Sophos launches Intercept X, the anti-exploit and anti-ransomware technology

Sophos, a global leader in network and endpoint security, announced the availability of Sophos Intercept X in India. Intercept X is a next-generation endpoint security product that stops zero-day malware, unknown exploit variants and stealth attacks, and includes an advanced anti-ransomware feature that can detect previously unknown ransomware

a global leader in network and endpoint security, announced the availability of Sophos Intercept X in India. Intercept X is a next-generation endpoint security product that stops zero-day malware, unknown exploit variants and stealth attacks, and includes an advanced anti-ransomware feature that can detect previously unknown ransomware within seconds. Sophos Intercept X installs alongside existing endpoint security software from any vendor, immediately boosting endpoint protection by stopping malicious code before it executes.

Sophos Intercept X combines four critical security components that IT administrators should expect from next-generation endpoint protection.

1. Signatureless Threat and Exploit Detection: Anti-malware and anti-hacker defense that blocks zero-day, unknown and memory resident attacks and threat variants without the need for file scanning
2. CryptoGuard: Anti-ransomware innovation that identifies and intercepts malicious encryption activity, blocks ransomware before it can lock and cripple systems and can roll back maliciously encrypted files to their pre-attack state
3. Root Cause Analytics: A 360 degree visual analysis of attack events that shows where the attack came in, what it affected, where it may have stopped and recommended actions to prevent a similar attack in the future
4. Sophos Clean: Powerful utility that hunts for and removes any trace of spyware and deeply embedded, lingering malware

Announcing the availability of Sophos Intercept X in India, Sunil Sharma, vice president sales, Sophos India & SAARC said, “India ranks 5^th amongst the top vulnerable countries worldwide with a threat exposure rate of 16.9% (Geomalware report). Sophos Intercept X will play an important role to combat next generation threats with its powerful and effective anti-ransomware, anti-exploit and root-cause analysis features. Our customers need not worry about being held ransom anymore or attacked via multiple software exploits.”

“Sophos is a next-generation security company that has stayed at the forefront of the industry by understanding the threat landscape, changing business needs and customer challenges. Using big data analytics along with our deep understanding of threat patterns, attack vectors and criminal motivations, we designed Intercept X from the ground up to recognize malicious behaviors and stop potential attacks much sooner in the kill-chain, without the need for updates or signatures,” said Dan Schiappa, senior vice president of the Enduser Security Group at Sophos. “IT professionals know that there is no single equation that stops all attacks, so we developed Intercept X to combine several techniques for faster identification and response that are coordinated to better support IT professionals without the need for specialized security staff.”

Developed as a core component of Sophos’ synchronized security strategy, Sophos Intercept X is enabled with the Security Heartbeat to share threat intelligence with Sophos’ next generation XG Firewall and SafeGuard Encryption solutions for a coordinated and automated response to attack. The product can be installed and managed remotely through the Sophos Central cloud-based management console that allows administrators to control and configure settings, distribute licenses, add new endpoints and track all activity. In addition, the single pane of glass dashboard designed for Sophos partners shows all Sophos Central services available to provide higher levels of customer protection while offering partners additional recurring revenue opportunities.

Tony Palmer, senior lab analyst at ESG commented, “According to ESG research, many organizations have extensively adopted advanced prevention products, such as next-gen antivirus and even more are planning to ease their way into advanced detection and response. Unfortunately, many enterprises simply lack the right level of security analytics skills or staff to perform these tasks effectually, thanks to a global, problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills. With Intercept X Sophos looks to provide a fast-track to achieving advanced protection and response capabilities while minimizing the need for specialized security consultants to administer it. In ESG Lab’s opinion, Sophos Intercept X has made excellent progress closing many of the endpoint security gaps that still exist for organizations worldwide.”

Customers and partners who participated in the public beta program experienced the next-generation protection capabilities of Sophos Intercept X, including the ability to help to eliminate the impact of ransomware by almost immediately recognizing and stopping malicious encryption activity and preventing the attack from spreading across the network. Once the threat is neutralized, affected files can be rolled back to the pre-attack state, saving considerable time, resources and money.

Thirupati Sunderesan, Director of Tatva Networks, Sophos’ platinum partner in India said, “Ransomware is one of the most important worries challenges for our customers. With Intercept X our customers can effectively combat ransomware attacks, software exploit attacks and respond to threat incidents effectively with the root-cause analysis solution. Intercept X has worked wonderfully in beta and we are excited to implement this on our customer networks. Intercept X requires minimal supervision and works effortlessly in the background; vigilantly working toward detecting and preventing malware attacks. Intercept X is a must have for all organizations.”

Manish Gupta, sales head at MM9 solutions, Sophos’ gold partner in India said, “Intercept X is the next-generation, all-in-one protection for endpoints. What we have experienced while deploying and monitoring the product is that it is no work at all! It is beautifully simple to deploy and use. It will save a lot of time the IT manager spend today in deploying and monitoring threat solutions. We love the fact that Intercept X can decrypt files that being maliciously decrypted by ransomware attackers and also protect against software exploits. We definitely want to extend this next-generation endpoint threat protection solution to all our customers.”