Sophos Mobile Control 4.0 Delivers User-Centric Approach to Protect, Secure and Manage Mobile Devices

Only Enterprise Mobility Management Solution to Offer Individual File Encryption, Integrated AV and Web Filtering

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – May 27, 2014 – Sophos today announced Sophos Mobile Control (SMC) 4.0, the first Enterprise Mobile Management (EMM) solution to include individual file encryption, integrated AV and web filtering. Available on premise or as-a-service, SMC provides a simple and differentiated approach for small and mid-market organizations to manage and secure mobile devices, content and applications. The new Sophos solution helps IT professionals confidently implement BYOD policies and provides users the flexibility they demand to stay productive and safe. It supports iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 devices.

SMC 4.0: Mobile Encryption, Integrated Security and User-Centricity
SMC 4.0 provides a simple, hassle-free and comprehensive approach to protecting mobile devices. With Mobile Content Management for iOS devices, SMC is the only EMM solution to offer file-level encryption, which gates access to each file, to protect the data in the office and on the go. SMC also delivers integrated security against malware and malicious web sites for Android devices, which account for 80 percent  of smartphone operating systems* worldwide as well as the majority of mobile malware threats. The number of unique pieces of mobile malware seen by SophosLabs has now reached almost 900,000 and is growing rapidly.

With web protection for Android, IT administrators can select web site categories to control access and block data-stealing or inappropriate web pages. SMC 4.0 also provides unique integration with Sophos UTM, Checkpoint and Cisco to provide network access control. Compromised devices are isolated from the network, protecting the organization’s assets from malware on mobile devices. SMC’s user-centric deployment, management and pricing greatly simplifies administration. With an intuitive web-based management console, IT administrators can provide their users with a self-service portal to change passwords, register devices and report lost or stolen devices.

Sophos Survey: Mobile Security in a Cloudy World
Sophos conducted a survey of more than 725 IT professionals on their use and preferences of cloud share services, encryption and mobile devices. The survey showed 84 percent of organizations allow some level of access from company-issued devices to cloud-based file share services such as Dropbox, however 65 percent of respondents do not currently encrypt data between the cloud and mobile devices. Surprisingly only 38 percent feel secure sharing corporate files or collaborating on corporate content between the cloud and mobile devices. To access the survey, visit: http://sophos.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/sophos-mobile-cloud-encryption-infographic.pdf

The results of the survey demonstrate the enormous opportunity for SMC 4.0, as it assures organizations that their data is safe wherever users are and provides organizations with the confidence to use cloud accounts for collaborating and maintaining content safely and securely.

Dan Schiappa, SVP and GM of Sophos’ Enduser Security Group, said:  “SMC 4.0 extends the Sophos commitment to delivering comprehensive data protection, offering solutions to manage, secure and protect not just the mobile devices themselves, but also the content and applications on those devices. SMC 4.0 takes data protection beyond the office door by ensuring persistent mobile encryption on devices. Additional network access control based on device compliance status makes mobile device management, content management and mobile security simple and effective.”

Chris Hazelton, Research Director for Mobile & Wireless at 451 Research, said: “The rapid shift to more flexible and increasingly mobile working patterns has led to widespread adoption (with or without the consent of IT) of file-sync and -share services as users seek to store and collaborate on shared content. This 'any device, any cloud' trend will only continue, so organizations face an increased risk of losing sensitive corporate data if they don't deploy encryption and data loss protection tools. The integration of these data security tools into EMM provides companies with a simple deployment option that should resonate well with the SMB market.”

Sophos Customers Look Forward to SMC 4.0
Europart is a leading distributor of replacement parts and accessories for commercial vehicles and buses. The company is headquartered in Hagen, Germany, and has more than 1,800 employees worldwide. Björn Risse, Service Manager Infrastruktur, EUROPART Holding GmbH, said, “Sophos Mobile Control has allowed us to easily deploy mobile security, while giving us the peace of mind that client information is safe and confidential. We chose Sophos for our mobile security because it meets our needs and is able to scale with our business requirements.”

 “As a user of Sophos Mobile Control we definitely see the value of securing mobile devices. Based on the Sophos roadmap for mobile security, we are excited about the added functionality to Mobile Control as a product and believe the latest versions will continue to support our organizational efforts going forward,” said Gerald Descoteaux, IT Director, Bell Technical Solutions, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Canada that specializes in phone, Internet and television services throughout Quebec and Ontario.

* ABI Research

Latest Version of Sophos Cloud Unveiled: The Only Cloud Security Solution to Manage Windows, Mac and Mobile Devices Together

Sophos Cloud Brings Simple, User-Based Approach to SMEs and Partners

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 29, 2014 – – Sophos today announced the latest version of Sophos Cloud, the company’s cloud-based solution for small- and mid-sized organizations seeking a simpler approach to IT security that still provides world-class protection. The new version of Sophos Cloud leapfrogs competitive solutions as the only cloud-managed security service to manage Windows, Mac and mobile devices from a single console.

It features user-based management, reporting and licensing; built-in web security to prevent user access to malicious and infected websites, and new policy-based Web Control features to enforce safe and productive web usage. Sophos Cloud is effortless to deploy and easy to use and manage for IT managers and channel partners, given its simple, intuitive user experience.

A recent Sophos survey of IT managers highlighted the growing challenge of device diversity across their organizations, with a need to support Windows PCs, Macs and mobile devices: 78 percent support or plan to support Macs on their corporate networks, and 41 percent see the number of Macs increasing in their corporate environments.

A recent IDC study showed that a quarter of SMBs are using mobile device management (MDM) and Sophos is the number one solution. However, 75 percent still have not adopted MDM and with this new release Sophos has made it simpler than ever for those customers to get control of their mobile devices to secure their future.

Clearly organizations need an integrated security strategy to support users’ demands to choose their own device (BYOD), while providing IT managers real-time visibility and access to information to keep organizations safe from advanced threats. Sophos Cloud delivers a simple and effective approach for IT organizations to confidently embrace BYOD and to support and protect the wide range of user devices in their environments. 

Based on the same proven technology that protects over 100 million devices worldwide, Sophos Cloud is a smart choice for global organizations. It delivers effective mobile device management to keep users productive and corporate information secure. 

The new web features enable IT managers to easily set and enforce policies for enhanced security and compliance; user-based policies can be created once and rapidly deployed across multiple groups and platforms, and follow the users and their devices even when they are off the network. Sophos Cloud also adds Active Directory synchronization to simplify deployment and management for users and groups. 

“IDC predicts that the continuing SMB productivity push will drive cloud and mobility adoption, in a big way; in the U.S., 1/3 of small businesses and almost 3/4 of mid-sized firms are using the cloud, and the share will continue to grow,” reports Raymond Boggs, research vice president at IDC. 

