E-Business

Sophos Launches Next Gen Anti-Exploit & Anti-Ransomware Technology

Published

10 years ago

September 16, 2016

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Sophos, a global leader in network and endpoint security, today announced Sophos Intercept X, a next-generation endpoint security product that stops zero-day malware, unknown exploit variants and stealth attacks, and includes an advanced anti-ransomware feature that can detect previously unknown ransomware within seconds.

Sophos Intercept Xinstalls alongside existing endpoint security software from any vendor, immediately boosting endpoint protection by stopping malicious code before it executes.

Sophos Intercept X combines four critical security components that IT administrators should expect from next-generation endpoint protection.

Signatureless Threat and Exploit Detection: Anti-malware and anti-hacker defense that blocks zero-day, unknown and memory resident attacks and threat variants without the need for file scanning;

CryptoGuard: Anti-ransomware innovation that identifies and intercepts malicious encryption activity, blocks ransomware before it can lock and cripple systems and can roll back maliciously encrypted files to their pre-attack state;

Root Cause Analytics: A 360 degree visual analysis of attack events that shows where the attack came in, what it affected, where it may have stopped and recommended actions to prevent a similar attack in the future;

Sophos Clean: Powerful utility that hunts for and removes any trace of spyware and deeply embedded, lingering malware

“Sophos is a next-generation security company that has stayed at the forefront of the industry by understanding the threat landscape, changing business needs and customer challenges. Using big data analytics along with our deep understanding of threat patterns, attack vectors and criminal motivations, we designed Intercept X from the ground up to recognize malicious behaviors and stop potential attacks much sooner in the kill-chain, without the need for updates or signatures,” said Dan Schiappa, senior vice president of the Enduser Security Group at Sophos.

“IT professionals know that there is no single equation that stops all attacks, so we developed Intercept X to combine several techniques for faster identification and response that are coordinated to better support IT professionals without the need for specialized security staff.”

Developed as a Core Component of Sophos’ Synchronized Security Strategy
Developed as a core component of Sophos’ synchronized security strategy, Sophos Intercept X is enabled with the Security Heartbeat to share threat intelligence with Sophos’ next generationXG Firewall and SafeGuard Encryption solutions for a coordinated and automated response to attack.

The product can be installed and managed remotely through the Sophos Central cloud-based management console that allows administrators to control and configure settings, distribute licenses, add new endpoints and track all activity.

Allows All Sophos Central Services
In addition, the single pane of glass dashboard designed for Sophos partners shows all Sophos Central services available to provide higher levels of customer protection while offering partners additional recurring revenue opportunities.

Tony Palmer, senior Lab analyst at ESG commented, “According to ESG research, many organizations have extensively adopted advanced prevention products, such as next-gen antivirus and even more are planning to ease their way into advanced detection and response.

Unfortunately, many enterprises simply lack the right level of security analytics skills or staff to perform these tasks effectually, thanks to a global, problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills. With Intercept X Sophos looks to provide a fast-track to achieving advanced protection and response capabilities while minimizing the need for specialized security consultants to administer it. In ESG Lab’s opinion, Sophos Intercept X has made excellent progress closing many of the endpoint security gaps that still exist for organizations worldwide.”

Customers and partners who participated in the public beta program experienced the next-generation protection capabilities of Sophos Intercept X, including the ability to help to eliminate the impact of ransomware by almost immediately recognizing and stopping malicious encryption activity and preventing the attack from spreading across the network.

Once the threat is neutralized, affected files can be rolled back to the pre-attack state, saving considerable time, resources and money.

“Installing Sophos Intercept X alongside existing endpoint protection is a no-brainer. Under the beta program we deployed Intercept X to more than 2,000 endpoints spanning more than 70 customer networks. To date we see that Intercept has stopped more than 18 new ransomware attacks and since deploying we’ve had zero ransomware infections on our clients’ networks. We can’t imagine the mess these attacks could have caused for our clients. Sophos Intercept X is a must have for any business challenged by different ransomware variants and other threats on a daily basis,” said Emily Adams, IT security analyst at Flexible Systems, a Sophos Partner based in Hauppauge, New York.

Bob Appleby of PA Computer Connections, a US-based Sophos Partner, commented, “Installing Sophos Intercept X alongside existing endpoint protection is simple and effective. Having tested the product during the beta program we have found that it blocks threats faster and provides comprehensive and straightforward analysis of an attack, accelerating the time from first infection to remediation. This product significantly advances protection for customers with any flavor of endpoint protection currently in place.”

