Telecom
Sophos Acquires Braintrace to Boost Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem
Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, today announced that it has acquired Braintrace, further enhancing Sophos’ Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem with Braintrace’s proprietary Network Detection and Response (NDR) technology.
Braintrace’s NDR provides deep visibility into network traffic patterns, including encrypted traffic, without the need for Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) decryption.
Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, Braintrace launched in 2016 and is privately held.
As part of the acquisition, Braintrace’s developers, data scientists and security analysts have joined Sophos’ global Managed Threat Response (MTR) and Rapid Response teams.
Sophos’ MTR and Rapid Response services business has expanded rapidly, establishing Sophos as one of the largest and fastest-growing MDR providers in the world, with more than 5,000 active customers.
Braintrace’s NDR technology will support Sophos’ MTR and Rapid Response analysts and Extended Detection and Response (XDR) customers through integration into the Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem, which underpins all Sophos products and services.
The Braintrace technology will also serve as the launchpad to collect and forward third-party event data from firewalls, proxies, virtual private networks (VPNs), and other sources.
These additional layers of visibility and event ingestion will significantly improve threat detection, threat hunting and response to suspicious activity.
Joe Levy, chief technology officer, Sophos
“You can’t protect what you don’t know is there, and businesses of all sizes often miscalculate their assets and attack surface, both on-premises and in the cloud. Attackers take advantage of this, often going after weakly protected assets as a means of initial access. Defenders benefit from an ‘air traffic control system’ that sees all network activity, reveals unknown and unprotected assets, and exposes evasive malware more reliably than Intrusion Protection Systems (IPS),” said Joe Levy, chief technology officer, Sophos. “We’re particularly excited that Braintrace built this technology specifically to provide better security outcomes to their Managed Detection and Response (MDR) customers. It’s hard to beat the effectiveness of solutions built by teams of skilled practitioners and developers to solve real world cybersecurity problems.”
Sophos will deploy Braintrace’s NDR technology as a virtual machine, fed from traditional observability points such as a Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) port or a network Test Access Point (TAP) to inspect both north-south traffic at boundaries or east-west traffic within networks.
These deployments help discover threats inside any type of network, including those that remain encrypted, serving as a complement to the decryption capabilities of Sophos Firewall.
The technology’s packet and flow engine feeds a variety of machine learning models trained to detect suspicious or malicious network patterns, such as connections to Command and Control (C2) servers, lateral movement and communications with suspicious domains.
Since Braintrace built its NDR technology specifically for predictive, passive monitoring, its engine also provides intelligent network packet capture that IT security administrators and threat hunters can use as supporting evidence during investigations. The novel NDR analysis and prediction technique is patent pending.
According to Gartner, “compared with traditional approaches, where malicious behavior is defined ahead of time in the form of prebuilt signatures and detection engines inspecting traffic looking for matches, NDR takes a different approach. Instead of only inspecting traffic against a list of known bad payloads or behaviors, NDR also focuses on looking for unknown patterns in the network traffic, calculating a probability as to whether that anomaly is malicious.”
Gartner further notes that, “the machine learning algorithms that are at the core of many NDR products help to detect anomalous traffic that is often missed by other detection techniques. The optional automated response capabilities help to offload some of the workload for incident responders. The threat hunting functionality provides valuable tools for incident responders.”
“NDR is critical to successful threat hunting. Braintrace’s competitive differentiation is its unique NDR technology that our MDR analysts leveraged for finding, interrupting and remediating cyberattacks,” said Bret Laughlin, CEO and co-founder of Braintrace. “With our own NDR technology, the team responds faster and more accurately because of the real-time, automated visibility and threat verification they have into encrypted traffic. We built Braintrace’s NDR technology from the ground up for detection and now, with Sophos, it will fit into a complete system to provide cross-product detection and response across a multi-vendor ecosystem.”