"Sophos Cloud can help manage security across Windows, Mac, and mobile devices, which is especially important given the diversity – some might say chaos – of an SMB environment. Its user-based management is well suited to SMBs looking to secure users of corporate devices or their own BYOD equipment. Sophos Cloud will be a useful resource for channel partners to leverage in helping support the resource-limited IT teams of their SMB customers,” he said.

“We’re pleased to deliver this new release of Sophos Cloud, as it’s another positive step in our strategy to use the cloud to create new, innovative solutions to the ever-increasing security challenges faced by small and mid-market businesses today,” said Bill Lucchini, vice president and general manager of Sophos Cloud. 

“Sophos Cloud is a differentiated offering that enables IT professionals to simplify security management without compromising users’ demands for usability and performance.  We continue to address the market’s desire for powerful simple-to-use solutions to combat the evolving threat landscape. Sophos security delivered with cloud simplicity is clearly resonating with our customers and partners.” 

Sophos Cloud: Ideal for IT Solutions Providers

Consistent with Sophos’ commitment to its channel partners, Sophos Cloud enables IT solution providers and outsourcers to deliver value to customers. A unified web-based management console, hosted in the cloud by Sophos, enables complete protection for users and devices, and a new partner dashboard gives partners visibility into, and control over, their customers’ subscriptions, devices and policies. 

Sophos Customers and Channel Partners Look Forward to Latest Version of Sophos Cloud

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) is a significant provider of high quality mental health services in the United Kingdom. James Maloy, Device Architect at NHS Trust, said, “By bringing in Sophos Cloud we have created a new paradigm where we are able to actively monitor the status of all machines, ensure they are well protected and make sure our data remains secure.” 

Inez Luna, Business Development Manager for Total Tech, a Sophos Partner, said, “The Sophos Cloud roadmap completely aligns with our vision as a ‘security-as-a-service’ company. We add value by managing our clients’ policies, for example, so they can focus on their business without increasing costs.  The Sophos Cloud dashboard provides actionable information, enabling us to be 100% proactive with each one of our clients.” 

“Our growing organization required cloud-based security to support Macs and PCs. In deploying Sophos Cloud, we gained a simple and non-invasive solution. I can conveniently schedule real-time scanning to gain all the information I need to proactively do my job. Best of all, Sophos Cloud ensures staff productivity by not getting in the way,” said Ian Lotinsky, Vice President, Engineering, LearnZillion, a company dedicated to championing teachers and supporting their ongoing professional development.  

Availability

Sophos Cloud is currently available. For more information or for a 30-day trial, visit: www.sophos.com/cloud

Sophos Delivers Advanced Threat Protection for the Small and Mid-Market

Latest Version of Sophos UTM Brings Enterprise Features to the Masses, Improves Performance; Makes Advanced Threat Protection Practical and Affordable

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 11, 2014 – Sophos today announced an extensive update to its award winning Unified Threat Management solution, Sophos UTM. With more than 100 new features, the highlight of the new UTM platform is bringing Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) to the small and mid market, capabilities that were previously only available to large enterprises.

Developed by SophosLabs, this new Sophos UTM approach brings together multiple technologies to rapidly identify and isolate infected clients and prevent communication with malicious command and control hosts. This latest version introduces Botnet protection and cloud-based sandboxing to expand on the Sophos UTM’s existing multi-layer Firewall, Web, Email and Endpoint protection. This extends the Sophos commitment to small and mid market companies, delivering access to advanced protection without the complexity and cost normally associated with such functionality.

“The initial stages of targeted attacks can often go unnoticed by security systems that don’t control incoming and outgoing traffic. For organizations with limited IT resources, investing time and money in a dedicated ATP solution to detect these early signs is simply not realistic, given how tricky, complex and fast moving this type of traffic is,” says Chris Kraft, vice president, product management, Sophos. “That's what we wanted to change. Today, with a few simple clicks, users get advanced protection without needing to be full-time security experts themselves.”

This new release also significantly enhances speed of security scanning with initial data showing the new performance optimized IPS doubling throughput speed in test environments. The Email, Web, and Network Protection modules all experience significant enhancements, including:

• Simplified Email Encryption and DLP -  Sophos SPX technology eliminates need for a separate Public Key Infrastructure and policy-based DLP  can trigger automatic encryption
• Smarter Web Control – streamlined policy setup enables granular user control and transparent web filtering of  https traffic provides seamless protection
• Mobile Access Control – enhances WiFi and VPN security by combining Sophos UTM with Mobile Device Management functionality in Sophos Mobile Control
• Performance Optimized IPS – intelligent processes and pattern management deliver enhanced scanning speeds to rapidly block network attacks and prevent breaches
• Botnet/Command and Control Protection – Sophos Advanced Threat Protection identifies and blocks infected machines communicating with malware command and control servers

“The UTM market is one of the most competitive in security. Numerous features and applications have been added over the past few years, and we’re increasingly seeing solutions are providing more effective security and better performance,” said John Grady, Research Manager, Security Products and Services IDC. “This latest release from Sophos continues to simplify complex technologies. SPX email encryption is an example of that and is a differentiated approach among other UTM vendors.”

“Students are smart and always find ways to circumvent security, so schools are always in need of better ways to manage their web access and block inappropriate content,” says Bart Wilson, systems support manager, from Twotrees Technologies LLC, a Sophos partner. “UTM 9.2 is a huge step forward in solving this problem.  By adding https traffic to web filtering in transparent mode, Sophos will help our customers to take back control – especially with so many students browsing on mobile devices.“

For additional information on all of the features in Sophos UTM 9.2 and extra information on Sophos’ network security solutions, please visit www.sophos.com/networksecurity.

Sophos Acquires Cyberoam Technologies

Expands Network Security, UTM and Next-Generation Firewall Portfolio

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 10, 2014  – – Sophos announced today that it has acquired Cyberoam Technologies, a leading global provider of network security products. The acquisition expands and deepens Sophos’ already significant product portfolio in network security, by combining Cyberoam’s Unified Threat Management (UTM), next-generation firewall and network security expertise with Sophos’ existing award-winning network security solutions in UTM and wireless security.

“Sophos and Cyberoam create a winning combination at the right time, in the right product markets and in all the right geographies,” said Kris Hagerman, Chief Executive Officer for Sophos.

“Cyberoam has built a strong reputation as an aggressive and nimble innovator in the network security market, and like Sophos, has a ‘channel-first’ approach and reputation for delivering top-notch service and support. The acquisition expands and accelerates our network security roadmap to grow our presence in UTM, advanced threat protection, wireless and next generation firewall – some of the fastest growing markets in all of IT. This also continues our focus of providing exciting opportunities to grow our channel partners and customers.”

