Sophos Buys SurfRight to Boost Endpoint Protection Strategy

Security vendor Sophos has purchased Dutch firm SurfRight to bolster its existing portfolio of endpoint security and anti-malware products by adding processor- and memory-based protection against security threats.

Sophos acquired the Netherlands-based company for a cash consideration of $31.8 million and will retain all of SurfRight’s employees, who will remain at the company’s office in Hengelo, the company said. SurfRight CEO Mark Loman is joining the Sophos Enduser Security Group.

SurfRight has an established customer base for its portfolio of technologies that prevent, detect and respond to zero-day and other sophisticated attacks by interrupting malware and advanced persistent threat (APT) vectors, according to Sophos. SurfRight’s technology works in real time by focusing on the detection and prevention of the memory manipulations and abuses that allow malicious code to run in the first place, the company said.

This type of prevention technology is a significant enhancement to Sophos’ already existing endpoint security portfolio thanks to its ability to help thwart malicious code in the processor and memory, according to Sophos. SurfRight also has anti-espionage technology and enhanced protection against ransomware attacks such as CryptoLocker in its portfolio.

Sophos already has started work to integrate SurfRight’s technology into its line of products, the company said. Once this work is complete, the technology will be available to customers via its global network of more than 15,000 channel partners.

Sophos will continue development and support for SurfRight’s existing product line, including its popular HitmanPro malware scanning and removal tools, which currently has more than 20 million users worldwide, the company said.

Sophos’ existing endpoint security products include next-generation technologies such as behavior-based analytics and malicious traffic detection, the latter of which monitors attempted outbound connections to known bad URLs.

The company also offers application reputation, which leverages a crowd-sourced big data warehouse managed by SophosLabs to determine whether a downloaded file is known to be good or bad and then prompts the user to take appropriate action.

SurfRight’s technology is a natural fit that complements this existing line of endpoint security products, Sophos CEO Kris Hagerman said in a press release.

“SurfRight’s products embody the same product vision we have at Sophos–that even the most advanced IT security products should be simple to deploy and manage by organizations of any size,” he said. “We are excited to welcome SurfRight to Sophos and look forward to introducing the benefits of this leading-edge technology to our global customer and partner base.”

Sophos expects SurfRight’s technology to advance the effectiveness of the company’s so-called synchronized security strategy, in which multiple components of security protection–including network security and endpoint security—actively and continuously communicate with each other, the company said. Sophos recently unveiled the first product supporting this strategy with the release of its next-generation XG Series Firewall and will continue to move in this direction.