TechNews
Sophos Endpoint Security Advancements Improve Cyberthreat Defenses and Streamline Management
Sandra Ani reporting


- Introduces Adaptive Active Adversary Protection, Linux Malware Protection Enhancements, Account Health Check Capabilities, Integrated ZTNA Agent, and More
Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, today introduced innovative advancements to its portfolio of industry-leading endpoint security offerings.
New adaptive active adversary protection; Linux malware protection enhancements; account health check capabilities; an integrated zero trust network access (ZTNA) agent for Windows and macOS devices; and more improve frontline defenses against advanced cyberthreats and streamline endpoint security management.
“Ransomware remains one of the most prevalent and damaging cyberthreats to organizations, with Sophos incident responders still consistently remediating ransomware activity worldwide. Now isn’t the time for organizations to let their guard down because of any perceived reduction in attacks; in fact, they should be strengthening defenses as attacks are now more intricate and difficult to detect, requiring advanced security techniques that can sense and then quickly adapt to better protect themselves,” said Raja Patel, senior vice president of products at Sophos. “Sophos endpoint security is widely recognized as the industry gold standard, and we’re consistently innovating our market-leading, intelligent endpoint technologies to keep organizations ahead of unrelenting attackers.”
Designed to improve protection and operational efficiency, as well as speed up detection and response, the new Sophos endpoint innovations include:
- Adaptive active adversary protection: A core part of Sophos’ “shields up” design methodology that provides defenders with additional time needed to respond to targeted attacks underway. Sophos Intercept X immediately enables heightened defenses as soon as it detects a “hands-on-keyboard” endpoint intrusion. This wide-reaching step up in defensive measures removes an attacker’s ability to take further actions by minimizing the attack surface, disrupting and containing the attack prior to response team engagement, and providing insights needed for complete remediation
- Linux malware protection enhancements: On-access malware scanning and quarantine capabilities improve real-time prevention of security incidents within Linux operating environments. Added to the Sophos Intercept X Advanced for Server offering, these new features complement existing functionality, including live runtime detections and response to container escapes, cryptominers, data destruction, and kernel exploits
- Account health check: Intuitive, real-time health check monitoring of security configurations and policy settings with the ability to automatically return to recommended settings in a single click, optimizing security posture and enabling organizations to promptly re-establish security best practices. Assessments ensure devices are running the necessary security components, policies are following recommended settings, tamper protection is active, exclusions aren’t creating attack surface exposure, and more
- Integrated ZTNA agent for Windows and macOS devices: Sophos Intercept X is one of the only endpoint protection solutions with a modular ZTNA agent, and organizations can now extend defenses to include Sophos ZTNA across entire estates without deploying an additional agent
- Faster, lightweight agent: Reduces the Windows agent’s memory footprint by 40% and the number of processes by more than 30%, accelerating the performance of applications, workloads and devices. Sophos has also introduced a new extended detection and response (XDR) sensor deployment option that’s approximately 80% lighter than the previous full agent


Sophos endpoint solutions provide deep learning malware detection, anti-ransomware technology, exploit prevention, and much more to prevent attackers from gaining a foothold in the first place. Sophos Intercept X, the market-leading endpoint security solution, protects more than 300,000 organizations against both known and unknown malware and exploits.
Sophos XDR gives security analysts the ability to proactively hunt threats, providing faster detection, investigation and response to drive better security outcomes. Sophos endpoint offerings also include server workload protection for unmatched server and container security and integrated web and application controls; Sophos Mobile for secure unified endpoint management; and Sophos Encryption for full disk encryption.
Sophos’ complete and integrated portfolio of endpoint, network and cloud solutions and managed security services are part of the Sophos Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem. They’re powered by threat intelligence from Sophos X-Ops for faster and more contextual and synchronized protection, detection and response.


Availability
Sophos endpoint security offerings are available for immediate purchase exclusively through Sophos’ global channel of partners and managed service providers (MSPs). New software management options enable organizations to precisely control which versions of Sophos endpoint software are deployed on specific devices with new fixed term support packages for Windows computers and servers, with macOS and Linux coverage coming later this year. Solutions are easily managed in the cloud-native Sophos Central platform. Partners can also leverage Sophos Managed Detection and Response (MDR) as a comprehensive service to detect and respond to threats. The industry-leading service offering is trusted by more than 15,000 organizations for 24/7 threat hunting, detection and response with industry-first third-party integration capabilities and a $1 million Sophos Breach Protection Warranty.