For more information, visit the Sophos corporate blog at: http://blogs.sophos.com/2014/02/10/sophos-acquires-cyberoam-technologies/

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Ahmedabad, India, Cyberoam is highly regarded for its product innovation, quality, and world-class customer support.

The company has more than 65,000 customers, more than 550 employees, and a strong channel focus with a network of 5,500 partners, with particular strength in India, the Middle East, and Africa.

Cyberoam’s high performance UTM and Next Generation Firewall appliances, built on a similar Intel-based architecture as Sophos’ UTM solutions, deliver advanced technologies that will complement and expand the entire Sophos network security portfolio. Some of these technologies include the iView reporting engine, application control, user-based network policies, sophisticated next-generation firewall capabilities and advanced threat protection.

Hemal Patel, CEO of Cyberoam said, “Together Sophos and Cyberoam form a powerhouse in network security. We are growing our network security businesses substantially faster than the market, and joining forces allows us to drive even greater innovation and value. Our global footprint, commitment to the channel and complete security portfolio are clear competitive differentiators. We’re pleased to join the Sophos team.”

The acquisition advances Sophos’ position in network security, a strategic growth area for the company and a pivotal element of the company’s complete security strategy.  Sophos combines leading security technologies in endpoint, mobile, encryption and data protection, e-mail, web, server, and network – all focused on small and midmarket enterprises and pragmatic enterprises of any size – and delivered entirely through the channel.

Combined, Sophos and Cyberoam will have more than 2,200 employees, with more than 600 focused on network security, including more than 350 in R&D.

According to IDC Research, the network security market reached $7.9 billion in 2012; UTM comprised $2.7 billion of the market and was cited as the fastest growing segment at 21 percent growth.  In the recent Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Threat Management, Sophos was again named a “leader” and Cyberoam a “visionary”.

Signal Hill acted as exclusive financial advisor to Cyberoam in this transaction.

*- IDC Worldwide Network Security Forecast 2013-2017, July 2013
** - Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Unified Threat Management, July 19, 2013

USA Stays Top of Spampionsip’s Dirty Dozen Nations

Charts show spam-spewing zombified computers are a truly global problem

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 5, 2014  – The award-winning Sophos Naked Security blog today revealed the Dirty Dozen top spam-relaying nations, as it published the final “Spampionship” league table of 2013.

Once again, it was the USA which earned the league’s top spot, generating 14.5 percent of the total spam volume sent during the last quarter of the year, giving it a clean sweep of top finishes for 2013. However, the gap to second place narrowed, with China re-emerging as a major player in the spam sending Dirty Dozen, leaping from 4.6 percent to 8.2 percent, while Russia’s spam contribution edged up from 3.0 percent in Q3 to 5.5 percent in Q4.

The Dirty Dozen results were compiled by SophosLabs to show where in the world the greatest volumes of spam were being sent from during the final three months of last year.

"The most obvious message from the Dirty Dozen charts is that the problem of zombified computers spewing spam is a truly global one,” says Sophos Senior Security Analyst, Paul Ducklin. “Every region of the world is strongly represented, with the exception of Africa.”

Spammers don't send spam themselves: they use botnets, or "zombie armies", of malware-infected computers to distribute their spam for them, almost always without the owners of the infected computers being aware.

“In most cases, the countries in the Dirty Dozen made it onto the list because a statistically significant proportion of their residents are conducting business online using computers that are actively infected by remote-control malware,” says Ducklin. “So the spam aspect is just a symptom - the start of the problem. Zombie malware means the crooks are already on the inside. It's up to you to turf them out."

Turning to the Spampionship table of spam-relaying countries by population, the numbers indicate the average “spamminess” per person compared to the USA. Results show things have stayed pretty stable, as Belarus retained its top spot, with the average computer there over 10 times more likely to send spam than if it were in the USA. Meanwhile other countries like Uruguay, Taiwan, Luxembourg and Macedonia continued to jockey for position in the top 12. The only significant move came from Kuwait, with figures showing there had been almost a three-fold increase in spam-relaying per capita, growing from 2.1 times the US figure per capita, to 6.07, to elevate it to second place in the table.

The Spampionship League Tables are not intended to suggest that individual nations are actively involved in illegally sending spam, but are designed to raise awareness of just how many computers are potentially infected with spam-relaying malware.

"If your country isn't in the Dirty Dozen, it's easy to feel smug, or at least complacent,” says Ducklin. “Don't do that: if you're a spam sender, Dirty Dozen or not, you are a net positive contributor to cybercrime.”

Smarter, shadier and stealthier cyber crime forces industry to dramatic change

Security report highlights shifting crime tactics and what to expect in 2014

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, December 11, 2013  – Sophos today released its latest Security Threat Report. The report outlines the significant changes in cyber criminal behavior over the course of last year and a forecast for their preferred methods of attack in 2014. This year cyber criminals continued the theme of professionalization of their ‘industry’, offering easy to buy and use services that amplified the scale of cyber crime to never before seen levels.

“While many security experts are aware of the high level trends, few have recognized their significance” said James Lyne, global head of security research at Sophos. “If 2013 has taught us anything, it is that traditional security controls are struggling. These new behaviors are forcing the industry to adapt and change, and widely held best practices must be reconsidered.”

The threat report highlights new security concerns ranging from stealthy malware tools that offer dynamic camouflage and provide attackers with long-term persistent access to users’ data, to the proliferation of connected devices that represent new and often ill-protected targets. Many new “Internet of things” devices are becoming commonplace in our homes and everyday infrastructure, offering shadier cyber criminals the potential to impact our daily lives, rather than just the traditional theft of financial information.

“These trends are set to continue in 2014 as threats become even smarter, shadier and stealthier,” said Lyne.

In 2014 Sophos predicts greater focus from cyber criminals on high quality and convincing phishing and social engineering to compensate for harder to exploit operating systems like Windows 8.1; embedded devices (such as POS systems, medical systems and new ‘smart’ infrastructure) will open old wounds as security mistakes eliminated in the modern PC environment are carelessly re-implemented; attacks on corporate and personal data in the cloud will continue to grow as providers struggle to refine the security strategy in this new computing platform; and malware for mobile is set to become as sophisticated as its PC relatives.

“It is clear in 2014 we need to be watching not just the evolution of existing attacks, but be prepared for dangerous new threats emerging that we haven’t previously dealt with,” said Gerhard Eschelbeck, CTO at Sophos. “As the industry adapts and enhances protection mechanisms to cover new devices and threats, this is increasingly becoming an issue for every member of society, not just for government and business.”

A full copy of the Threat Report 2014: Smarter, Shadier, Stealthier Malware containing more information and statistics on cybercrime in 2013, as well as top tips and predictions on emerging trends, can be downloaded here. A blog discussing the Threat Report 2014 is also available.