Emile Belcourt of Globelink, a UK-based Sophos partner said, “Intercept Xrepresents the next generation of all-in-one protection for the endpoints of tomorrow. It has been one of the most seamless deployments and transitions that I have experienced, and the visibility it gives me into what my click-happy users are doing and how they keep getting infected has been without equal.

“I’m really excited at being able to share Intercept X with the over-worked IT managers I encounter in businesses today. It will make their lives easier and free up their valuable time to do the really important jobs without constantly worrying about the need to monitor what is happening. I’m also looking forward to seeing how Intercept X will continue to develop to keep us in step with the incredibly smart malware out there, but at a price that’s accessible to everyone.”

James Miller, managing director of Foursys, a UK-based Sophos partner said, “Our technical team trialed Intercept X the day it was available in beta. Everyone is worried about ransomware, so Intercept X will be additional defense for our customers who use Sophos Central and are keen to bullet proof their protection by adding an extra layer of next-generation threat and exploit detection.

With signatureless threat and exploit detection, Sophos’ innovative anti-ransomware solution and Root Cause Analysis all in one product, Sophos is again simplifying what has previously been a complex and difficult process – and that’s what makes Intercept X really unique.”

Sophos Intercept X is available to order today and a free trial is available through the Sophos Intercept Xwebpage.

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E-Business

Opay Plans IPO in US, Targets $4Bn in Valuation

Published

1 day ago

May 2, 2026

Ebere Melum-Nwogbo

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Opay, a financial technology (fintech) firm, is working with Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. for an initial public offering (IPO).

Opay Plans IPO in US, Targets $4Bn in Valuation

According to a report by Bloomberg on Friday, sources said the platform, backed by SoftBank Group Corp., is considering a listing in the United States and is targeting a valuation of about $4 billion.

They added that the company could proceed with the share sale later this year, although the timing and size of the offering are yet to be finalised.

Opay is one of Africa’s fastest-growing fintech firms, offering mobile payments, transfers, and other financial services across Nigeria.

The fintech company, Citi, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan have not publicly commented on the IPO plans.

Like Opay, Flutterwave, a major fintech company in Africa is planning an IPO.

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E-Business

How Nigerians Search is Changing — and Why it Matters for Our Businesses

Published

2 days ago

May 1, 2026

Ugo Onwuaso

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By Olumide Balogun

There was a time when using a search engine felt like cracking a code. You typed two or three carefully chosen keywords, hoped the machine understood, and waited to see what came back. People had to learn the language of machines, shrinking complex needs into stilted phrases.

Olumide Balogun, Director, West and East Africa at Google.

That era is ending. Today, a person can ask a question the same way they would ask a colleague, and the technology is finally learning to respond in kind. Nowhere is this shift more visible than in Nigeria, where a young, mobile-first population expects tools to keep pace with how they actually think and speak.

This change carries weight far beyond convenience. It is reshaping how Nigerian businesses reach customers and how customers find what they need.

For years, marketing online meant wrestling with rigid keyword lists. A small business owner had to guess every possible phrase a customer might type. If you sold ankara dresses, you tried “ankara dress,” “Nigerian print fabric,” “traditional wear Lagos,” and a dozen variations, hoping you covered the gaps. Anything you missed was a missed customer

The new wave of conversational search makes those lists feel ancient. People now ask layered, specific questions: “Where can I find a sustainable tailor in Yaba who makes office wear?” Older systems would have stumbled on a query like that. Newer ones, powered by artificial intelligence, can read intent and stitch ideas together. They connect a question to a relevant local website that a basic keyword search might never have surfaced.

The shift is starting to show up in concrete tools. Google’s AI Max for Search ads, now a year old, is one of the more visible examples. In plain terms, it lets a business describe what it sells and who it serves in everyday language, and the system figures out which searches to match it to, instead of forcing the owner to write hundreds of keywords by hand. Early adopters report stronger revenue growth than peers, and users say results feel more useful because the technology connects ideas for them, often surfacing local sites that would not have appeared before.

There is a quieter benefit too. When advertising becomes more relevant, it stops feeling like an interruption. An ad that answers a real question is no longer noise; it is information. That changes the texture of the internet. The marketplace gets less cluttered, and people spend less time wading through results that do not fit what they were looking for.