“We want Anambra to be known as a destination for innovation, the next Startup State, home for digital Talents, the home of the smart digital tribe”
Ms Chinwe Okoli, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Anambra State on Innovation and Business Incubation addressed the global innovation ecosystem leaders at the 40th IASP World Conference on Science Parks and Areas of Innovation took place at the European Convention Centre, Luxembourg.


The conference with the theme, “𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐓𝐏𝐬 & 𝐀𝐎𝐈𝐬?” was an exceptional gathering of global innovation stakeholders from over 55 countries. The three-day conference presented an opportunity for the best innovation districts, science parks and areas of innovation in the world to connect and exchange best practices.
Solution Innovation District, Anambra State was prominent in the conference as Ms Okoli addressed the conference on the topic: “𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞: 𝐀 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.”
She shared the transformative power of the Anambra State Government’s innovation program and highlighted the aspirations of Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the Governor, and efforts in nurturing a robust innovation ecosystem in the State to unlock new opportunities and drive technological progress towards making Anambra the digital and creative capital of Nigeria.
Solution Innovation District (SID) is driven by the Anambra State Government, dedicated to fostering the growth of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Ms Okoli restated the commitment of the administration of Governor Soludo towards building the one -of -a kind district in Anambra State, stated the key and ambitious goals of grooming one million Anambra Digital Tribe, startups and digital entrepreneurs and in the end, she called for global partnership.
“Our Mantra in Anambra State is Everything Technology and Technology Everywhere
“At SID, we are activating and developing a dynamic and inclusive ecosystem of the future, Our focus is that in a very short time, Anambra becomes the go-to place for the supply of skills/talents on deep technology -Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, robotics, blockchain, Data science, Software Engineering, IoT, Cloud Computing etc.
“Let’s impact the world from the light of the nation, in the biggest country in Africa, let’s do digital magic with the Anambra Digital Tribe”.


IASP, the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation, is the leading association of innovation ecosystems worldwide.
This organization actively unites and empowers a network of managers overseeing areas of innovation, science parks, research parks, innovation districts, knowledge cities, and various other innovation spaces. It’s the driving force behind the exchange of cutting-edge knowledge and best practices, propelling innovation on a global scale.
TechNews
Sophos Launches Wi-Fi 6 Access Points
Sophos supports shift to hybrid environments with new generation of remotely managed, reports SANDRA ANI


Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, today announced the Sophos AP6 Series to support the shift to hybrid environments with a new generation of remotely managed Wi-Fi 6 access points.
The new offering adds another component to Sophos’ secure access portfolio, which includes Sophos Firewall and Sophos Switch.
“With cloud-managed Wi-Fi, Sophos is addressing the need for more scalable, remote-managed Wi-Fi solutions that support the increasing number of connected devices and the proliferation of IoT systems,” said Daniel Cole, vice president of product management at Sophos. “This combination of our Sophos AP6 Series and Sophos Switches provides channel partners with a consolidated single vendor access solution strategy, easing the burden and overhead cost of managing multiple disparate systems from different vendors. Many access layer networks are still operating at 1 Gigabit speeds. With the significant performance enhancements in Wi-Fi 6, the industry has a great opportunity to review and modernize the network ecosystem that wireless is deployed into. Sophos’ solution dissolves a common bottleneck at the physical layer and can boost the total network performance of a company’s Wi-Fi infrastructure.”
Sophos AP6 models – including 420E, AP6 840, AP6 840E and the outdoor AP6 420X – have at least one built-in 2.5 Gigabit interface for faster LAN connectivity.
When combined with the Sophos multi-Gigabit switches, which also support 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, companies can unlock faster speeds across the entire network. With the AP6 420E and 840E devices, which support Wi-Fi 6E, companies can additionally use the 6 GHz band, which is a newer, less congested space, offering high performance for the latest devices.
Sophos access points can be remotely managed in the cloud-based Sophos Central platform alongside a broader range of solutions than any other vendor.
This enables partners to oversee all customer installations, respond to alerts, and track licenses and upcoming renewal dates via a single, intuitive interface. Additionally, there is an on-premises interface administrators can take advantage of for on-AP settings.
Availability
The Sophos AP6 Series is available for immediate purchase exclusively through Sophos’ global channel of partners and managed service providers (MSPs).
TechNews
Sophos Launches Incident Response Retainer


