Joe Levy (Sophos)
Sophos has made its third acquisition in the space of six months with the purchase of managed detection and response (MDR) provider Rook Security.
The UK-based security vendor said it intends to create a re-sellable MDR service by combining Rook Security’s threat detection, investigation and response capabilities DarkBytes technology platform, which it bought in February.
According to Sophos, the combined solution will become available to its 47,000-strong global channel partner network.
The vendor also intends to combine its own security technology and product portfolio with Rook Security’s 24/7 “cyber hunter” services for its channel partners and MDR customers.
The company currently does not have a sales presence in Australia and New Zealand.
“Cyber criminals are relentlessly trying to exploit organisations with techniques ranging from tried-and-true phishing emails to the more recent trend of ‘hacker pen-testing’ to find weaknesses in their surface area,” said Joe Levy, chief technology officer at Sophos.
“As a result, businesses need 24/7 monitoring and management of what is happening on their network, yet many of them do not have the expertise, can’t keep up or don’t have the security teams in-house to optimally configure and manage security around-the-clock.”
Founded in 2008 by JJ Thompson and headquartered in the US, Rook Security offers solutions ranging from MDRs, advisory services and the security operations management platform. Thompson, also Rook's CEO, and his team will all join Sophos, Levy said in a company blog post.
“We are excited to bring our experts and service delivery innovation to Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity,” Thompson added. “Together, we can implement faster, more effective threat detection and response capabilities to better protect businesses.”
As well as Rook and DarkBytes, Sophos also acquired San Francisco-based security start-up Avid Secure in an effort to boost its public cloud offerings.
