News of a massive data breach affecting federal employees has helped propel the PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF higher, but its CEO said Friday that while the move may have been caused by a knee-jerk reaction to the latest attack, investors are really looking for long-term growth.
"This is a long-term growth trend and I think that people investing in this are primarily looking to do so for that increase in spending going into the cybersecurity industry," PureFunds co-founder and CEO Andrew Chanin said in an interview with CNBC's "Power Lunch."
On Thursday, the Obama administration said the records of up to 4 million current and former federal employees may have been compromised in one of the largest known cyberattacks on federal networks. The White House said Friday there was no conclusion about who was behind the attack.
Read More US officials report massive breach of federal personnel data
The ETF, listed as HACK, closed up more than 3 percent Friday and is up over 19 percent year to date. It is composed of 30 companies that focus on combating cybercrime.
Chanin said it's a concept that will be viable well into the future.
"We think that people are very interested in investing in the space but without knowing the individual companies and the ins and outs of how these companies operate, it's very hard to be a specialist in these individual names."
Its top holdings include FireEye, Cyberark Software, InfoBlox and Palo Alto Networks.