The product just continues to get
better by adding new functionality without over-complicating
things. From the centralised management of the product (including
multiple platforms) to the fantastic support they always provide,
Sophos continues to deliver increasing value with their
products.
IT security and control firm Sophos today announced Sophos
Endpoint Security and Control 8.0, incorporating Network Access
Control (NAC) technology to go beyond reactive and proactive
anti-virus, to offer businesses complete preventive computer
protection.
Sophos's first-to-market offering integrates anti-virus,
anti-spyware, host intrusion prevention, application control,
firewall and NAC to block viruses and spyware as well as ensure
that computers are running authorised up-to-date software and
adhere to company policies. This announcement coincides with
preliminary research from Sophos which reveals that an alarming two
out of every three corporate computers are failing to meet
standards because they are running out-of-date anti-virus, missing
security patches or have a disabled firewall.
"Historically it's been difficult for IT managers to know
whether their users' computers are safe, protected and compliant
with corporate policies. NAC has been touted as the answer to this
problem, but has often been beyond the reach of most companies in
terms of budget and resource," said John Shaw, director, endpoint
security and control, Sophos. "We are addressing this pain with
Endpoint Security and Control 8.0 - delivering preventive
protection, in a form that is simple to roll-out at no additional
charge. Its integrated NAC and application control technology gives
administrators the confidence that all the computers on their
network are updated with the latest security patches and are only
running authorized software."
Sophos's claims are backed up by a recent survey from Forrester
Research*, which reveals that approximately 40 percent of companies
surveyed have tried to install NAC, but only four percent were able
to complete the implementation, blaming the excessive complexity of
network-based models. By integrating NAC with endpoint security
protection, the new Sophos offering simplifies implementation, at
last enabling the mainstream adoption of the technology.
Since last year's acquisition of
Endforce, Sophos has seamlessly integrated the core policy
control and assessment capabilities into its flagship endpoint
solution without requiring additional software license costs. The
release of Sophos Endpoint Security and Control 8.0 not only
demonstrates Sophos's ability to execute much faster than its
competitors, but also a continued commitment to reducing the
complexity of endpoint security management.
Sophos Endpoint Security and Control 8.0 delivers cross-platform
preventive security and control for desktops, laptops, file servers
and mobile devices. With this offering, Sophos is broadening its
offering to also include policy control and assessment in a simple,
cost-effective manner. Specifically, it is able to identify
managed, unmanaged and guest computers that do not comply with
corporate security policies. Endpoints are assessed by looking for
those that are incorrectly patched or have the firewall disabled.
Customers can choose to configure automatic remediation to fix
vulnerabilities before allowing network access or simply block
non-compliant computers.
"As a current Sophos customer we were excited about looking at
the integrated NAC features that are part of the Endpoint Security
and Control 8 product," said John Endahl, senior information
security administrator at TechTeam Global. "The product just
continues to get better by adding new functionality without
over-complicating things. From the centralised management of the
product (including multiple platforms) to the fantastic support
they always provide, Sophos continues to deliver increasing value
with their products."
Sophos Endpoint Security and Control 8.0 requires no additional
hardware investment. One automated console provides a single point
from which to deploy, update and report on anti-virus,
anti-spyware, firewall, and NAC protection, detecting malware,
adware, suspicious files and behaviour, and unauthorized
software.
"Sophos continues to deliver innovative enterprise security
solutions that emphasize ease of administration," said Steve
Leslie, Senior Vice President of Sales and Professional Services
Operations for Softchoice Corporation. "This aligns nicely with our
focus on helping customers spend more time driving IT strategy and
less time on maintenance. With this latest endpoint release, we are
able to add to our portfolio of solutions by offering customers
comprehensive proactive threat protection and NAC functionality
without burdensome deployment and management complexities."
Sophos Endpoint Security and Control 8.0 will be a no charge
upgrade for all current licensed Sophos Endpoint Security and
Control customers.
Sophos's Standard Support, included with every Sophos license,
gives customers 24-hour support, every day of the year, provided by
a globally managed team. Customers can contact Sophos engineers for
one-to-one assistance at any time.
* Forrester Research, "Client Management 2.0: IT
Ops Needs Next-Gen NAC And Client Security To Manage Endpoint
Risk", Natalie Lambert and Robert Whiteley, March 29, 2007
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.