OXFORD, United Kingdom, April 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, today unveiled new XGS Series firewall appliances with unrivaled performance and advanced protection against cyberattacks. The new appliances feature industry-best Transport Layer Security (TLS) inspection, including native support for TLS 1.3, that is up to five times faster than other models available on the market today.
“Sophos Firewall XGS Series appliances represent the most significant hardware upgrade that we have ever released and introduce unmatched detection, protection and speed,” said Dan Schiappa, chief product officer at Sophos. “Security teams can no longer afford to overlook encrypted traffic for fear of breaking something or hurting performance – there’s too much at risk. We’ve completely redesigned the Sophos Firewall hardware to handle the modern encrypted internet. Security teams now have the ability to easily inspect encrypted traffic and shine light on what was once a black hole, and they can confidently do so without compromising on performance.”
Sophos products are exclusively available through a global channel of more than 47,000 partners and Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Sophos also makes its innovative commercial technologies. And SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.– March 2, 2020 – Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, today announced the completion of its acquisition by Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity firm focused on the software and technology-enabled services sectors, in a cash transaction that values Sophos at approximately $3.9 billion. Sophos Endpoint. Sophos Intercept X is the world’s best endpoint security, combining ransomware protection, deep learning malware detection, exploit prevention, EDR, and more – all in a single solution. Free sophos home antivirus download includes a 30 day trial of Sophos Home Premium, with ransomware security, advanced phishing protection and more.
Cybercriminals Increasingly Using TLS to Avoid Detection
Sophos today also published new research, “Nearly Half of Malware Now Use TLS to Conceal Communications,” identifying a surge in cybercriminals using TLS in their attacks. The increasingly popular tactic is used by adversaries to encrypt and encapsulate the content of malicious communications to avoid detection as they carry out attacks.
In fact, 45% of malware detected by Sophos from January through March 2021 used TLS to conceal malicious communications. That’s a staggering rise from the 23% Sophos reported in early 2020. Sophos has also seen an increase in the use of TLS to carry out ransomware attacks in the past year, particularly with manually-deployed ransomware. The majority of malicious TLS traffic that Sophos has detected includes initial-compromise malware, such as loaders, droppers and document-based installers like BazarLoader, GoDrop and ZLoader.
“TLS has undoubtably changed the privacy of internet communications for the better, but for all the good it’s done, it’s also made it much easier for attackers to download and install malicious modules and exfiltrate stolen data – right under the noses of IT security teams and most security technologies,” said Schiappa. “Attackers are taking advantage of TLS-protected web and cloud services for malware delivery and for command and control. Their initial compromise malware is simply the advance guard for major attacks, as they’re setting up camp for the heavy artillery that follows, like ransomware.”
Accelerating Threat Protection
Powered by Sophos Firewall’s Xstream architecture, XGS Series appliances deliver the industry’s best zero-day threat protection, identifying and stopping the most advanced known and potential threats – including ransomware. Protection is fueled by powerful threat intelligence, available only through SophosLabs Intelix and based on petabytes of SophosLabs threat data. Suspicious files are safely detonated in SophosLabs Intelix virtual environments as well as subjected to in-depth static analysis for additional detection coverage and intelligence gathering.
New Xstream flow processors within the appliances automatically accelerate trusted traffic, such as software as a service (SaaS), software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) and cloud applications, providing maximum headroom for traffic requiring TLS and deep packet inspection. This greatly reduces latency and improves overall performance for important business applications, particularly those using real-time data. The Xstream flow processors are software programmable, allowing Sophos to offload additional traffic in the future. The flexibility to enhance and adapt connectivity on the hardware itself further protects customers’ hardware investment.
Sophos provides unique and intuitive dashboard visibility of TLS traffic and inspection issues, and security administrators can add exceptions for problematic streams with one click. Performance is also optimized out of the box with an extensive set of rules that are updated and maintained by SophosLabs to exclude safe traffic from inspection.
Sophos Firewall XGS Series appliances and firmware are easily managed on the cloud-based Sophos Central platform alongside Sophos’ entire portfolio of next-generation cybersecurity solutions. Solutions share threat intelligence and automatically respond to security incidents through Sophos’ unique synchronized security approach. Integration with Sophos Managed Threat Response (MTR) further boosts protection with human analysis for 24/7 fully managed threat detection and response.