Sophos Leverages Amazon Web Services “Test Drive” Program for Sophos UTM in the Cloud

Teams with 8K Miles to Demonstrate Simple, Secure Access to Data via Mobile Devices

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 12, 2013  – Sophos today announced a “Test Drive” of Sophos UTM on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Working with partner 8K Miles, a global Cloud services provider and an early AWS Premier Consulting Partner, Sophos has created a dedicated Cloud-enabled UTM running in AWS for customers to easily evaluate and test a variety of use cases.

Sophos will demonstrate the scenarios at the AWS re:Invent – the largest gathering of developers and technical leaders from the AWS community – November 12-15 in Las Vegas. Sophos will be in booth #929.

Angelo Comazzetto, Senior Technologist for Sophos, said, “At Sophos, we understand that many companies are interested in the AWS Cloud and its many benefits, but don’t have the time to learn about all the things AWS can do. Test Drive allows an admin to step into the driver’s seat of their own personal AWS cloud with a Sophos UTM already configured to show them what is possible, and dramatically accelerate time-to-value. In this first of many planned Test Drive scenarios, we worked with 8K miles to create a demonstration of how Sophos UTM can provide encrypted mobile VPN access to the Amazon Cloud for customers to securely access files from anywhere.”

The AWS Test Drive program provides customers with access to the AWS infrastructure, a highly reliable, scalable, low-cost infrastructure platform in the cloud that powers hundreds of thousands of enterprise, government and startup customer businesses in 190 countries around the world. The Test Drive program includes a complete environment that can be provisioned to customers in minutes so they can quickly evaluate and explore Sophos UTM.

Test Drive automates the creation of an entire AWS infrastructure, with the necessary resources to get setup and running. The customer gets their own view into how the solution would look, and is free move about the environment to see the results. After a period of a few hours, the environment self-destructs. Sophos will show how customers can have simple, secure access to data hosted in a virtual private cloud using a VPN client on an iOS device, such as an Apple iPad or iPhone.

Sophos Unleashes Strategy to Leverage the Cloud to Simplify Security and Enhance Protection

New Sophos Cloud Delivers Simple, Easy-to-Manage Security Solutions

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 30, 2013  – Sophos today announced a strategy to deliver cloud-managed security solutions that appeal to organizations seeking a simpler approach to IT security. Sophos Cloud is an easy to use security service that provides essential protection for today’s advanced threats. This first version of Sophos Cloud provides protection at the endpoint.

Easy to deploy and simple to manage, Sophos Cloud gives Sophos partners and IT managers at enterprises of all sizes the ability to manage and maintain endpoint security to protect all users, regardless of physical location, via the cloud-based service.

The launch of Sophos Cloud is the first step in the company’s aggressive strategy of cloud-enabling its entire portfolio. In addition, Sophos will continue to innovate and extend its ‘on-prem’ security software, providing IT professionals choice in how to best manage IT security in their environment.

Kris Hagerman, chief executive officer for Sophos, said, “Sophos Cloud is the answer to the constant struggle IT teams face in protecting and securing their enterprises. These IT teams may be as small as a single person, but the constant threats and challenges they face could overwhelm an army.

To come to their rescue, we’re thrilled to deliver Sophos Cloud – it will be one of our key strategic priorities as we execute on our vision of being the best in the world at delivering complete and powerful IT security to small and mid-market enterprises and organizations of any size looking to simplify their IT security operations.”

With the management console hosted by Sophos Cloud, there is no server set up and service can be deployed instantly, providing complete security coverage everywhere – simply. Sophos Cloud delivers all the essential endpoint protection a company needs without any of the complexity traditionally associated with security management. The service is also consistent with Sophos’ ongoing focus and commitment to be a “Channel First” company.

“The ability to administer our security with Sophos Cloud allows us to better manage our resources and enables us to effectively utilize our time and money.  The service was easy for us to implement, and it seamlessly integrated into our environment,” said David Fox, IT Consultant, Neptune Terminals.

“Small and medium businesses are especially challenged regarding IT security.  They are targets and must meet security best practices yet are resource constrained,” said Charles Kolodgy, Research Vice President for IDC.

“Sophos Cloud is a welcome addition.  Its features can remove some of the complexity tied to security management thus allowing small and mid-market businesses to improve security without taxing their resources.”

“As an organization that specializes in IT security and services, M3Corp has had a valuable partnership with Sophos for more than 4 years.  Sophos Cloud will help us extend that partnership to quickly deliver cloud security that is easy to deploy and manage, while providing the most efficient and economical security solution to all of our customers throughout Brazil.

M3Corp’s partnership with Sophos ensures that our customers will be fully protected from all types of threats,” states Antonio Mocelim, Sales Director, M3Corp.

Availability
Online 30-day trials are available by visiting: www.sophos.com/cloud

Sophos Mobile Control Delivers Immediate Support for the Apple iOS 7

Leading Mobile Device Management Solution Enforces BYOD Initiatives

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 11, 2013  – Sophos announced today that its award winning mobile device management and security platform, Sophos Mobile Control (SMC), will immediately support iOS 7, Apple’s  latest mobile operating system, which has just been announced.

Sophos Mobile Control is ideal for small- and medium-sized businesses looking for a simple, secure way to enable employees to use mobile devices such as iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phones, to get work done.

In addition to delivering  iOS 7 support, Sophos announced an update for customers to manage the  new business-focused features of Apple’s latest version from the easy-to-use Sophos web-based console, deployed either on-premise or as Software as a Service (SaaS).

According to Gartner, Apple iOS 7 includes more enterprise enhancements than any release since iOS 4.0 introduced mobile device management APIs. Version 3.6 of Sophos Mobile Control enables enterprises of all sizes to protect corporate data, with many new enhancements, including:

·         Separation of company and personal data
·         Per app VPN
·         A new volume purchasing program (VPP)
·         Remote configuration of apps

“Sophos Mobile Control allows us to easily manage our existing devices while simultaneously adding new devices safely into our organization,” said Jeri Sample, IT Manager, Meadville Medical Center, an outstanding community medical center in Meadville, Pennsylvania. “It is important for us to keep patient data secure. With accelerated deployment, ease of management, and complete visibility, SMC makes Sophos the right choice on behalf of our staff and our patients.”

“Mobile devices in the workplace are the rule, not the exception,” said John Shaw, Vice President for end user security products at Sophos. “Sophos Mobile Control provides simple to deploy mobile device management and security that will keep employees happy and productive, minimize the workload for IT, and give managers confidence that the company’s data is protected. We think iOS7 is a huge step forward in enabling personal devices to be used securely at work, and are delighted to be extending the benefits to our partners and customers. ”

To learn more about Sophos Mobile Control, please visit http://www.sophos.com/mobile.

