13 to $5.70 between March 16 and April 30, but one analyst is skeptical about the market for the technology: "It's an add-in, but I'm skeptical of its getting large deployment," says Joel P. Fishbein Jr. of Janney Montgomery Scott.

SAFLINK (SFLK)

-- Saflink provides software that allows devices such as iris and fingerprint scanners to share data, making it easier to verify an ID. The company is helping the Defense and Transportation departments test biometric ID cards, which will eventually be issued to more than 20 million transport workers and military personnel. Saflink lost money on revenues of $2 million in 2003. Its stock shot up 73% in the first two months of this year before closing at $2.56 on April 30. The Bellevue, Wash., company has a lot riding on landing the two contracts. "Either it's going to win big or it's going to have to look for alternatives," says Jim McIlree, a principal at C.E. Unterberg Towbin. CEO Glenn Argenbright concurs: "We need a major-impact client to move the needle."