Boost For Partners: 7 Ways Sophos Is Raising The Innovation Bar

Sophos Looks Toward Innovation

Sophos is betting big on innovation, said Dan Schiappa, the company's senior vice president and general manager of the end-user and network security groups. Sophos is looking to innovate across its full platform of security offerings, which are centrally managed by Sophos Central and tied together with the company's synchronized security strategy, he said, adding it is a push Sophos has been on since 2014.

"We want to have a good, solid and spectacular product," Schiappa said. "We continue to push a very high bar for quality and innovation."

Take a look at seven platform updates the Abingdon, U.K.-based company plans to make in the coming months.

Machine-Learning Technology

Sophos acquired Invincea earlier this year, adding a new layer of machine-learning technology to its platform. Invincea uses machine learning and deep learning neural-network algorithms to detect unknown malware without the use of signatures. The integration of the Invincea technology is well under way, Schiappa said, and the company has brought on board the "best data science team in the industry." The company plans to have the Invincea technology available to partners in the second half of the year.

Network Security Updates

Sophos also has been making enhancements to its network security portfolio, Schiappa said. Sophos will be releasing v17 of its XG firewalls in September, he said, adding new synchronized security scenarios and application controls. The latter will allow for insight into application usage, how applications are behaving, and provide deeper and more granular control over policies, he said. Sophos also will look to introduce decryption capabilities, according to Schiappa. In addition, Sophos will continue to innovate on its XG firewall line even as it expands the rest of its portfolio. Partners can expect to see Sophos introduce further innovation around its XG firewalls in the next six months, he said.

Orchestration

Sophos' synchronized security push was the first step in its move toward orchestration, Schiappa said. Sophos will continue to innovate in this area to provide more sophisticated orchestration capabilities across its portfolio.

Utilizing The Cloud

Sophos is utilizing the cloud to provide analytics and coordinate across the product portfolio, according to Schiappa. That will allow for further orchestration capabilities, he said. Sophos also will continue to build out a cloud infrastructure that is easy to manage.

Endpoint Security

Sophos will continue to innovate around the endpoint, Schiappa said. In particular, the company is looking to continue moving its capabilities from reactive to predictive around the endpoint, which he said is the true definition of next-generation endpoint security.

Sophos is particularly looking to continue its innovations in ransomware prevention and detection, which has been a breakout success for the company with its Intercept X launch, he said. Sophos is moving to protect customers against emerging trends in this area, including ransomware-as-a-service and following up on the recent WannaCry attacks.

Cross-Sell Opportunities

Sophos has seen incredible growth around its Sophos Central platform, Schiappa said, calling it a "cross-sell-palooza." The company is working on its partner portal to make it easier to transact and monitor licenses on Sophos Central, he said. The Sophos Central product manages products across the Sophos portfolio, including endpoint, network, encryption, mobile security, server and actionable intelligence.

Anti-Phishing Training

Sophos also is looking to build on its anti-phishing technology offerings, according to Schiappa. The company's portfolio allows partners to offer a value-added service around anti-phishing training, he said. The product has been seeing momentum and now the company will look to "put more muscle behind it," he added.