Sophos Brings High Performance and Simple Management to Server Protection

Sophos Server Protection – flexible cross-platform antivirus for virtual and physical servers

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 21, 2013  – Sophos today announced Sophos Server Protection – an easy to use and flexible server antivirus solution that defends data without sacrificing performance. It is the latest entry in a Sophos arsenal that provides simple, yet complete security for servers, the network and end-user devices.

Increased migration to virtual servers and the ever-growing threat of attack on critical data are presenting new challenges to IT professionals, as they look to maintain high performance and density of servers, without compromising on security. Sophos Server Protection addresses these challenges by integrating agentless antivirus for vShield and full antivirus clients for Windows, Linux, Mac and UNIX into one centrally managed product.

“Servers need the best protection against malware, but managing that protection while maintaining server performance across a diverse environment has inevitably increased complexity and demands on time,” said John Shaw, vice president of product management, Sophos. “We’ve delivered on what matters – server performance and security. Sophos Server Protection provides a single, easy to use management console to assign policies, view alerts and generate reports across platforms. Even licensing, often the bane of IT professionals, is straightforward: one server, one license, any platform.”

Standalone and virtual systems use fewer resources with Sophos Server Protection than with conventional antivirus products. Agentless scanning via vShield Endpoint prevents scan and update storms, automatically protecting every Windows virtual machine on the host through a centralized virtual security appliance. Systems without vShield benefit from a full featured client optimized for performance. Advanced features, including HIPS, application control, and device control, are also included for select platforms.

Sophos Server Protection supports a broad range of server and virtualization platforms, including Windows, Linux, UNIX, Mac, Hyper-V, vSphere/ESX/ESXi and XenServer. It provides proven protection against known and unknown threats, supported by real-time communication with SophosLabs. The Windows client offers additional layers of security, including HIPS, application control and patch assessment.

“Sophos Server Protection is server security made simple, because at Sophos we believe good security shouldn’t have to require the undivided attention of the IT team to make it work. Sophos Server Protection secures your business’s critical assets, without sacrificing performance or adding unnecessary complexity,” concluded Shaw.

Sophos Server Protection will be showcased at VMworld, which takes place in San Francisco between August 25 and 29. Sophos is a VMware Elite Technology Alliance Partner.

Latest Free Version of Sophos Mobile Security Delivers Application Protection, Faster Scanning and Web Protection Highlight

Download the new Sophos Mobile Security to help protect against data loss & unexpected costs

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 13, 2013 – As more consumers and businesses purchase Android smartphones and tablets, it’s no surprise that more apps are now associated with security risks and privacy issues.

According to recent industry research, 80 percent of Android apps exhibit at least one risky behavior. An equally alarming industry statistic, users not running the most recent version of Android (comprising more than 90 percent of active users) are vulnerable to known exploits, resulting in a more than 600 percent increase in Android malware infections.

In order to keep up with and prevent these risks, Sophos has introduced the latest version of its free Android security app, Sophos Mobile Security 3.0, its full-featured mobile security and anti-virus application.

What’s New in Sophos Mobile Security 3.0
• Application protection: Protects the start of selected applications with a password, meaning you can let others use your phone without risking your corporate data security. You can protect your settings or Google Play app and any other mobile application.

• Faster Scanning: Significantly improves scan speed by leveraging the power of multi- core phones

• Web Protection (now included in free version): Blocks access to malicious or phishing websites, so you can access the Internet worry-free

“If Android malware risks weren’t enough, Android device loss and theft are an enormous issue, especially considering that more than 100 cell phones are lost or stolen every minute just in the US alone,” said Thomas Lippert, senior product manager, mobile, Sophos. “Mobile malware leads to data loss and unexpected cost issues, while actual device loss and theft leads to potentially much worse. Either way, it’s imperative for users to ensure their devices are protected. And we’re providing this protection—for free.”

Sophos Mobile Security is offered for free in Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sophos.smsec. Optionally,

Sophos Mobile Security can integrate into the company’s flagship mobile device management and security solution, Sophos Mobile Control, providing full central management and integration into the compliance enforcement engine.

For more information about Sophos’ mobile offerings, please visit: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/mobile.aspx.

Sophos Mobile Control, with millions of users already on iOS and Android, now delivers market leading mobile and tablet security on Windows 8

Mobile Device Management leader Sophos delivers an enhanced SaaS version, support for Windows Phone 8, and simplified reporting and administration

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 11, 2013 – Sophos today announced Sophos Mobile Control 3.5, the latest version of its award-winning mobile device management (MDM) solution. Available both on-premise and as-a-service, Sophos Mobile Control 3.5 makes it simple for small and mid-market organizations to secure, monitor and control mobile devices. This new release adds support for Windows Phone 8, as well as reporting and simplified administration to make BYOD (bring your own device) policies easy to define, implement and enforce.

Some recent industry estimates report that as many as 96 percent of organizations now have employees who use both corporate-managed and personal mobile devices for work purposes, forcing IT to adopt new strategies to protect their data on those devices. Even though huge numbers of smartphones and tablets are lost every day, many users don’t enable even basic password protection. Mobile malware and hacking is on the rise and many workers are still using unsecured personal mobile devices to access corporate data—a major concern for organizations trying to protect data while letting users work how they want.

Sophos Mobile Control provides the complete security that IT requires to confidently embrace employee device mobility. This latest version delivers Windows Phone 8 support alongside iPhone/iPad and Android, with self-enrollment and self-service capabilities for users, and allows IT to manage the complete device lifecycle as well as loss & theft scenarios.

Also included is an easy-to-use client app, which provides access to compliance status, messages and support information—allowing for comprehensive reporting and giving IT a holistic view of devices.

Simpler administration is delivered by an updated menu, dashboard and various other workflow improvements. The SaaS version of Sophos Mobile Control 3.5 delivers better integration into corporate IT with a new remote Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) Proxy that enables organizations to block non-compliant devices from receiving email, and remote LDAP support that allows users to easily connect to Active Directory.

“As a financial services firm, we face rigorous compliance and data-loss prevention requirements. That, coupled with the increasing number of smartphones and tablets used by our employees, necessitates the need for a comprehensive solution to serve our mobile users,” said Jack McLaine, Vice President, MIS, VIST Bank. “We have a small IT staff trying to add mobile security to their duties—a considerable challenge, considering they are tasked with protecting personal devices that are often lost or stolen. As you can imagine, we needed to conduct a thorough analysis of mobile offerings, and we ultimately concluded that Sophos Mobile Control best met our requirements while also offering very good value—very simple and very reliable.”

