Sophos was founded by Jan Hruska and Peter Lammer and began producing its first antivirus and encryption products in 1985.[3] During the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Sophos primarily developed and sold a range of security technologies in the UK, including encryption tools available for most users (private or business). In the late 1990s, Sophos concentrated its efforts on the development and sale of antivirus technology and embarked on a program of international expansion.[4]
In 2003, Sophos acquired ActiveState, a Canadian software company that developed anti-spam software.[5] In 2006, Peter Gyenes and Steve Munford were named chairman and CEO of Sophos, respectively.[6] In 2010, the majority interest of Sophos was sold to Apax.[7]
In 2011, Utimaco Safeware AG (acquired by Sophos in 2008–9) were accused of supplying data monitoring and tracking software to partners that have sold to governments such as Syria: Sophos issued a statement of apology and confirmed that they had suspended their relationship with the partners in question and launched an investigation.[8][9] In 2012, Kris Hagerman, formerly CEO at Corel Corporation, was named CEO of Sophos and joined the company's board. Former CEO Steve Munford became the non-executive chairman of the board.[10] In February 2014, Sophos announced that it had acquired Cyberoam Technologies, a provider of network security products.[11] In June 2015, Sophos announced plans to raise US$100 million on the London Stock Exchange.[12] Sophos was floated on the FTSE in September 2015.[13]
On 14 October 2019, Sophos announced that Thoma Bravo, a US-based private equity firm, made an offer to acquire Sophos for US$7.40 per share, representing an enterprise value of approximately US$3.9 billion. The board of directors of Sophos stated their intention to unanimously recommend the offer to the company's shareholders.[14] On 2 March 2020, Sophos announced the completion of the acquisition.[15]
Acquisitions and partnershipsEdit
From September 2003 to February 2006, Sophos served as the parent company of ActiveState, a developer of programming tools for dynamic programming languages: in February 2006, ActiveState became an independent company when it was sold to Vancouver-based venture capitalist firm Pender Financial.[16] In 2007, Sophos acquired ENDFORCE, a company based in Ohio, United States, which developed and sold security policy compliance and Network Access Control (NAC) software.[17][18] In May 2011, Sophos announced the acquisition of Astaro, a privately held provider of network security products, headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts, USA and Karlsruhe, Germany.[19] At the time Astaro was the 4th largest UTM (Unified Threat Management) vendor and while the deal made sense at the time Forbes questioned its viability.[20] Sophos subsequently renamed the Astaro UTM to Sophos UTM. In November 2016, Sophos acquired Barricade, a start-up with a behavior-based analytics engine.[21] In February 2017, Sophos acquired Invincea, a software company that provides malware threat detection, prevention, and pre-breach forensic intelligence.[22][23][24]
In March 2020, Thoma Bravo acquired Sophos for US$3.9 billion.[25]
^"Sophos Acquires Cyberoam to Boost Layered Defense Portfolio". Infosecurity Magazine. 12 February 2014.
^Simmons, Jana (3 June 2015). "Sophos Plans $100 Million London IPO". Wall Street Journal.
^"Sophos joins the UK's top public companies in the FTSE 250". 23 September 2015.
^"Sophos founders exit before Thoma Bravo sale". Global Capital. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
^"Sophos opens new chapter with take-private acquisition". 2 March 2020.
^"ActiveState Acquired by Employees and Pender Financial Group; Company Renews Focus on Tools and Solutions for Dynamic Languages". Business Wire. 22 February 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
^"Sophos buys Endforce for network access control". Network World. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
^Wauters, Robin. "Sophos beefs up on online security, acquires Dutch security software firm SurfRight for $31.8 million". Retrieved 2 August 2016.
^"Sophos Acquires Astaro to Meet Demand for Complete, Layered Security Protection". www.sophos.com. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
^Stiennon, Richard. "Sophos + Astaro: Good companies, bad deal". Forbes. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
^"Sophos Adds Advanced Machine Learning to Its Next-Generation Endpoint Protection Portfolio with Acquisition of Invincea". Sophos. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
^"Sophos grows anti-malware ensemble with Invincea". Sophos. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017. One may ask, if you already have great next-generation technology, why do you need Invincea's technology?...Think of Invincea as the superhero that takes our ensemble to the next level – the entity that adds neural network-based machine learning to the team.
