Telecom
Sophos Launches Industry-First Managed Detection and Response Service for Third-party Security Technologies
Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, has announced the general availability of Sophos Managed Detection and Response (MDR) with new industry-first threat detection and response capabilities.
Sophos is the first endpoint security provider to integrate vendor agnostic telemetry from third-party security technologies into its MDR offering, providing unprecedented visibility and detection across diverse operating environments. Sophos also introduced the Sophos Marketplace and $1 million Sophos Breach Protection Warranty.
The need for MDR services and specialized defenders has never been greater, as shown in today’s new research, “LockBit 3.0 ‘Black’ Attacks and Leaks Reveal Wormable Capabilities and Tooling,” from Sophos X-Ops, the company’s cross-domain threat intelligence unit. The research analyzes tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) used by LockBit, one of today’s most prolific ransomware gangs, that are similar to BlackMatter, and explains how the latest version of the ransomware, LockBit 3.0, adds wormable capabilities and uses legitimate pentesting tools to evade detection.
In a second article, “Detection Tools and Human Analysis Lead to a Security Non-Event,” Sophos X-Ops details a recent Sophos MDR use case involving credential theft, another technique that allows adversaries to impersonate legitimate users. In this case, the Sophos MDR team combined its threat hunting intelligence with information from the customer’s third-party security appliance to thwart an attack.
“The only way to reliably detect and neutralize determined attackers who increasingly combine the use of pentesting tools, stolen credentials and other stealthy tactics to maneuver undetected is with 24×7 eyes on glass, operating on signals from a diversity of event sources and employing actionable threat intelligence into real-time attacker behaviors,” said Joe Levy, chief technology and product officer at Sophos. “Organizations are struggling to keep pace with well-funded adversaries who are continuously innovating and industrializing their ability to evade defensive technologies alone. Sophos MDR can discover and intercept these steps before they result in a data breach, ransomware or other type of costly compromise. Sadly, ransomware persists as one of the greatest cybercrime threats to organizations, as evidenced in the Sophos 2023 Threat Report. We’re raising the industry standard for how critical MDR services can be delivered to broaden visibility for better, faster detection and response.”
Industry-First Detection and Response and the New Sophos Marketplace
Sophos is the first leading endpoint security provider delivering MDR across both its own product portfolio as well as end users’ existing security deployments. To support this effort, Sophos launched the Sophos Marketplace, an open ecosystem of more than 75 technology integrations, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Check Point, CrowdStrike, Darktrace, Fortinet, Google, Microsoft, Okta, Palo Alto Networks, Rapid7, and many others. Expanded visibility across these integrations and diverse operating environments enables Sophos MDR experts to better detect and remediate attacks with speed and precision, regardless of customers’ existing security solutions.
In addition to Sophos MDR, Sophos Marketplace provides third-party integrations for Sophos’ portfolio of services, products and technologies. Telemetry is automatically consolidated, correlated and prioritized with insights from the Sophos Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem and the Sophos X-Ops threat intelligence unit.
Extended Protection Warranty
Sophos stands behind its MDR customers with the new Sophos Breach Protection Warranty that covers up to $1 million in response expenses for organizations protected by Sophos MDR Complete, Sophos’ most comprehensive MDR offering. Underwritten solely by Sophos, the warranty covers endpoints – both Windows and Mac devices – and servers, and unlike competitive offerings, there are no warranty tiers or duration limitations for active customers. This Sophos Breach Protection Warranty is automatically included with all purchases and renewals of Sophos MDR Complete annual subscriptions through Sophos’ global reseller partner network.
Availability
More than 13,000 organizations already rely on Sophos’ existing MDR service for 24/7 threat hunting, detection and response by an expert team as a fully-managed service. The newest offering with third party integration capabilities is available now, and the service is customizable with different tiers and threat response options, enabling customers to choose whether to have the Sophos MDR operations team execute full-scale incident response, provide collaborative assistance for confirmed threats, or deliver detailed alert notifications for their security operations teams to manage themselves.
Telecommunication companies have threatened to withdraw their Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD), services from banks over what they called misinformation.
MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Globacom and 9Mobile- the telcos disclosed that the banks’ notice to their customers on the new billing system and airtime deductions for USSD services was misleading.
Also, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) also denied that the directive was from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
USSD is done via shortcodes on mobile phones and allows bank customers to make transactions in places with limited or no internet service.
Recall that banks earlier this week claimed that NCC has directed them to begin charging them from their airtime rather than from customers’ accounts.
The notice from the banks read in part: “In line with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), please be informed that effective June 3, 2025, charges for USSD banking services will no longer be deducted from your bank account.
“Going forward, these charges will be deducted directly from your mobile airtime balance in accordance with the NCC’s End-User Billing (EUB) model.
“Under this new billing structure, each USSD session will attract a charge of ?6.98 per 120 seconds, which will be billed by your mobile network operator.
“You will receive a consent prompt at the start of each session, and airtime will only be deducted upon your confirmation and availability of the bank to fulfil this service.
“If you do not wish to continue using USSD banking under this new model, you may choose to discontinue use of the USSD channel.”
Reacting, ALTON, umbrella body of telecom operators in Nigeria, said the banks’ notice is a gross misinformation deliberately hatched to suit their selfish interests.
Hence they threatened to withdraw network support to the banks’ USSD services.
Engr Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of ALTON told Vanguard: ” I don’t understand why the banks are twisting agreements and distorting information just to favour their selfish interests. In the first place, the information wasn’t a directive from the NCC but a joint regulatory agreement between the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN witnessed by the telcos and the banks. The agreement was that if the banks finally cleared all USSD debts owed to the telcos by June 2, 2025, they are free to migrate to the end-user billing method, so long as the model of migration is transparent and agreed upon by the telcos.