“There are now more smartphones and tablets in use than PCs, so protecting personal mobile devices is a critical piece of any modern IT security strategy, yet many organizations still struggle to enable simple, secure use of these devices. Most Mobile Device Management products were designed for large enterprise security specialists and are impractical for over-stretched IT professionals serving small and medium sized organizations,” said John Shaw, Vice President, Product Management, Sophos.

“We have designed our product to be simple and effective from the start, and as a result, we have experienced 400 percent growth in the last year and now count more than 2.5 million users protected by Sophos Mobile Control.  Our customers recognize that simple security is better security, be it mobile, endpoint or network. With this latest release of Sophos Mobile Control, we continue to make security simple to deploy and enforce, with consistent and robust protection for all devices.”

In related news, Sophos Mobile Control 3.5 recently received a 5 Star rating from SC Magazine in its latest testing of MDM offerings. The review noted that “Sophos Mobile Control provides a full set of features and functionality for management and control of a broad range of mobile devices.” It was also lauded for being easy to deploy and manage.

For more information about Sophos’ mobile offerings, please visit: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/mobile.aspx.

Sophos Launches Complete MSP Security

With new pay-as-you-go offering, Sophos makes it simple for managed service providers to manage and grow their businesses 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 18, 2013 – Sophos today announced Complete MSP Security, the company’s new partner program designed to drive market success for managed service providers by aligning with their business and technical needs to bring complete security services to market. Sophos Complete MSP Security is the first MSP-focused solution to offer complete protection for networks, endpoints, and mobile devices from a single vendor.

Sophos Complete MSP Security makes offering IT security as a service easier and more profitable. MSPs can offer a full range of IT security services that provide instant credibility and proven protection, including centralized management that allows them to easily manage all of their customers’ locations at no extra charge. With Sophos’ new self-provisioning MSP licensing, this program offers compelling usage-based pricing and pay-as-you-go monthly billing, and it requires no up-front commitments – a business model demanded by today’s MSPs that had gone unmet – until now.  

“What Sophos is doing with their new MSP program is cutting edge and will be a major game changer for the entire industry,” said Shane Swanson, COO, CharTec. “Having the ability to have a true pay-as-you-go offering for our UTM offering is exactly what we as MSPs have been asking for from the industry. And it’s extremely rewarding to know that Sophos is not only listening to their partners, but taking action on our feedback”

“Simply put, our customers want total outsourced IT security that works, which is what any pragmatic business wants,” said Dan Ingling, IT/engineering manager, Line Systems, Inc. “Previously, we were challenged with delivering custom-tailored services from multiple vendors. With Sophos’ Complete MSP Security, we have a vendor partner with a solution and a business model that effectively addresses this challenge, allowing us to exceed our customers’ expectations and grow our business.”

“PowerNET first partnered with Sophos four years ago, providing our first truly managed service to our clients a few weeks later, and from day one, we knew it was the right decision. Our clients love Sophos’ pay-as-you-go approach, which sees their monthly fee increase or decrease depending on the amount of endpoints covered – as opposed to the old method of guessing how many machines they need covered over time,” said Cameron Price, business development manager, PowerNET. “Our consultants love the Sophos MSP offering as they no longer have to monitor and manage multiple consoles across our client sites; that, coupled with the support offered by Sophos, is second to none.”

“We developed Sophos Complete MSP Security in close collaboration with our MSPs, which wanted a solution that met their customers’ security needs, optimized cash flow and increased revenue potential – a value proposition previously unavailable in the market,” said Mike Valentine, senior vice president, worldwide sales and channel, Sophos. “As a channel-first company, the goal of this program – from its inception – has been to make it easy for MSPs to manage and grow their businesses with us, and we believe our new program will result in tremendous growth for them.”

Sophos Appoints Mavisco Resources as Distributor in Malaysia

Focus on SME and Public Sectors, Managed Cloud Security Services

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 3, 2013 – Sophos today announced the appointment of Mavisco Resources as a Distributor in Malaysia, for its complete security product portfolio. A leader in technology distribution and channel services, Mavisco Resources Sdn Bhd will provide strong focus on developing the public sector and SME segments of the Malaysian market for Sophos.

Mavisco will distribute the complete range of Sophos solutions including Endpoint Security, Encryption and Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Web and Email Protection, Mobile Control and Sophos Network Security, and Unified Threat Management (UTM).

Said Sumit Bansal, Sophos’ ASEAN Director of Sales “We are partnering with Mavisco because of their experience as a technology distributor and their extensive national sales and service network. With this appointment, we intend to develop a stronger distributed market base and bring our solutions closer to SMEs at state and local levels in Malaysia - beginning with Penang and Kuching, where Mavisco have particular strengths,” he said.

“With a broad network of resellers and service locations nationwide, Mavisco will also help us establish a broad market footprint for our managed enterprise cloud security services, to better serve government and public sector organisations that have multiple branches around the country, as well as SMEs” he added.

Said Jenny Leong, Business Development Manager of Mavisco Resources Sdn Bhd, “This partnership represents a significant new direction for Mavisco in the Malaysian IT channel. We are focused on bringing Sophos’ superior technology to our highly skilled reseller base and will support their own customer development initiatives with our pre-sales, post-sales, license and renewals management and market development services. We expect our partners and their customers will strongly benefit from this refreshing new opportunity in the sector.”

“Sophos’ complete security offerings, 100% channel-first focus, 25-plus years of experience, innovative products and outstanding reputation, make Sophos an ideal IT security vendor for us to partner with – giving us the ability to provide customers with complete security without complexity,” she added. “The firm’s portfolio allows us and our resellers to protect every part of our customers’ businesses, with web, email, endpoint, mobile, network and data security, and unified protection that brings all these products together,” she said.

Sophos Sees Explosive Growth for Mobile Device Management and Mobile Security

Sophos Mobile Control now protects more than two million devices –an increase of one million devices in less than five months

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 9, 2013 – Sophos’ mobile device management (MDM) solution, Sophos Mobile Control, now manages more than two million devices, marking a 100 percent increase in less than five months.

And in less than two years since its inception, Sophos Mobile Control now counts more than 4,500 customers worldwide, with significant traction across North America, Europe and Asia/Pacific. Sophos secured more than 800 new MDM customers in March, 2013 alone.

Protecting the Mobile Workforce

These latest milestones follow the launches of two key mobile security offerings, Sophos Mobile Control 3.0 and Sophos EndUser Protection.

Offered both on-premise and as-a-service, Sophos Mobile Control 3.0 added new support for Samsung SAFE™ devices, granting tighter control over how devices are used and making BYOD policies easier to define and enforce. It also provides integration with Sophos Mobile Security, which protects Android smartphones and tablets from malicious apps.

Sophos EndUser Protection combines mobile and endpoint protection in a single solution—protecting all of the devices a user has with just one license. With EndUser Protection, an organization can protect every tablet, phone, laptop or desktop—from Windows and Macs to mobile devices like iPhones, iPads and Android devices—wherever users go.

