Sophos Products Recognized as “Overall Winners” in Both Endpoint and Network Security Categories, Underscoring its Strength in the Two Most Essential, Anchor Security Solutions Businesses Need
BURLINGTON, Mass. – December 3, 2018 – Sophos (LSE: SOPH), a global leader in network and endpoint security, announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Sophos Intercept X and Sophos XG Firewall as “Overall Winners” in the 2018 Product of the Year Awards in the Endpoint Security and Network Security categories respectively. Products and services named on the CRN Product of the Year list represent best-in-breed technological innovation, financial opportunity for partners, and customer demand. For the third year in a row, the winners were determined through a combination of editorial selection and a survey fielded to solution providers, who are currently selling both the technology and specific vendor product, to accurately capture real-world satisfaction among partners and their customers.
First, the top five finalists are carefully selected by CRN editors in each of the 22 different product categories. Then solution providers consider a number of factors when determining their ratings including but not limited to product quality and reliability; richness of product features and functionality; technical innovation; compatibility and ease of integration; and demonstrated ability to create new customer relationships or improve existing ones. This year’s survey garnered over 3,600 responses.
Sophos Intercept X swept all three subcategories for Technology, Revenue & Profit, and Customer Demand. This is also Intercept X’s second consecutive year earning the title of “Overall Winner” in the Endpoint Security category. Intercept X provides next-generation endpoint protection that stops exploits, ransomware, and zero-day attacks, using deep learning technology, an advanced form of machine learning. With the integration of deep learning, Intercept X changes endpoint security from a reactive to a predictive approach to protect against unknown threats. Sophos continues to build on its mission of making Intercept X the most effective and innovative endpoint protection product available today with the recent integration of intelligent endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities into Intercept X Advanced.
As highlighted in SophosLabs’ 2019 Threat Report, cybercriminals are evading even the most security-savvy IT teams by using chained attacks and various hacking techniques like targeted ransomware, Microsoft Office file exploits and cryptojacking. Lateral movement prevention, detection and response is now essential to defend against these threats, which is why Sophos also recently added lateral movement detection capabilities to XG Firewall v17.5. With Synchronized App Control, Sophos XG Firewall identifies and classifies all previously unknown applications active on the network, allowing administrators to reduce security risks associated with unidentified traffic. This is Sophos XG Firewall’s second year in a row winning the Revenue & Profit subcategory for Network Security.
“To be recognized as having the industry’s most effective network and endpoint security by the community of solution providers and CRN’s editors is the highest accolade we can receive,” said Kendra Krause, vice president, Global Channels at Sophos. “To win two years running is testament to our commitment as a channel best company, enabling our partners to grow their revenues with dedicated business support and offering a portfolio of products that customers need, and can use. Our unique Synchronized Security technology enables endpoint and network security to share intelligence directly for a faster and more effective response to unknown threats. Sophos customers and partners are benefitting from this technology every day and we continue to strengthen the impact of this technology across our portfolio.”
“The 2018 Products of the Year winners deserve this recognition for being the top-performing products in the industry,” said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. “These innovative products and services have the required technical elements, revenue and profit potential, and ability to fulfill customer demand that solution providers are looking for. This list serves as an important guide for channel partners on the highest-potential technologies and services in the market today.”
The 2018 Products of the Year will be featured in the December issue of CRN and can be viewed online at www.crn.com/poty.