British cybersecurity software and hardware company Sophos Group plc’s Silicon Valley office in Santa Clara, California by Gettyimages
Braintrace’s NDR technology is a key component for defending against cyberattacks today and in the future. Sophos research demonstrates how adversaries aggressively and constantly change tactics to evade detection and execute their attacks.
Braintrace’s technology helps uncover malicious C2 traffic from malware, such as ColbaltStrike, BazaLoader and TrickBot, as well as zero-days, that could lead to ransomware and other attacks.
This visibility allows threat hunters and analysts to pre-empt any potential ransomware attack, including recent strikes by REvil and DarkSide.
Sophos plans to introduce Braintrace’s NDR technology for MTR and XDR in the first half of 2022.
Airtel Africa has grown its customer base by 9.0% to 169.4 million, with data customers increasing 17.4% to 75.6 million with focus on bridging the digital divide across her markets continues. According to the telecommunications operator’s financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, which demonstrated strong growth across key metrics and a continued focus on expanding its services across its 14 African markets.
The operator reported a significant increase in revenue, reaching $1,415 million. This represents a 24.9% growth in constant currency and a 22.4% increase in reported currency, indicating a more stable macroeconomic environment in its operating regions and effective tariff adjustments, particularly in Nigeria.
The growth was broadly driven, with mobile services revenue increasing by 23.8% in constant currency. Data revenue showed exceptional performance, surging by 38.1%, while voice revenue grew by 13.9%. Mobile money services continued their strong upward trajectory, recording a 30.3% growth in constant currency. This was supported by accelerated growth in Francophone Africa (16.4% in constant currency) and continued strong performance in East Africa (20.3% in constant currency).
Airtel Africa’s profitability also saw a substantial uplift. EBITDA grew by 29.8% in reported currency to $679 million, with EBITDA margins expanding to 48.0% from 45.3% in the prior period. This margin expansion is attributed to sustained operating momentum, more stable fuel prices, and the ongoing benefits from cost efficiency programs.
Profit after tax saw a remarkable improvement, rising to $156 million compared to $31 million in the prior period. Basic Earnings Per Share (EPS) stood at 3.4 cents, a significant increase from 0.2 cents in the previous year, primarily reflecting higher operating profit in the current period and the absence of large derivative and foreign exchange losses that impacted the prior period.
Operational highlights further underscored the company’s growth. Airtel Africa’s total customer base expanded by 9.0% to 169.4 million. Data customers increased by 17.4% to 75.6 million, as the company intensified its efforts to bridge the digital divide. Mobile money customer base also grew by 16.1% to 45.8 million, with transaction value increasing by 28.7% in constant currency.
The company’s strategic focus on enhancing customer experience is supported by ongoing network investments. Over 2,300 new sites were rolled out, bringing the total to 37,579 sites, and the fiber network was expanded by 2,700 km, now exceeding 79,600 km. This investment has boosted data capacity across the region, with 4G population coverage reaching 74.7%, an increase of 3.4% year-on-year.
Airtel Africa continued its debt localization program, with almost 95% of its operating company debt (excluding lease liabilities) now in local currency, up from 86% a year ago, reducing foreign currency debt exposure. The company also confirmed it has returned $16.9 million to shareholders through its ongoing share buyback program as of June 30, 2025.
Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer, said: “We are very pleased with the strong growth in our operating and financial performance in the first quarter. The strength of this performance, and the scale of the growth we achieved, reflects the sustained demand for our services and the strength of our business model to meet these demands. Operationally, the acceleration in customer base growth to 9%, and 17.4% growth in our data customers to 75.6m reflects the strong on-ground execution with a relentless focus on digitisation and the simplification of the customer experience.”
Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, executive vice chairman/ceo of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), was honoured with the prestigious African Achievers Award at the 15th edition of the ceremony held at the historic House of Lords, UK Parliament, on July 11, 2025.