^"Sophos to Acquire Invincea to Add Industry Leading Machine Learning to its Next Generation Endpoint Protection Portfolio". Invincea. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
^"Thoma Bravo completes $3.9B Sophos acquisition". TechCrunch. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.[dead link]
External linksEdit
Official website
October 20, 2023
sophos, other, uses, disambiguation, group, british, based, security, software, hardware, company, listed, london, stock, exchange, until, acquired, thoma, bravo, february, 2020, typeprivateindustrycomputer, softwarefounded1985, years, 1985, founderjan, hruska. For other uses see Sophos disambiguation Sophos Group plc is a British based security software and hardware company It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Thoma Bravo in February 2020 SophosTypePrivateIndustryComputer softwareFounded1985 38 years ago 1985 FounderJan HruskaPeter LammerHeadquartersAbingdon EnglandKey peoplePeter Gyenes chairman Kris Hagerman CEO ProductsSecurity softwareServicesComputer securityRevenue 710 6 million 2019 1 Operating incomeUS 109 million 2019 1 Net incomeUS 26 9 million 2019 1 OwnerThoma BravoNumber of employees4 400 2022 2 Websitesophos wbr com Contents 1 History 2 Acquisitions and partnerships 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditSophos was founded by Jan Hruska and Peter Lammer and began producing its first antivirus and encryption products in 1985 3 During the late 1980s and into the 1990s Sophos primarily developed and sold a range of security technologies in the UK including encryption tools available for most users private or business In the late 1990s Sophos concentrated its efforts on the development and sale of antivirus technology and embarked on a program of international expansion 4 In 2003 Sophos acquired ActiveState a Canadian software company that developed anti spam software 5 In 2006 Peter Gyenes and Steve Munford were named chairman and CEO of Sophos respectively 6 In 2010 the majority interest of Sophos was sold to Apax 7 In 2011 Utimaco Safeware AG acquired by Sophos in 2008 9 were accused of supplying data monitoring and tracking software to partners that have sold to governments such as Syria Sophos issued a statement of apology and confirmed that they had suspended their relationship with the partners in question and launched an investigation 8 9 In 2012 Kris Hagerman formerly CEO at Corel Corporation was named CEO of Sophos and joined the company s board Former CEO Steve Munford became the non executive chairman of the board 10 In February 2014 Sophos announced that it had acquired Cyberoam Technologies a provider of network security products 11 In June 2015 Sophos announced plans to raise US 100 million on the London Stock Exchange 12 Sophos was floated on the FTSE in September 2015 13 On 14 October 2019 Sophos announced that Thoma Bravo a US based private equity firm made an offer to acquire Sophos for US 7 40 per share representing an enterprise value of approximately US 3 9 billion The board of directors of Sophos stated their intention to unanimously recommend the offer to the company s shareholders 14 On 2 March 2020 Sophos announced the completion of the acquisition 15 Acquisitions and partnerships EditFrom September 2003 to February 2006 Sophos served as the parent company of ActiveState a developer of programming tools for dynamic programming languages in February 2006 ActiveState became an independent company when it was sold to Vancouver based venture capitalist firm Pender Financial 16 In 2007 Sophos acquired ENDFORCE a company based in Ohio United States which developed and sold security policy compliance and Network Access Control NAC software 17 18 In May 2011 Sophos announced the acquisition of Astaro a privately held provider of network security products headquartered in Wilmington Massachusetts USA and Karlsruhe Germany 19 At the time Astaro was the 4th largest UTM Unified Threat Management vendor and while the deal made sense at the time Forbes questioned its viability 20 Sophos subsequently renamed the Astaro UTM to Sophos UTM In November 2016 Sophos acquired Barricade a start up with a behavior based analytics engine 21 In February 2017 Sophos acquired Invincea a software company that provides malware threat detection prevention and pre breach forensic intelligence 22 23 24 In March 2020 Thoma Bravo acquired Sophos for US 3 9 billion 25 See also Edit nbsp Companies portalAntivirus software Comparison of antivirus software Comparison of computer viruses Comparison of firewalls Cryptography Identity based securityReferences Edit a b c Annual Report 2019 Sophos Archived from the original on 16 October 2021 Retrieved 16 October 2021 Sophos is officially a Great Place to Work 8 June 2021 Sophos the early years Naked Security Exterminator Tools Windows IT Pro 15 November 1999 Retrieved 24 April 2017 Sophos acquires anti spam specialist ActiveState www sophos com Retrieved 3 January 2016 Sophos Management Team Global Leaders in IT Security sophos com Apax Partners to acquire majority stake in Sophos The Bureau Investigates article Archived from the original on 4 December 2011 Statement from Sophos on Recent Media Reports Sophos Board of Directors webpage Sophos Acquires Cyberoam to Boost Layered Defense Portfolio Infosecurity Magazine 12 February 2014 Simmons Jana 3 June 2015 Sophos Plans 100 Million London IPO Wall Street Journal Sophos joins the UK s top public companies in the FTSE 250 23 September 2015 Sophos founders exit before Thoma Bravo sale Global Capital 5 December 2019 Retrieved 25 February 2020 Sophos opens new chapter with take private acquisition 2 March 2020 ActiveState Acquired by Employees and Pender Financial Group Company Renews Focus on Tools and Solutions for Dynamic Languages Business Wire 22 February 2006 Retrieved 24 April 2017 Sophos buys Endforce for network access control Network World 11 January 2007 Retrieved 24 April 2017 Wauters Robin Sophos beefs up on online security acquires Dutch security software firm SurfRight for 31 8 million Retrieved 2 August 2016 Sophos Acquires Astaro to Meet Demand for Complete Layered Security Protection www sophos com Retrieved 15 July 2021 Stiennon Richard Sophos Astaro Good companies bad deal Forbes Retrieved 15 July 2021 Sophos Acquires Security Analytics Start Up in Ireland Archived from the original on 1 January 2017 Sophos Adds Advanced Machine Learning to Its Next Generation Endpoint Protection Portfolio with Acquisition of Invincea Sophos 8 February 2017 Retrieved 11 February 2017 Sophos grows anti malware ensemble with Invincea Sophos 8 February 2017 Retrieved 11 February 2017 One may ask if you already have great next generation technology why do you need Invincea s technology Think of Invincea as the superhero that takes our ensemble to the next level the entity that adds neural network based machine learning to the team Sophos to Acquire Invincea to Add Industry Leading Machine Learning to its Next Generation Endpoint Protection Portfolio Invincea 8 February 2017 Retrieved 11 February 2017 Thoma Bravo completes 3 9B Sophos acquisition TechCrunch 2 March 2020 Retrieved 7 April 2020 dead link External links EditOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sophos amp oldid 1177781653, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
