Sophos
| Sophos Group plc
|
|
|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | public limited company |
| ISIN | GB00BYZFZ918 |
| founding | 1985 |
| Seat | Abingdon , UK |
| management | Kris Hagerman ( CEO ) |
| Number of employees | 2,240 (March 31, 2015) |
| sales | 446.7 million US dollars (2014) |
| Branch | Security software |
| Website | www.sophos.com |
Sophos is a British, international company that develops and sells security software. This includes virus protection , data protection , encryption software, protection against spam , phishing , adware , spyware and malware for the corporate sector as well as universities and other public institutions.
Sophos has been majority owned by the investment company Apax Partners since 2010 . The company's shares have been listed on the London Stock Exchange since June 26, 2015 .
history
In the early 1980s, the founders, Jan Hruska and Peter Lammer, initially developed data encryption software for the British military. With the spread of computer viruses through the 1980s, the pair focused on this problem. They wanted to develop a virus scanner that works on all operating systems and only requires small updates. This idea gave rise to the Virus Description Language (VDL), on which all virus detection files for anti-virus products are based to this day. In 1985 the two experts finally founded the company Sophos - the first anti-virus programs were created in Hruska's terraced house in Kidlington, Great Britain.
In 2002, Sophos took over the Canadian company ActiveState and has since been offering solutions for spam protection.
Since 2006, with the takeover of the US company Endforce, Sophos has expanded its offering to include Network Access Control (NAC), followed by the areas of application control (control of computer applications) and device management .
In the summer of 2008, Sophos started to take over the German IT security company Utimaco . In spring 2012, Sophos carried out a squeeze-out at Utimaco. In autumn 2013, Utimaco was sold by Sophos.
In May 2011, Sophos bought the Karlsruhe-based Astaro , which it claims to be the fourth largest provider of unified threat management . Sophos was previously expected to have sales of around US $ 400 million in 2011, and Astaro’s sales in 2010 were US $ 56 million.
Until 2015, the company Sophos was privately owned. The company is headquartered in Abingdon near Oxford , UK . There are also branches in Germany , Switzerland , Austria , Italy , France , Hungary , Canada , Australia , Japan , Singapore and the United States. Sophos has main offices in Karlsruhe and Wiesbaden . The head office in Karlsruhe manages sales and technical support for the German-speaking DACH region .
research
In Oxford, Boston, Vancouver and Sydney, Sophos analyzes computer viruses and develops appropriate anti-malware programs.
Information on newly discovered malware is continuously published on the homepage. Sophos employees regularly report and advise on IT security on blogs. The best known among them is Graham Cluley.
Sphere of activity
In contrast to other IT security companies such as Kaspersky , McAfee or Symantec , the company has specialized in data protection, antivirus and antispam complete solutions for networks of companies, universities and schools as well as authorities.
Products
Main products
- Sophos Unified Threat Management (UTM): Comprehensive protection in one product. Firewall and IPS , web application firewall, mail security, web security and filtering, wireless management and security, security for remote locations, secure VPN access for mobile employees, endpoint protection.
- Sophos XG Firewall: Features like UTM with new Security Heartbeat function, developed by Sophos, with which the firewall communicates with the endpoints and detects threats and thus prevents access to the network.
- Endpoint Protection: Protection against malware, firewall, application control, NAC and data encryption.
- E-Mail Security and Data Protection: Anti-Spam, Protection against Malware and E-Mail Encryption.
- SafeGuard Enterprise : Encryption and DLP solution to protect confidential data and to comply with internal guidelines and legal requirements.
- Mobile Control : Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution.
Free tools
- Sophos UTM Home Edition
- Sophos UTM Essential Firewall
- Virus Removal Tool for Windows
- Sophos Antivirus for Mac Home Edition
- Sophos Antivirus for Linux Free Edition
- Sophos Mobile Security for Android
- Sophos XG Firewall Home Edition
Sophos partner program
Excellent partners
2016: EnBITCon GmbH: new Partner of the Year 2016 DACH region
2016: ito consult GmbH: Partner of the Year 2016 DACH region
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Archived copy ( memento of the original dated June 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ https://www.apax.com/investments/tech-telco/our-investments/sophos/
- ↑ Background information on the Sophos-Utimaco deal . In: security-insider.de . Vogel Business Media . July 30, 2008.
- ↑ Utimaco Safeware AG / Key word (s): Squeeze-Out . EQS Group . May 18, 2012.
- ↑ Utimaco sold again . In: Börsen-Zeitung . October 18, 2013, p. 13 ( excerpt online ).
- ↑ Security consolidation: Sophos grabs Astaro . Computer week . May 6, 2011.
- ↑ Sophos Astaro +: Good companies, bad deal . In: forbes.com . May 6, 2011.