Additionally, the company recently launched the latest version of its free Android security app, Sophos Mobile Security. Sophos Mobile Security 2.5 protects Androids from malware and now includes SPAM filter capabilities for text messages and calls. The app was recently recognized as being “AV-TEST Certified” by leading independent lab AV-TEST.

“We have seen MDM revenue growth of nearly 400 percent over the past 12 months, which we attribute to a pragmatic mobile strategy that makes sense to customers, prospects and partners alike—developing powerful, yet simple solutions to manage devices, secure devices and protect data,” said Thomas Lippert, senior product manager, Sophos. “And as the mobile workforce continues to grow, businesses need a partner that can quickly and effectively protect this workforce and secure its data, which is why they’re turning to Sophos.”

For more information about Sophos’ mobile offerings, please visit: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/mobile.aspx.

Android Devices Now Better Protected from Malware and Spam with Latest Free Version of Sophos Mobile Security App

Sophos Mobile Security blocks text messages with malicious URLs, countering SMiShing 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 24, 2013 – Android is the world’s most popular smartphone operating system (OS), and according to comScore, it claims more than 50 percent of the market. With that kind of user base, it’s no wonder that Android is an increasingly popular target for malware and SMiShing (SMS phishing).

To help combat this growing threat, Sophos has introduced the latest version of its free Android security app, Sophos Mobile Security. Sophos Mobile Security now includes SPAM filter capabilities for text messages and calls. The filter rules can block specific phone numbers and calls with a hidden caller ID, as well as text messages with potential malicious URLs. Every incoming call or text message is scanned by the app’s Spam Protection feature and the active filter rules are applied successively. Blocked calls and text messages are logged in the Quarantine folder, where they can be restored as needed.

Sending unsolicited commercial text messages is illegal under civil law and anyone who receives a spam text message should neither click on a link nor reply to a message. According to the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, about 60 percent of mobile phone users have received at least one or more spam text messages during the past year, with about 15 percent clicking on the link included in the message.

“People trust their personal devices, but security requires vigilance,” said Chris Hazelton, research director, Mobile & Wireless for 451 Research. “Gone are the days when hackers merely distributed malware via app stores; these days, consumers are seeing growth in text spam and malicious URLs sent directly to their phones. And this growth makes mobile security offerings that filter out the noise of unwanted messages all the more important, especially as smartphones are increasingly the primary device for everyday use.”

“Even with legal crackdown on mobile spammers, SMS spam and SMiShing continue to grow at a rapid pace, as there are billions of mobile phone subscribers who use text messaging. And more spam means greater annoyance and risk to consumers, as many people trust messages that come directly to their phones or don’t necessarily think about what links they’re actually clicking,” said Thomas Lippert, product management, Sophos. “The latest version of Sophos Mobile Security allows users to easily prevent the onset of SMiShing.”

Sophos Mobile Security is offered for free in its stand-alone version at Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sophos.smsec. Additionally, Sophos Mobile Security integrates into the company’s flagship mobile device management and security solution, Sophos Mobile Control, providing full administrator management and compliance enforcement.

For more information about Sophos’ mobile offerings, please visit: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/mobile.aspx.

Facebook AV Marketplace International Offers Sophos’ Free AV for Mac

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 12, 2013 – Sophos today announced that the free Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition is now available on Facebook’s Antivirus Marketplace in English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish languages. The international Antivirus Marketplace connects individuals with free versions of IT security software from the world’s leading vendors.

Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac addresses the growing concern about Mac malware, protecting home Mac users from all threats in all versions, including the current version of the Mountain Lion operating system, OS X 10.8.3, as well as OS X 10.4-10.7. It is available for free download from both the Sophos website as well as from the Facebook AV Marketplace.

“The Facebook AV Marketplace is a destination for our more than one billion users to ensure they’re safe from the latest security threats,” said Joe Sullivan, chief security officer, Facebook."To help our users keep their hardware better protected, we’re pleased to offer Sophos software for those using Mac devices."

“We continue to see significant global demand for our free antivirus tool. As Apple products grow in popularity, they're increasingly attractive targets to hackers,” said Sunil Choudrie, product manager, Sophos. “By making this tool available on the Facebook AV Marketplace, we’re providing Facebook’s many Mac users with secure peace of mind—all of which is updated automatically.”

Sophos offers complete security solutions available in a variety of deployment options, all with simple setup and management. The company also offers several free solutions including the aforementioned Anti-Virus for Mac tool, Sophos Mobile Security and a UTM: Home Edition.

Massive DDoS attack against anti-spam provider impacts millions of internet users

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 28, 2013 – Noticed any anomalies online in the last week or so? Do you live in Europe or North America? Chances are if you said yes to both you are being impacted by the largest distributed denial of service (DDoS) ever recorded.

What is happening? A little over a week ago a questionable internet hosting provider in The Netherlands called Cyberbunker took umbrage with SpamHaus, a non-profit organization that was founded in 1998 to take on spammers and the internet hosts who profit from their activities.

Cyberbunker takes its name from the former NATO bunker that the company operates out of. Not surprisingly they appear to be offline at the moment, whether that is due to a DDoS attack or other circumstances is difficult to discern.

Cyberbunker caters to customers who are unwanted by or afraid to use traditional web hosts because of the activities they are involved in.

Their target markets include copyright abusers, spammers, malware malcontents and just about any other type of activity... Except child porn and terrorism (thank god for that).

 Because of the nature of Cyberbunker's traffic Spamhaus decided to add Cyberbunker's IP addresses to their blacklist of dodgy, spammy hosts. Cyberbunker proceeded to attempt to take Spamhaus offline in retribution.

How big is the attack? At times it has been reported to be as large as 300 gigabits per second. Traditionally even large botnets are only able to deliver hundreds of megabits or a few gigabits per second.

What is so special about this attack? It is a large scale DNS reflection attack that takes advantage of misconfigured DNS servers to amplify the power of a much smaller botnet.

Cloudflare, an anti-DDoS provider, was hired by Spamhaus to protect their systems (which remain online). They have reported that in a much smaller attack in late 2012 more than 68,000 DNS servers were utilized in a single attack.

How big is this problem? The Open Resolver Project reports more than 21.7 million insecure/misconfigured DNS servers on the IPv4 internet today.

 Why does this make my internet slow? Despite the laughter echoing throughout the internet when a US Senator called the internet a system of tubes, it is in fact that way to a degree.

Many of the primary internet backbones ("tier 1 service providers") are being overwhelmed by the volume of traffic from this attack. This can make access to some sites slow or even temporarily impossible during peak attack volumes. These sites and providers could be considered collateral damage.

