Sophos, backed by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, has acquired SOC.OS -- a BAE Systems spin-out that helps internal security teams manage alerts produced by threat protection and detection tools. Read between the lines, and Sophos MDR & XDR software platforms may gain more automation capabilities for MSP and MSSP partners.
SOC.OS had secured £2 million (nearly $2.3 million) in funding from venture capital firms Hoxton Ventures and Speedinvest in July 2020, MSSP Alert reported at the time.
This is technology M&A deal number 404 that MSSP Alert and sister site ChannelE2E have covered so far in 2022.
Sophos Manage Threat Response & XDR: Next Moves
With SOC.OS, Sophos plans to advance its Managed Threat Response (MTR) and Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions for organizations of all sizes, the buyer indicated. Also, the solution will coordinate alerts and events from third-party endpoint, server, firewall, Identity and Access Management (IAM), cloud workload, email, and mobile security products.
In a prepared statement about the deal, Joe Levy, chief technology and product officer, Sophos, said:
“Sophos MTR is one of the fastest-growing new offerings in the company’s history. We now stand as one of the largest Managed Detection and Response (MDR) operations in the world, delivering superior security outcomes through an MTR service with more than 8,000 customers. The top enhancement request from these customers is ‘better integrations with existing security environments,’ and with the innovative technology from SOC.OS, we will be able to do just that – seamlessly integrate Sophos’ MTR and XDR solutions within their current set of security and IT solutions. SOC.OS will also provide our Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem with a broader set of third-party telemetry, so security analysts have better visibility into important events and alerts. SOC.OS has an impressive list of integrations that will benefit Sophos customers as we continue to expand and develop industry-leading XDR and MDR capabilities. We’re very excited to bring the team and technology from SOC.OS onboard.”
Added Dave Mareels, chief executive officer and co-founder, SOC.OS:
“Alert fatigue and lack of visibility still plague security teams worldwide. Considering this, against the backdrop of constantly changing cyberthreats and a challenging talent landscape, defenders need new and innovative products and services that can help them solve more complex incidents in less time. For many defenders, however, the complexity and cost of traditional security solutions act as barriers to adoption.By joining forces with Sophos, we can address these challenges together, head on. The sum is greater than our parts, and by combining our capabilities, we’re positioned to offer truly unique, cost effective and highly accessible products and services to those who need it most, on a global scale.”
Sophos MSP & MSSP Partner Strategy
Generally speaking, Sophos aligns all of its software development and acquisitions to support MSP and MSSP partner engagements. That typically includes multi-tenancy capabilities for partners.
