Sophos Xg

Sophos Group plc is a British security software and hardware company. Sophos develops products for communication endpoint, encryption, network security, email security, mobile security and unified threat management. Sophos is primarily focused on providing security software to 100- to 5,000-seat organizations. While not a primary focus, Sophos also protects home users, through free and paid antivirus solutions (Sophos Home/Home Premium) intended to demonstrate product functionality. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Thoma Bravo in February 2020.

Sophos Group plc is a British security software and hardware company. Sophos develops products for communication endpoint, encryption, network security, email security, mobile security and unified threat management. Sophos is primarily focused on providing security software to 100- to 5,000-seat organizations. Applies to the following Sophos product(s) and version(s) Central Windows Endpoint 10.8.1, Central Windows Endpoint Intercept X 2.0.0 What to do. From the Sophos Central Admin that will manage the endpoint/s, download the installer SophosSetup.exe. Go to Protect Devices under Endpoint Protection select Download Complete Windows Installer.

History[edit]

Sophos was founded by Jan Hruska and Peter Lammer and began producing its first antivirus and encryption products in 1985.^[2] During the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Sophos primarily developed and sold a range of security technologies in the UK, including encryption tools available for most users (private or business). In the late 1990s, Sophos concentrated its efforts on the development and sale of antivirus technology, and embarked on a program of international expansion.^[3]

In 2003, Sophos acquired ActiveState, a North American software company that developed anti-spam software. At that time viruses were being spread primarily through email spam and this allowed Sophos to produce a combined anti-spam and antivirus solution.^[4] In 2006, Peter Gyenes and Steve Munford were named chairman and CEO of Sophos, respectively. Jan Hruska and Peter Lammer remain as members of the board of directors.^[5] In 2010, the majority interest of Sophos was sold to Apax.^[6] In 2010, Nick Bray, formerly Group CFO at Micro Focus International, was named CFO of Sophos.^[7]

In 2011, Utimaco Safeware AG (acquired by Sophos in 2008–9) were accused of supplying data monitoring and tracking software to partners that have sold to governments such as Syria: Sophos issued a statement of apology and confirmed that they had suspended their relationship with the partners in question and launched an investigation.^[8][9] In 2012, Kris Hagerman, formerly CEO at Corel Corporation, was named CEO of Sophos and joined the company's board. Former CEO Steve Munford became non-executive chairman of the board.^[10] In February 2014, Sophos announced that it had acquired Cyberoam Technologies, a provider of network security products.^[11] In June 2015, Sophos announced plans to raise $US100 million on the London Stock Exchange.^[12] Sophos was floated on the FTSE in September 2015.^[13]

On 14 October 2019 Sophos announced that Thoma Bravo, a US-based private equity firm, made an offer to acquire Sophos for US$7.40 per share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $3.9 billion. The board of directors of Sophos stated their intention to unanimously recommend the offer to the company's shareholders.^[14] On 2 March 2020 Sophos announced the completion of the acquisition.^[15]

Acquisitions and partnerships[edit]

From September 2003 to February 2006, Sophos served as the parent company of ActiveState, a developer of programming tools for dynamic programming languages: in February 2006, ActiveState became an independent company when it was sold to Vancouver-based venture capitalist firm Pender Financial.^[16] In 2007, Sophos acquired ENDFORCE, a company based in Ohio, United States, which developed and sold security policy compliance and Network Access Control (NAC) software.^[17][18] In November 2016, Sophos acquired Barricade, a pioneering start-up with a powerful behavior-based analytics engine built on machine learning techniques,^[19] to strengthen synchronized security capabilities and next-generation network and endpoint protection. In February 2017, Sophos acquired Invincea, a software company that provides malware threat detection, prevention, and pre-breach forensic intelligence.^[20][21][22]