How does a DNS reflection attack work? DNS requests are typically sent over UDP, a connectionless protocol. This allows an attacker to forge the from address on the packets to appear to come from the victim of the attack rather than the actual originating computer.

As mentioned above, over 21.7 million DNS servers are misconfigured to allow anyone to query them for name services without any filtering or rate-throttling.

The attackers begin by identifying these vulnerable assets and use a sizable botnet to begin forging queries to the DNS servers. That is the reflection part, next comes the amplification component.

 If a DNS request or response is under 512 bytes it uses UDP, so the attackers make sure the requests are very small. If a DNS response exceeds 512 bytes, DNS will switch to using TCP and the accompanying three-way handshake that is both time consuming and bandwidth amplifying.

Not only does DNS begin using TCP the replies are designed to be a couple of KBytes. So for only 300 bytes of botnet traffic you get over 3,000 bytes of attack traffic.

Unfortunately this problem has been made even worse by a security technology, DNSSEC. The signing of DNS is an important step toward preventing abuse, but it also makes DNS replies even larger, sometimes upwards of 5,000 bytes or more total.

You can see how a few hundred megabits of botnet bandwidth can quickly turn into gigabits of attack traffic from servers, which often have more processing and bandwidth available to them.

What can you do? If you are a regular user of the internet,  not much. Don't panic, your data is safe you are simply being denied service or experiencing delays.

 If you are an administrator of DNS services, it is critical that you configure your recursive name servers to only reply to your own network.

If you must provide public DNS, be sure to apply filtering for abusive queries and ensure the frequency of queries is commensurate with your expected volumes.

Users Weighed Down by Multiple Gadgets and Mobile Devices, New Sophos Survey Reveals

Infographic highlights the most carried devices, and how different countries compare

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 20, 2013 – –Tech lovers can't bear to be apart from their gadgets, a new Sophos survey has revealed, with an average user carrying 2.9 devices.

Sophos conducted an online survey of more than 2,200 users worldwide, asking respondents how many devices they carry, and which operating systems they use. The eye-opening results are revealed in a new infographic at http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/03/14/devices-wozniak-infographic/ , published by Sophos.

The inspiration for the survey was the many devices of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The largest number of devices carried by a respondent in the Sophos survey was twelve.

Devices by Country
Of the 2,226 respondents (the majority of whom represent Australia, Canada, Germany, US and UK), residents of Germany on average carry the most devices (3.1). They are also most likely to carry laptops, whereas Americans, Australians, the British, and Canadians are most likely to carry smartphones.

The average number of devices per person per country:

Germany:	3.1
US:	3.0
Canada:	2.7
UK:	2.7
Australia:	2.6

The Most Popular Device Types 

The smartphone is by far the most popular device carried by survey respondents (85 percent), while the eReader is the least popular (29 percent). 

Smartphone:	85 percent
Laptop:	68 percent
Tablet:	48 percent
MP3 player:	40 percent
eReader:	29 percent

The Most Popular Device Operating Systems 

Google’s Android narrowly beats Apple’s iOS as the most popular smartphone OS carried. Here's the breakdown: 

Android:	40.9 percent
iPhone:	40.5 percent
Blackberry:	8.9 percent
Windows:	3.4 percent

When it comes to laptops, Windows is the most popular laptop OS (49 percent), more than twice that of Mac (22 percent) and six times more than Linux (8 percent). 

Tips for Keeping Devices Safe 

Regardless of the number of devices one owns, protecting all of them is paramount. Here are three simple tips to ensure device security: 

1. Love your phone? Lock it by enabling strong passcodes or passwords. One of the biggest barriers between a thief and a device’s data can be a password. Learn how passwords can be complex without being complicated, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYzguTdOmmU  And check out more on the SophosLabs YouTube channel, at http://www.youtube.com/sophoslabs 

2. Keep all software updated, including security software. Install and regularly update security software. There are many out-of-date apps that can pose a security threat. Installing security applications can provide additional protection by encrypting sensitive data, help with retrieving lost or stolen devices and stop malware for little to no cost. Check out Sophos’ free security tools at http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools.aspx 

3. Only carry necessary devices. This seems like a simple concept, but with the myriad devices offering specific features and functionality, it's sometimes difficult to limit ourselves to just one or two. 

“People are buying and using more and more devices, and are increasingly bringing them into the workplace. Inevitably, that trend increases the need to keep those devices safe and secure from threats,” said Graham Cluley, senior security consultant, Sophos. “In this age of BYOD, smart organizations are implementing security policies to ensure that both corporate and personal devices are protected and secured - keeping sensitive information out of the hands of hackers.” 

Business owners and IT professionals concerned with securing employee devices should investigate mobile security products, such as those offered by vendors including Sophos. They can protect all of their users' devices, regardless of platform, quantity and location. For more information about Sophos’ mobile offerings, please visit: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/mobile.aspx. 

USA is Number One for Spam (Again)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 12, 2013 – The recent majority of spam may not be 'MADE IN AMERICA' but it is getting pushed through American computers.

According to the latest stats from SophosLabs, the USA is back on top as the world's leading spam-relaying country. In the last three months, almost one fifth of all global spam has come from computers in the Land of the Free.

The so-called "Dirty Dozen" of top spam relayers has a few changes from the last time we reported it back in October.

The top twelve spam-relaying countries for December 2012 - February 2013

1. USA	18.3%
2. China	8.2%
3. India	4.2%
4. Peru	4.0%
5= France	3.4%
5= S. Korea	3.4%
5= Italy	3.4%
8= Taiwan	2.9%
8= Russia	2.9%
10. Spain	2.8%
11. Germany	2.7%
12. Iran	2.6%
Other	41.1%

In the latter half of 2012, India had been leading the way but has now fallen back to third, with China leapfrogging into second place after a spell in the lower half of the list.

After the top two, the spammers are distributing their activities fairly evenly across the rest of the list.

Stepping back and looking at spam relay from a continental viewpoint we can see that Asia keeps the top spot (that it has held for some time now). But there has been a significant redistribution - note the shift from India to the US with a 12% swing from Asia to North America.

Top spam-relaying continents for December 2012 - February 2013

1. Asia	36.6%
2. Europe	27.5%
3. North America	22.0%
4. South America	10.9%
5. Africa	2.6%
Other	0.4%

All this being said, this does not mean that the spammers themselves have migrated west - only that they've just recently had an easier time compromising computers in the US. So what indication might this give us about the security of American computers?

Unfortunately, when it comes to relaying spam, it is true to say that if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem. Leaving your computers weakly protected opens you up to attack, but also allows the spammers to use you as an outlet to pollute the internet for everyone else (and makes you - or your country - look like the bad guy).

 

Don't allow your computer to be a contributor to the global spam problem. Defend it with up-to-date anti-virus software, and apply application security patches promptly.