BURLINGTON, Mass., Sept. 22, 2016 – Sophos (LSE:SOPH), a global leader in network and endpoint security, today announced that it is extending its support for IaaS platforms by making its next-generation XG Firewall available through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. Customers can quickly access the Sophos XG Firewall and pay for only the security they need, when they need it. A preview is available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace today, with general availability expected before the end of the year. Sophos is a sponsor at Microsoft Ignite in Atlanta from Sept. 26-29, booth #2031.

With the Sophos XG Firewall available as a preconfigured virtual machine within the Azure Marketplace, IT managers can deploy seamlessly using Azure Resource Manager templates or customize deployment according to their needs. Sophos XG Firewall provides detailed, out-of-the-box reports that are generated and stored locally, giving them a view of exactly what their users are doing. The User Threat Quotient report allows IT managers to also set baselines that help them track and identify user behaviors that are out of compliance.

“As operations increasingly shift to the cloud, security can often be an afterthought. Sophos aims to change that by making it simple for businesses to incorporate infrastructure security from the start, through custom templates, flexible licensing options and support for both Azure Resource Manager and classic deployment models,” said Joe Levy, chief technology officer at Sophos. “We believe that security should be simple and seamless, yet powerful enough to protect the most sensitive of data, and be available for the infrastructure strategy preferred by the organization.”

Built on the foundation of Sophos’ market-leading UTM and next generation firewalls, the Sophos XG Firewall delivers comprehensive next-generation protection that reduces cost of management and eases administration. As a core component of Sophos’ synchronized security strategy, Sophos XG Firewall also includes the Security Heartbeat capability so IT managers can benefit from advanced threat protection capabilities without requiring additional agents, layers of complex management tools, logging and analysis tools, or expenses. Customers only require the latest endpoint and network security subscriptions from Sophos to benefit from the Security Heartbeat innovation, which is fully enabled and included as part of the Sophos XG Series Firewall and Sophos Endpoint Protection.

Key features in the next-generation Sophos XG Firewall include:

• Network Security Control Center. Innovative interface that delivers instant network and threat intelligence so users can take action fast
• Unified Policy Model. Simplified policy management with pre-configured templates for business apps to dramatically streamline configuration
• User and App Risk Analysis. App Risk Score features help identify high-risk users and applications and highlight potential security hotspots
• User Threat Quotient. Manage user-centric policies based on an individual’s known behavior as well as the health status of the computer or mobile device they are using
• Centralized cloud management. Sophos partners and MSPs can manage multiple Sophos XG Firewall installations from the cloud, using the new Sophos Cloud Firewall Manager
• Security Heartbeat. This unique capability, an industry first, meaningfully links the firewall and endpoint together, enabling them to share intelligence and enhance protection against advanced threats

IT managers can purchase a license from a Sophos Partner and Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL) to Microsoft Azure and still receive all the support and price benefits provided by their chosen partner. Availability of BYOL may vary by country. Please check with a local Sophos Partner for more information.