- Sophos Retainer Cuts Red-Tape, Allowing Sophos Incident Responders to Quickly Investigate and Remediate Active Attacks
- Shorter Attacker Dwell Times Require Faster Response, as Indicated in Sophos’ New Active Adversary Report for Tech Leaders
Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, has announced its new Sophos Incident Response Retainer, which provides organizations with speedy access to Sophos’ industry-first fixed-cost incident response service that includes 45 days of 24/7 Managed Detection and Response (MDR).
The retainer cuts red tape, allowing Sophos incident responders to quickly jump into active cyberattacks to investigate and remediate them. External vulnerability scanning and critical preparedness guidance are also included in the retainer, enabling organizations to proactively improve their existing security resilience by pinpointing and resolving issues that reduce the likelihood of a breach in the first place.
At a time when attacker dwell time is steadily shortening, as revealed in a new 2023 Active Adversary Report for Tech Leaders that Sophos published today, time to locate and evict adversaries is critical in limiting damage and completely stopping nefarious endgames, such as data breaches and ransomware. The report indicates that median adversary dwell time continued to plummet, from 10 days in 2022 to eight days in the first half of 2023; for ransomware alone, the time between initial access and impact dropped from nine days to just five. Adversaries also preferentially carried out attacks during targets’ night and weekend hours, with only 9.6% of ransomware incidents taking place during the targets’ daytime business hours.
The single most common attack times were Fridays between 11 p.m. and midnight in the targets’ local time zones.
“Incident response retainers help organizations prepare in advance for the fastest response time possible to defend against active cyberattacks. Due to today’s complex and mixed-vendor computing environments, skills shortages, evolving attacker behaviors, and cyber insurance requirements, it’s critical that all organizations have pre-determined incident response plans in place.
Tangible ‘readiness’ is now a key component for cyber resilience,” said Rob Harrison, vice president, product management at Sophos. “Adversaries will often abuse the same weakness in a single system, and it’s not unusual for multiple, different attackers to go after the same target if there’s potential exposure. Sophos’ goal is to immediately stop active attacks and make sure complete remediation is achieved, regardless of how many hours it takes. We are the only security vendor that offers this caliber of retainer services for urgent security incidents.”
“Sixty-five percent of organizations suffered a significant breach event in the last 12 months despite considerable investments in cybersecurity tools, according to IDC ransomware research,” said Chris Kissel, research vice president, security and trust products, IDC. “Dealing with unexpected cyberattacks is time sensitive, stressful and a large financial commitment. The only way to save time, reduce costs and mitigate the impact of a breach is to have an experienced incident response team in place and lined-up ready to go – before attackers strike.”
The Sophos Incident Response Retainer is available in three tiers through Sophos partners worldwide. With Sophos’ unique ability to threat hunt, respond to and remediate attacks within multi-vendor environments, the retainer is available to non-Sophos customers, in addition to customers already using Sophos’ robust portfolio of innovative endpoint, network, email, and other security products, or Sophos MDR Essentials. Endpoint configuration health checks and device audits are also included in the retainer for existing Sophos customers. Organizations that prefer broader services in one package can purchase Sophos MDR Complete, which automatically includes full-scale incident response.
“The Sophos incident response retainer is the perfect tool for partners to help customers take a proactive approach to improving their cyber defenses, and it will enable us to more quickly respond and take necessary immediate action in a worst-case attack scenario when every minute counts,” said Jonny Scott, vendor alliance manager at Phoenix Software. “Sophos Incident Response’s fixed-cost pricing is genius, especially considering how every attack scenario is different and how quickly costs can rack up. The sheer breadth of resources included with the retainer – from scanning for vulnerabilities to patch and prevent breaches, to having a team of experts on standby 24/7 ready to battle head-to-head with adversaries – make it an absolute must have.”
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