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Sophos to bolster security portfolio with Astaro buy

The security company has agreed to purchase Astaro for an undisclosed sum in order to offer a more comprehensive security package
Written by Ben Woods, Contributor

Internet security company Sophos has announced its intention to buy network security company Astaro to provide a layered unified threat management portfolio.

The deal — terms of which have not been disclosed — was announced on Friday and will provide Sophos with Astaro's portfolio of hardware and software network security products and services. Sophos already offers mobile, endpoint, email and web-threat protection, as well as data-security offerings.

"Our strategy is to provide complete data and threat protection for IT, regardless of device type, user location, or network boundaries," the company said in an announcement explaining the acquisition on Friday. "With the addition of Astaro's network security, we will be the first provider to deliver truly co-ordinated threat protection, data protection and policy from any endpoint to any network boundary."

Sophos intends to move into providing products that can manage roaming mobile devices, and better co-ordination between endpoint devices and the network, Sophos vice president of corporate strategy Arabella Hallawell told ZDNet UK on Monday.

"One of the reasons we entered into [the deal] is we think the combination can make better unified threat management solutions," said Hallawell.

Sophos said the deal would help channel partners by allowing them to offer "co-ordinated layered protection between network and endpoint security to meet the current gaps in market offerings".

Astaro has more than 55,000 customers in over 60 countries and offers a range of products including the Astaro Security Gateway, comprised of a firewall, intrusion prevention system (IPS), virtual private network (VPN), wireless, email and web security. It also offers log management and cloud-based email archiving services.


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