Availability
Sophos Firewall XGS Series desktop and most 1U rackmount appliances are available for immediate purchase exclusively through Sophos’ global channel of partners and managed service providers (MSPs). These models are ideally suited for small, medium and distributed organizations as an all-in-one network security solution with a strong price to performance ratio and diverse add-on connectivity options. Additional models designed for enterprise edge environments requiring maximum throughput for more complex network configurations will be available in the coming weeks. Simplified licensing includes bundled protection with enhanced support.
What Analysts and Channel Partners Say
“Firewall appliances are evolving to secure newer use cases, including cloud and the sudden shift to a growing remote workforce,” said Frank Dickson, program vice president at IDC. “The elegance of Sophos Firewall’s Xstream dual processor architecture approach is its ability to accelerate trusted traffic from so-called ‘elephant flows’— large media streams, VoIP traffic and even cloud applications — to then leverage the general purpose CPU to perform appropriate resource-intensive processes, such as deep packet inspection and TLS inspection. The result is an adaptable network appliance designed to provide protection while meeting changing and accelerating business demands across a variety of use cases.”
“The new XGS Series firewall appliances are screaming fast with rock solid, unbreakable stability. We captured an immediate increase in performance that doubled our throughput, which completely blew us away. Sophos Firewall has always been industry best, but the XGS Series appliances are revolutionary and beyond compare with cutting-edge innovation that’s years ahead of other offerings,” said Sam Heard, president at Data Integrity Services. “Sophos Firewall provides the protection our customers need as they increasingly move business critical applications to the cloud and adopt zero trust technologies. It’s a win-win for channel partners, who further benefit with tremendous growth opportunities to cross and up-sell across the entire suite of Sophos solutions and services.”
“Sophos is raising the bar and pushing the cybersecurity industry forward at warp speed with its new XGS Series appliances, which are nothing short of amazing,” said Karen Greer, CEO at Secure Content Technologies. “Appliance installation is incredibly simple, and within minutes I could hear our technician yelling through the wall, ‘wow, this is fast!’ Sophos Firewall is effortlessly managed on Sophos Central, making it exponentially easier to secure and manage diverse and complex customer environments. Knowing that Sophos Firewall automatically shares threat intelligence with other solutions on the platform through Sophos’ synchronized security heartbeat feature is game changing, giving us complete confidence and peace of mind that our customers are protected – even the most evasive threats don’t stand a chance at getting by.”
Additional Resources
Sophos Oxford Office
- Read the Naked Security article, “When Cryptography Attacks – How TLS Helps Malware to Hide in Plain Sight”
- Watch the video, TLS Encryption Explained, to see how attackers are using TLS encryption to commit cybercrime
- Learn how SystemBC and Agent Tesla use TLS
- Learn how Sophos Firewall protects against Hafnium
- Read Sophos’ 2021 Threat Report to learn more about cybersecurity trends
- Read the latest security news and views on Sophos‘ award-winning news website Naked Security and on Sophos News
- Connect with Sophos on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Spiceworks, and YouTube
About Sophos
As a worldwide leader in next-generation cybersecurity, Sophos protects more than 400,000 organizations of all sizes in more than 150 countries from today’s most advanced cyber threats. Powered by SophosLabs – a global threat intelligence and data science team – Sophos’ cloud-native and AI-powered solutions secure endpoints (laptops, servers and mobile devices) and networks against evolving cyberattack techniques, including ransomware, malware, exploits, data exfiltration, active-adversary breaches, phishing, and more. Sophos Central, a cloud-native management platform, integrates Sophos’ entire portfolio of next-generation products, including the Intercept X endpoint solution and the XG next-generation firewall, into a single “synchronized security” system accessible through a set of APIs. Sophos has been driving a transition to next-generation cybersecurity, leveraging advanced capabilities in cloud, machine learning, APIs, automation, managed threat response, and more, to deliver enterprise-grade protection to any size organization. Sophos sells its products and services exclusively through a global channel of more than 53,000 partners and managed service providers (MSPs). Sophos also makes its innovative commercial technologies available to consumers via Sophos Home. The company is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com.
