Rapid Increase in complex security threats and adoption of web-based applications requires new generation of robust network security protection.
Boston, US - 6th July 2011 – Global IT security and data protection company Sophos today announced that it has completed its acquisition of network security vendor Astaro. This acquisition will allow Sophos to deliver coordinated, best-in- class threat and data protection offerings from every endpoint to any network boundary.
Organizations today face new challenges in protecting users and IT infrastructure from complex and targeted security threats; especially those that gain entry from across the Web or through new applications. As workforces become distributed across multiple offices, including the home, even basic security controls have become hard to update and enforce. Through this acquisition, Sophos will address the need for security solutions that provide threat and policy protection no matter where the user or company data resides.
“Never before has the security and IT environment been so challenging to secure for our customers,” said Steve Munford, Chief Executive Officer, Sophos. “Together Sophos and Astaro have the ingredients to uniquely solve today and tomorrow’s increasingly complex security challenges while allowing IT to enable users to work more flexibly and embrace new devices and applications.”
The acquisition, which was announced on May 6, 2011, will deliver an industry-first combination of endpoint protection with UTM. Once integration is complete, the Sophos portfolio of security products will:
“Both companies are pragmatic and appreciate the need to be simple and secure for target buyers,” wrote The 451 Group in a May 6th 2011 Deal Analysis1 , regarding the acquisition. “The disruptions in this market require bold moves. Sophos has made one.”
“We founded Astaro with the mission of bringing network security products to organizations of all sizes and accomplished this goal by creating easy-to-use, Unified Threat Management solutions that addressed several facets of network security. However, as the threat landscape continued to evolve it became clear that gateway security alone would no longer be sufficient to effectively secure a network,” said Jan Hichert, Astaro co-founder and CEO, and now Sophos’ Senior Vice President and General Manager, Network Security.
About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards. Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK.
1 “Sophos moves beyond the endpoint in acquiring Astaro” published May 6, 2011.
About Astaro
With over 60,000 installations worldwide, Astaro protects business, school, healthcare and government networks against IT security threats. Astaro combines the latest technologies in all-in-one solutions that are easy to deploy and manage. Distributed by a global network of certified partners, Astaro provides complete protection for headquarters, branch offices and data centers. Founded in 2000, Astaro, now a Sophos company, continues to be a leading vendor in the fast-growing market for Unified-Threat-Management. More information on www.astaro.com.