None of this is automatic. The technology only works if it can understand human nuance, and human nuance in Nigeria is not the same as human nuance in California. A search for “owambe outfit” or “small chops for fifty people” demands cultural context, not just linguistic translation. Newer features try to bridge that gap. AI Brief, a part of the same Google toolkit, lets a business owner type plain instructions, like “focus on sustainable traditional wear, keep a premium tone,” and the system follows them. This is steering by intent, not by keyword bingo.

There are gains for businesses with deep catalogues too. A retailer with thousands of items no longer has to match every question to the right page by hand. Tools such as Google’s Final URL Expansion read the search and send the customer straight to the page that fits, in real time. In travel, finance, and healthcare, where compliance matters, the same systems can carry mandatory legal text into every ad automatically. Regulated industries can grow without cutting corners.

These are not abstract wins. They are the difference between a small business being found by a customer in Abuja at 9 p.m. and being lost in a sea of generic results, between a hospital reaching the right patient and a tailor in Surulere being discovered by a bride planning her wedding.

We should not pretend the transition is finished. AI is imperfect. It can misread context, amplify mistakes, and require careful oversight. Regulators, businesses, and users all have a role in shaping how it develops in our market. The broader direction, however, is clear, and it is one Nigeria should engage with rather than resist.

Nigeria is a nation of storytellers and traders. Our markets, physical and digital, have always been about conversation. The technology of search is finally beginning to mirror that. It is becoming less of a vending machine and more of a market stall, where you can ask a question, get a real answer, and discover something you did not know you needed.

That is the bigger story behind any single product launch. It is about how a country full of voices is finding new ways to be heard. For Nigerian businesses willing to adapt, the opportunity has never been clearer.

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E-Business

Firm Reveals a 37% Increase in Malicious Packages Compromising Software Supply Chains

Published

3 days ago

April 30, 2026

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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According to Kaspersky telemetry, almost 19,500 malicious packages were found in open-source projects by the end of 2025, representing a 37% increase compared to the end of 2024.

Modern software development is inseparable from open-source components. However, open-source software may contain intentionally hidden threats which can leave the products that use malicious packages vulnerable to manipulation, including supply chain attacks. According to a new Kaspersky global study, supply chain attacks have emerged as the most common cyberthreat facing businesses over the past year.

Kaspersky reminds about high‑profile supply chain attacks that have emerged recently: In April 2026, the official website for CPU-Z and HWMonitor, free tools used by hardware enthusiasts, IT administrators and system builders worldwide to monitor hardware performance was compromised, silently replacing legitimate software downloads with malware-laced installers.

Analysis from Kaspersky GReAT showed that the compromise window was approximately 19 hours. Kaspersky telemetry detected that more than 150 victims across multiple countries faced this attack. The majority were individual users, which is consistent with the consumer-facing nature of the compromised software. Affected organisations spanned retail, manufacturing, consulting, telecommunications and agriculture.

In March 2026, Axios, one of the most widely used JavaScript HTTP clients, was compromised. The attackers hijacked a maintainer’s account and published poisoned versions of the package (1.14.1 and 0.30.4). The malicious releases contained no harmful code in Axios itself but introduced a phantom dependency that deployed a cross-platform RAT, contacted a C&C server, and then erased traces of itself for macOS, Windows and Linux. Both versions were removed within hours, and the dependency was quickly put under a security hold. Kaspersky GReAT confirmed that the attack was not standalone – it shared tactics, techniques and procedures with Bluenoroff’s GhostCall and GhostHire campaigns, presented at the Security Analyst Summit in 2025.
In February 2026, the developers of Notepad++, a widely used open-source text and code editor, disclosed that their infrastructure had been compromised due to a hosting provider incident. Kaspersky GReAT researchers discovered that attackers behind the Notepad++ supply chain compromise had used at least three distinct infection chains and targeted a government organisation in the Philippines, a financial institution in El Salvador, an IT service provider in Vietnam and individuals across several countries.

“According to our survey, 31% of enterprise businesses have been impacted by a supply chain attack in the past 12 months. Nevertheless, the security level of open‑source projects is not necessarily lower than that of proprietary-vendor solutions. In some cases, an active open‑source community can quickly discover and remediate vulnerabilities, whereas proprietary systems often rely on internal teams for audits.

The open‑source community strives to monitor emerging risks, cybersecurity specialists conduct researches to find vulnerabilities and malicious code in open‑source software, promptly notifying their users and the community. Completely eliminating the potential risks is impossible, but they can be minimised also with the help of security solutions and automated code‑analysis tools,” comments Dmitry Galov, Head of Kaspersky GReAT Russia and CIS.

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