The new Sophos Firewall launches with advanced performance improvements, dynamic traffic routing and SD-WAN capabilities and integrations
Sophos, a global leader in innovation and delivery of cybersecurity as a service, today introduced new Sophos Firewall capabilities to better meet the complex and demanding needs of distributed and enterprise edge computing. Sophos Firewall now offers performance improvements that accelerate inspection of encrypted traffic, dynamic traffic routing for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), additional resiliency with software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) load balancing and high availability improvements, and seamless integration with Microsoft Azure Active Directory .
“One of the key benefits of the Xstream architecture and Flow processors is that they are programmable. While other firewalls slow down over time, we can improve performance even as we add new features and capabilities,” said Daniel Cole, vice president of network security product management at Sophos. “Our design ensures customers’ investment in Sophos Firewall is future-proof and enables a seamless transition to a cloud-enabled world. SD-WAN and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) require a more efficient platform that is not only robust but also makes day-to-day management easier and faster than ever.”
Effectively and reliably assessing network traffic is critical to protecting against threat actors, as evidenced by the Sophos 2023 Threat Report released today. Distributed offices, remote workforces, cloud workloads, custom legacy apps, and a growing reliance on global software-as-a-service providers create configuration and risk management headaches for network security managers.
Sophos Firewall now provides the performance, protection and resiliency that distributed businesses need, while simplifying the management of complex networks. Benefits include:
- Advanced performance and protection: A new high-performance Dynamic Routing Engine and Xstream Transport Layer Security (TLS) FastPath acceleration improves inspection of encrypted traffic while adding headroom for traffic that requires deep-packet inspection; The asymmetric cryptographic capabilities of the Xstream Flow Processors – included in every XGS Series appliance – enable TLS inspection even in the most demanding networks
- Added resilience and peace of mind: New SD-WAN load balancing for performance and reliability in the event of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) outage along with improvements to high-availability clusters ensure maximum business continuity and uptime for mission-critical networks
- Improved usability: Managing network security is easier than ever with new Microsoft Azure Active Directory integration for seamless admin single sign-on and new host and service object lookup
Sophos Firewall integrates with Sophos ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access) under a unified management plane and is a key pillar of Sophos’ SASE strategy, providing a simpler, more scalable and more secure solution over traditional remote access Virtual Private Networks (VPN). The network solution is also part of the Sophos Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem, which integrates the entire Sophos portfolio of products, services and Sophos X-Ops threat intelligence for faster, more contextual and synchronized detection, protection and response.
Availability
Sophos Firewall is available now exclusively through the global partner channel of Sophos and Managed Service Providers (MSPs). It is easily managed in the cloud-native Sophos Central platform alongside other solutions, where users can monitor installations, respond to alerts and track licenses and upcoming renewal dates from a single, intuitive interface or via Sophos Managed Detection and Response (MDR). .
What analysts, distributors and customers say
“With their latest firewall release, Sophos has leveraged the flexibility of their Xstream architecture to deliver performance improvements for VPN throughput and more efficient handling of TLS encrypted traffic, which is critical in today’s encrypted world,” said Christopher Rodriguez, Research Director of IDC’s Security & Trust Practice. “They have also completed the build out of their network capabilities to provide an integrated SD-WAN solution. Combined with other recent enhancements to their secure access portfolio such as ZTNA as a Service, they are positioning themselves to provide the features and capabilities that larger distributed enterprises require, while building a SASE strategy that will appeal to organizations of all sizes.”
“The new version of Sophos Firewall has several enterprise-class features,” said Vishvas Chitale, Head of IT Security at Chitale Group. “Many of the added features were designed to address the challenges that larger organizations like us face in implementing SD-WAN, optimizing performance and scaling our network. We think the SDWAN capabilities of this new Sophos Firewall are well done and the load balancing is like the icing on the cake. The high availability feature is also very intuitive and cool. Overall, the new firewall provides greater visibility into network risk mitigation.”
“The new Sophos Firewall software has several benefits for all of our customers,” said Marc Hurrelmann, Chief Executive Officer at Midland IT. “Many of the added features are designed to address the challenges larger organizations face in implementing SD-WAN, optimizing performance, scaling their network, improving resiliency and uptime, and increasing management efficiencies. Smaller businesses will benefit from all the added value of Sophos Firewall with better performance, protection, networking and management.”
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Additional Resources
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About Sophos
Sophos is a global leader and innovator in advanced cybersecurity solutions, including Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and Incident Response Services, and a broad portfolio of endpoint, network, email and cloud security technologies that help organizations defend against cyberattacks . As one of the largest pure-play cybersecurity providers, Sophos defends more than 500,000 organizations and more than 100 million users worldwide from active attackers, ransomware, phishing, malware and more. Sophos services and products are connected via the cloud-based management console Sophos Central and are supported by Sophos X-Ops, the company’s cross-domain threat intelligence unit. The intelligence of Sophos X-Ops optimizes the entire Sophos Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem, which comprises a centralized data lake leveraging a variety of open APIs available to customers, partners, developers and other cybersecurity and information technology providers. Sophos offers cybersecurity as a service to organizations that require fully managed, turnkey security solutions. Customers can also manage their cybersecurity directly with Sophos’ Security Operations Platform or use a hybrid approach by complementing their in-house teams with Sophos’ services, including threat hunting and remediation. Sophos sells worldwide through reseller partners and managed service providers (MSPs). Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, UK. Visit www.sophos.com for more information.