Contact Information:
Hanah Johnson: sophos@marchcomms.com
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d584b28f-7216-48dd-a0ca-f93f49e1ed3b
By . Published on May 14, 2011
PowerPoint slideshows should enhance your presentation, not detract from it. Here are a few simple tips to start you on the right track.
See also: PowerPoint: Basic Slideshows & Image Capture
A. Presentation structure:
1. INTRO SLIDE:
- Title of presentation, date, presenter name
2. OUTLINE SLIDE:
Sophos Oxfordshire
- Main points of what you will talk about
- Then follow the structure you’ve laid out
- Start broad, finish specific
- Rank Information (What NEEDS to go on the slide)
- Simplify
3. CONTENT SLIDES:
- Cover detailed information based on your outline
- As many slides as you need, as many as 1-2 per minute
- Remember Powerpoint is more visual than verbal: “a picture is worth a thousand words”
4. FINAL SLIDE:
- Audience will likely take away the last thing you say
- So make a point to have the last slide be meaningful
- provide contact information for followup?
- pose a question for discussion?
- finish with a joke/or light hearted conclusion?
- At the very least put a blank slide at the end
- provides a non-distracting placeholder for discussion
- prevents clicking through back to Powerpoint application
5. Slide types:
TEXT:
- Highlight your presentation, don’t create a substitute for it
- Bullet points, not complete sentences
- 4-6 points per page
- No large blocks of text, audience stops listening, and reads
- Consider showing one point at a time, using animation
- helps the audience focus on what you are saying
6. IMAGES:
- Avoid clip art… everyone has seen it before, lacks emphasis
- Images should be good: not pixilated, out of focus, too dark
- Cropped to remove distractions
7. GRAPHS/DIAGRAMS:
Sophos Oxford
- Make them as simple as possible
- To be grasped in just a few moments, not studied at length
8. Design issues:
TEMPLATES:
- Use a consistent background and layout for all slides
- The template sets the tone of your presentation
- choose it carefully
- Avoid really bright backgrounds, or cluttered layouts
9. FONTS:
- Choose two at most, nothing cursive or ornamental
- Stick to sans-serif fonts, for legibility
- Minimum of 18 point, 20 to 24 is better
- Main points/titles bigger than subpoints/content
10. COLOR:
Oxford Mail Sophos
- High contrast dark on light, or light on dark
- Use color with care, to emphasize your talk
- Avoid extremely bright colors, hot pink, neon orange, acid green
- Do not combine red/green, yellow/purple, or blue/orange
11. ANIMATION:
- Use sparingly, and be consistent
- Avoid distracting or annoying sound effects
12. How to Embed YouTube Videos Directly into PowerPoint
- “This is the easiest approach and recommended if are sure that the presentation venue will have great connectivity. Download the YouTube Wizard plug-in from skp.mvps.org and upon installation, this will add a new “Insert YouTube Video” command to your PowerPoint Toolbar.”
- Extract the contents of the zip to a folder.
- Launch PowerPoint.
- Click on Office Button | PowerPoint Options.
- In the PowerPoint Options dialog, select the Add-ins tab.
- Select ‘PowerPoint Add-ins’ from the Manage drop down and click ‘Go…’
- On the Add-ins dialog, click ‘Add New…’ .
- Navigate to the folder where the contents of the zip file was extracted and select ‘YouTubeVideo2k7.ppa’ and click on OK.
- You might be prompted with the macro virus warning. Enable the macros. When the Add-in is properly loaded, it will display a checkmark against the add-in name.
- Under Insert tab
a new slide, click on the new YouTube add-in button, and follow the wizard prompts.
13. Check your work carefully:
- Check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
- Check for logic and the flow of information
- Try to test your presentation in the room before your talk
- you may need to adjust the colors/templates/font size for the room/equipment
- Be prepared to give your talk without a PowerPoint slideshow
- technical glitches do happen
B. Presentation hints :
- Practice your presentation
- Make eye contact with your audience
- Do not read the slides to your audience
- Leave time for Q&A at the end
- Don’t forget to summarize your main points
- Use Powerpoint to enhance your talk
- (NEVER the reverse)
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