“The reason for that clause was because the telcos insisted that the process of migration is such that will not allow a customer to be billed twice; in other words, that a subscriber would not have his airtime deducted and also have his or her money deducted for same services from his or her bank account.
” As we speak, some of the banks have cleared their debts, but the majority are yet to do so. So, even if all the modalities of migrating to end-user billing have been perfectly carried out, the implementation cannot even begin because the banks are yet to clear the USSD debt owed to the telcos.
“Our position now is that if that is the way the banks want to treat the agreement, we may withdraw support for their USSD services. It is not a must-have. They can do without it. But, they should clear the debts as agreed,” he added.
MTN Nigeria has announced plans to embark on a massive capital expenditure (CAPEX) drive in 2025, committing nearly N900 billion to significantly enhance network service quality across Nigeria.
Dr. Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria,
The substantial investment, more than double the combined CAPEX of approximately N440 billion spent in 2023 and 2024, underscored MTN’s aggressive strategy to address persistent service quality issues and meet growing customer and regulatory expectations.
Dr. Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria, detailed this unprecedented financial commitment during a recent interview on Arise TV, emphasizing that improving service quality is the company’s paramount message for the year.
He highlighted a clear understanding and expectation from both the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and security agencies for improved network quality.
A primary focus of this increased CAPEX will be on putting additional capacity in a city like Lagos, particularly in Abuja, where you have a lot of buildings coming up, you need additional sites because there are coverage issues.
Beyond these critical urban centers, the investment aims to bolster network resilience and ensure power stability for its infrastructure nationwide.
This includes proactively addressing site outages by ensuring timely payment for operational necessities such as diesel for generators, a persistent challenge in the Nigerian operating environment.
Toriola outlined a comprehensive upgrade process, which involves placing orders formally, opening letters of credit, and then the equipment gets shipped in and installed.
He added that MTN will be acquiring new sites and laying fiber to the base station to create better stability” where necessary.
While the immediate CAPEX is geared towards improving existing service quality and capacity, this investment aligns with MTN’s broader goals of enhancing financial inclusion in underserved rural areas, suggesting a long-term vision for network expansion and service improvement that extends beyond metropolitan areas.
Subscribers can anticipate tangible improvements in service quality, with a significant improvement in quality of service expected by the end of the second quarter or early in the third quarter of 2025, according to Toriola.
“This year is all going to be about capital expenditure on an aggressive basis to fix quality of service issues (and) meet both the regulators’ and the public’s expectations,” he affirmed, reiterating MTN’s steadfast focus on customer experience through substantial capital investment.
Telecom regulators and industry leaders from across the Middle East and Africa gathered in Cairo last week to chart a data-driven future for the region.
In a region where digital transformation is accelerating at unprecedented speed, connectivity intelligence firm, Ookla and Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) joined forces to organise the Telecommunications Regulatory Summit
Themed ‘Harnessing Data and Technology for Superior QoS’, the summit focused on how data, particularly crowdsourced insights, can transform regulatory strategies across the region.
The summit attracted stakeholders from over 30 countries, including delegates from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and World Broadband Association (WBBA), who engaged in high-level discussions on optimising network performance and accelerating digital inclusion.
Karim Yaici, lead industry analyst for the Middle East and Africa at Ookla, said the event set the tone for the growing value of data-driven decision-making.
“Access to and the use of crowdsourced data contribute to making more informed decisions, fostering transparency and ensuring that citizens in the MEA region benefit from high-quality, accessible and affordable connectivity,” he said.
The experts underlined that crowdsourced data is becoming a critical complement to traditional regulatory methods.
They agreed that it helps identify service gaps, prioritise infrastructure investments, and drive innovation.
With broadband speeds now closely tied to GDP growth and productivity, accurate performance data is seen as key to socio-economic advancement.
Dr. Hossam Abdel-Mawla, vice-president of technical affairs and quality of service at NTRA, stressed that the summit was pivotal in fostering regional collaboration.
“By actively sharing best practices and exploring innovative data-driven strategies, we are shaping a future where telecom regulations ensure digital inclusion and economic growth across the region,” he said.
In a key session, Ahmed Nabawy, director of client services at Ookla, presented findings on 5G performance in Egypt and Tunisia.
He demonstrated how Ookla’s unified data platform, powered by AI, enables operators to analyse 5G-capable device density and prioritise high-impact rollout areas.
The summit also explored the shift from conventional network quality metrics to more user-centric Quality of Experience models. These advanced analytics tools promise to enhance transparency, improve accountability, and ultimately deliver better connectivity experiences for all.
Telcos Threaten to Disconnect Banks over Misinformation on New USSD Charges
MTN Nigeria Plans N900Bn in Service Upgrade
NDIC Calls for Inputs to IADI Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance
Netflix Hikes Subscription Fees Again in Nigeria over “Market Conditions”
DSO: STBMAN Accuses NBC of Contempt, Seeks Presidential Intervention
E-Business3 days agoNIMC Plans to Register 95 Percent Nigerians by December
News3 days agoJAMB Waxes Worriedly over Rising Digital Exam Fraud
Telecom3 days ago9mobile Nigeria Inks Agreement to Roam with MTN
E-Business2 days agoAXIAN Telecom Invests in Jumia Post-MTN Era
Telecom3 days agoIHS Nigeria Moves to Enhance G4S Secure Solutions Site Patrols and Increase Operational Efficiency with Patrol Vehicles
Telecom3 days agoBanks, Telcos to Start Deducting USSD Charges from Airtime Today
- E-Financial2 days ago
UBA Compiles with NCC, to Deduct USSD from Customers’ Accounts
E-Business2 days agoNigeria Strengthens Cybersecurity, Launches National Cleanup Plan