In March 2020, Thoma Bravo acquired Sophos for $3.9 billion.^[23]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcd'Annual Report 2018'(PDF). Sophos. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
2. ^'Sophos: the early years'. Naked Security.
3. ^'Exterminator Tools'. Windows IT Pro. 15 November 1999. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
4. ^'Sophos acquires anti-spam specialist ActiveState'. www.sophos.com. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
5. ^'Sophos Management Team | Global Leaders in IT Security'. sophos.com.
6. ^'Apax Partners to acquire majority stake in Sophos'.
7. ^'Board of Directors'.
8. ^'The Bureau Investigates article'. Archived from the original on 4 December 2011.
9. ^'Statement from Sophos on Recent Media Reports'.
10. ^'Sophos Board of Directors webpage'.
11. ^'Sophos Acquires Cyberoam to Boost Layered Defense Portfolio'. Infosecurity Magazine.
12. ^'Sophos Plans $100 Million London IPO'.
13. ^'Sophos joins the UK's top public companies in the FTSE 250'.
14. ^'Sophos founders exit before Thoma Bravo sale'. Global Capital. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
15. ^'Sophos opens new chapter with take-private acquisition'.
16. ^'ActiveState Acquired by Employees and Pender Financial Group; Company Renews Focus on Tools and Solutions for Dynamic Languages'. Business Wire. 22 February 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
17. ^'Sophos buys Endforce for network access control'. Network World. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
18. ^Wauters, Robin. 'Sophos beefs up on online security, acquires Dutch security software firm SurfRight for $31.8 million'. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
19. ^https://www.sophos.com/en-us/press-office/press-releases/2016/11/sophos-acquires-security-analytics-start-up-in-ireland.aspx
20. ^'Sophos Adds Advanced Machine Learning to Its Next-Generation Endpoint Protection Portfolio with Acquisition of Invincea'. Sophos. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
21. ^'Sophos grows anti-malware ensemble with Invincea'. Sophos. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017. One may ask, if you already have great next-generation technology, why do you need Invincea’s technology?...Think of Invincea as the superhero that takes our ensemble to the next level – the entity that adds neural network-based machine learning to the team.
22. ^'Sophos to Acquire Invincea to Add Industry Leading Machine Learning to its Next Generation Endpoint Protection Portfolio'. Invincea. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
23. ^'Thoma Bravo completes $3.9B Sophos acquisition'. TechCrunch. Retrieved 7 April 2020.

External links[edit]

Sophos is extending its next-generation endpoint security portfolio with the launch Thursday of Intercept X, a solution to provide added detection, protection and remediation capabilities to partners and customers on the endpoint.

The new Intercept X product, which can be sold as an add-on to existing Sophos solutions or independently, offers signature-less threat and exploit detection, CryptoGuard anti-ransomware capabilities to both block and remediate ransomware, root cause analysis to map attacks and provide recommendations for future, and Sophos Clean to clean up spyware and malware in an environment.

While the market is seeing a rise in next-generation endpoint security solutions, Kendra Krause, vice president of global channels at Sophos, said Intercept X sets itself apart with an affordable price point and remediation capabilities, in addition to prevention, and root cause analysis. Those capabilities are particularly important to mid-market customers, she said, because they don’t necessarily have the resources for independent remediation and analysis of an attack.

Sophos Xdr

[Related: CRN Exclusive: Sophos CEO On One Year As Public Company And The Growing Endpoint Market]

’[Intercept X has] protection, detection and response in a single endpoint product … That’s what makes it really appealing to our partner base. They want to be able to help more than just in selling software,’ Krause said.

Sam Heard, president of Lakeland, Fla.-based Data Integrity Services, has been involved in the product beta and said he already has a waiting list of clients ready to deploy the solution. He added that he's getting clients ready for migration as soon as it's officially rolled out. Heard said he's augmenting any type of new client or renewal with Intercept X or at least preparing the client for an add-on in the future.

Heard said clients are particularly drawn to Intercept X’s anti-ransomware capabilities. For that reason, plus free-upgrade promotions and advanced security capabilities, Heard said he has gotten almost unanimous agreement from clients for the add-on.

’It protects my clients … If my clients are happy and my clients are stable … that’s the best tool for growth, I think. Success breeds success,’ Heard said.

The Intercept X launch also plays into a building strategy at Sophos around what the company calls ’synchronized security,’ bringing together intelligence from its endpoint and network security portfolios. The solution resides on the same agent as the Sophos endpoint security solution, so it also shares that same threat intelligence, Krause said.

’It fits into what we’re doing around synchronized security. That’s a big driver for our partners, as well, because it fits into the full, complete, end-to-end solution that they want to be able to go out there and offer their customers,’ Krause said.

Krause said Sophos will continue to add next-generation capabilities like Intercept X into the Sophos Central integrated security platform and its synchronized security strategy. In July, the company also announced it was adding its encryption technologies into the same strategy.

Heard said the synchronized security is a big selling point with his clients, saying they ’love it.’ He said he sold deals earlier this year based solely off the synchronized security strategy, including the removal of a competitive endpoint security product before it was due to be renewed.

’It’s a game changer that they have brought to the table,’ Heard said.

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Intercept X is available as of Thursday, with a free trial available through the company’s website. Krause said a flex-pay billing option will be available for the solution by the end of the year.