L-R: Founder, Startup Arewa, Mohammed Jega; Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy Mete Coban; Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Khalil Suleiman Halilu; and Special Adviser to the EVC on Commercialization, Engr. Anas Balarabe during the presentation of the prestigious African Achievers Award to Halilu at the House of Lords, UK Parliament recently.
The award, presented during an event that brought together royals, global leaders, policymakers, and innovators, recognized Mr. Halilu’s outstanding contributions to advancing Africa’s technological infrastructure, innovation ecosystems, and industrial growth through his leadership at NASENI.
Hosted by Baroness Sandip Verma, Chancellor of the University of Roehampton and a respected member of the House of Lords, the ceremony was a powerful global showcase of African excellence and transformative leadership. Mr. Halilu joined a distinguished group of honourees including public officials, business executives, and philanthropists shaping the future of the continent.
In his remarks, Mr. Halilu emphasized Africa’s readiness to lead in innovation, manufacturing, and sustainability.
“It is a great honour to receive this award alongside fellow visionaries committed to Africa’s future. At NASENI, we are bridging the gap between ambition and access, turning ideas into industries, empowering indigenous solutions, and driving forward Nigeria’s and Africa’s industrial transformation. Africa is not just rising, it is ready.”
Under his leadership, NASENI has been repositioned as Nigeria’s leading technology transfer agency, delivering on the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by enabling local production in critical sectors such as clean energy, agriculture, transportation, and digital infrastructure.
Through strategic partnerships and an Accelerated Technology Transfer & Adaptation Strategy, NASENI is turning Nigeria into a hub for sustainable innovation and industrial self-reliance. Mr. Halilu extended appreciation to the organizers and supporters of the Awards:
“I thank the African Achievers Awards team, Baroness Sandip Verma, and all those across the continent and diaspora who continue to champion African solutions. This recognition is a motivation to do more and a reminder that the future we seek is one we must build ourselves.”
Now in its 15th year, the African Achievers Awards has become one of the most respected platforms spotlighting African leadership and excellence globally. This year’s edition included powerful messages from dignitaries such as King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, Queen Olori Atuwatse III, and Dr. Fatou Bensouda, reinforcing the urgency of building a united and future-facing African continent.
The award to Mr. Khalil Halilu reflects NASENI’s growing continental footprint and its mission to deliver homegrown technologies that respond to Africa’s real challenges, promote sustainable development, and accelerate industrialization across borders.
The 2025 edition of the Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) & Sustainability Conference has been rescheduled to hold on August 7, 2025, at CitiHeight Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, following a shift from its earlier date of July 30.
The adjustment was made to accommodate a nationwide telecom stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The CNII Conference, jointly organised by the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) and Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), seeks to address the implementation and awareness gaps surrounding the CNII Order, signed into law by the Federal Government in August 2024.
The law designates telecom infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure, positioning it as a strategic asset vital to Nigeria’s economic and security framework. Industry groups including the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) have thrown their weight behind the initiative.
Speaking on the new date, NITRA Chairman, Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi, emphasised that the Act, though laudable, requires industry-wide collaboration and clear implementation strategy for tangible impact.
“The mere proclamation of CNII as an Act does not guarantee infrastructure safety. Stakeholders must address operational and standardisation gaps to make the law work,” he said.
ALTON Chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, also highlighted the need for regular maintenance and technology upgrades to curb vandalism and ensure infrastructure security.
Focus Areas of the Conference Include:
- Implementation mechanisms for the CNII Act.
- Stakeholders’ roles at federal, state, and industry levels.
- Security enforcement and public education.
- Infrastructure protection and sustainability.
- Collaboration and compliance across telecom companies.
Expected attendees include the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, regulators, service providers, security agencies, and key players in public and private sectors.
The event is themed “Industry Sustainability And CNII Conference 2025 – Way Forward”, with panel discussions aimed at creating a unified approach to safeguarding Nigeria’s telecom infrastructure under the CNII provisions.
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