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Sophos Unveils Advanced Version of Endpoint Detection and Response
Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, has unveiled an updated version of its Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), the first solution designed for both security analysts and IT administrators, available now in Sophos Intercept X Advanced and Intercept X Advanced for Server with EDR.
Significant advancements and new capabilities make it faster and easier than ever before for security analysts to identify and neutralize evasive threats, and for IT administrators to proactively maintain secure IT operations to reduce risk.
Sophos also published new research, “An Insider View into the Increasingly Complex Kingminer Botnet,” underscoring the use of servers in carrying out attacks and the importance of threat intelligence in detecting such activity.
The opportunistic Kingminer botnet attempts to gain server access by brute-forcing login credentials, and Sophos now finds that it’s using the infamous EternalBlue exploit in an attempt to spread malware among other attack mechanisms.
The new version of Sophos EDR offers a custom-built query engine to detect indicators of compromise.
Kingminer shares many of the attributes that advanced ransomware attackers use to gain access, evidence of the need for EDR with the ability to hunt active attacks.
As Sophos recently discovered in its State of Ransomware 2020 survey, only 24% of organizations breached in a ransomware incident were able to detect the intrusion and stop it before it was able to encrypt their files.
Sophos’ new EDR capabilities help security and IT teams detect threats and breaches that could otherwise take months to uncover.
Dan Schiappa, chief product officer, Sophos, said “Cybercriminals are raising the stakes, stopping at nothing to capitalize on expanded attack surfaces as organizations increasingly move to the cloud and enable remote workforces. Servers and other endpoints are all too insufficiently protected, creating vulnerable entry points that are ripe for attackers to exploit.
“Sophos EDR helps identify these attacks, preventing breaches and shining light on otherwise dark areas. Live querying capabilities only available with Sophos EDR in Intercept X enable organizations to search for past indicators of compromise and determine the current system state.
“This level of intelligence is critical in understanding changing attacker behaviors and reducing attacker dwell time.”
Sophos EDR now provides powerful visibility across an organization’s entire estate, enabling security and IT practitioners to quickly answer critical threat hunting and IT security operations questions, and easily respond. New features include:
Live Discover: Pinpoint past and present activity with up to 90 days of data retention. Out-of-the-box ready SQL queries allow administrators to answer threat hunting and IT questions, and can be selected from a library of pre-written options and fully customized by users. This flexible query engine provides access to some of the most granular and detailed endpoint activity recordings that are further enhanced with Sophos’ deep learning technology
Live Response: Remotely respond and access endpoints and servers using a command line interface to perform further investigation and remediate issues; easily reboot devices, install and uninstall software, terminate active processes, run scripts, edit configuration files, run forensic tools, isolate machines, and more
Ryan Miller, chief information security officer, Mission Search, said “Sophos EDR is a force multiplier that gives me the tools I need to do the job of an entire team without adding additional headcount.
“This new version drastically reduces the time it takes to detect and respond to incidents, saving me on average four to five hours per day. Easy to use SQL queries simplify the previously complex and time intensive process of investigating suspicious activity, and allow me to perform searches that are completely unique to my network.
“Unlike other EDR tools that are limited in what they can see and report on, Sophos EDR provides complete visibility into all of my endpoints with vast capabilities not available anywhere else.
“As the chief information security officer of a Joint Commission certified healthcare staffing firm, I am extremely sensitive to any time delays in receiving warnings related to suspicious activity that could be a precursor of a malicious attack designed to obtain sensitive data.”
Sophos EDR is powered by Sophos’ deep learning neural network, which is trained on hundreds of millions of samples to look for threat indicators.
Security analysts and IT administrators also gain on-demand access to curated threat intelligence from SophosLabs, which tracks, deconstructs and analyzes more than 400,000 malware samples every day.
Sam Heard, president, Data Integrity Services, said “The new version of Sophos EDR gives us the threat intelligence and security expertise needed to know how to prioritize and where to start our investigations so we can remediate issues requiring urgent action.
“The new features combine the strongest protections with the industry’s most powerful EDR to automatically detect, prioritize and investigate threats, so we can remotely respond to incidents with speed and precision.
“The pre-configured queries in particular are a game changer not only for security pros to threat hunt, but for IT admins to do their everyday jobs.”
Available now in Sophos Intercept X Advanced with EDR and Intercept X Advanced for Server with EDR at no added cost, Sophos EDR will support Windows, MacOS and Linux.
Its new Live Discover and Live Response features are easily managed in the threat analysis center on the cloud-based Sophos Central platform for real-time information sharing with Sophos’ entire portfolio of next-generation cybersecurity solutions via its unique Synchronized Security approach.
Combined with Sophos Managed Threat Response (MTR), a fully-managed threat hunting, detection and response service, organizations can boost capabilities with human analysis for a further evolved approach to proactive security protection.
Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) hosted its annual Made of Africa (MOA) 2025 Awards on Monday, February 4, 2026. The event, held during the NGX year-end celebrations, brought together regulators, listed companies, and market operators such as MTN, BUA, Dangote, Transcorp, to celebrate achievements in compliance, sustainability, and market performance.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Umaru Kwairanga, the Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Limited, said “Excellence in compliance, sustainability, and several other categories recognises the fact that capital market operators and quoted companies must be standards not only in terms of the size of their operations but also adherence to regulations and best practices of corporate social responsibilities.”
He emphasised that the awards serve as a benchmark for excellence. He noted that the 2025 honourees demonstrated significant improvements in branding, customer service, and operational standards despite a challenging economic environment in Nigeria.
Among the evening’s significant winners was MTN Nigeria, which was honoured for its commitment to corporate transparency. The technology giant received the award for Leadership in Sustainability Reporting, emerging as the winner in a category that included Seplat Energy, BUA Cement, and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria PLC.
The award recognised the brand’s adherence to both national and global reporting standards, reflecting its role in advancing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices within the Nigerian corporate space.
Tobe Okigbo, Chief Corporate Services & Sustainability Officer, MTN Nigeria, said “This recognition for Leadership in Sustainability Reporting underscores our commitment to transparency and aligning with global best practices.
“As the capital market moves toward greater accountability, MTN Nigeria remains dedicated to demonstrating resilience and faith in the Nigerian economy through comprehensive and standard-compliant reporting.”
The ceremony saw several other major players in the financial sector secure multiple accolades. Chapel Hill Denham emerged as one of the night’s most successful firms, winning in categories including Fund Manager with the Largest Listed Fund Size and Market Operator with the Highest Value of Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) Transactions.
Other notable winners included: Cardinal Stone Securities Limited, named Broker of the Year and Equity Trader of the Year, Dangote Cement was awarded Best Issuer in terms of Fixed Income Listings, BUA Cement PLC was recognised as the Most Compliant Listed Company, and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) PLC received special recognition for Capital Market Excellence in Equity.
Mr. Jude Chiemeka, the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Limited, congratulated the recipients, noting that the market saw a 51% close in the All-Share Index last year, making it the second-best performing market globally. He urged winners and nominees alike to continue striving for excellence to further the aspiration of a $1 trillion Nigerian economy.
Chief Information Officer of MTN Nigeria, and recently appointed Executive, IT Core Design for MTN Group, Shoyinka Shodunke says Africa has a rare opportunity to lead and participate in the ongoing fourth digital revolution, provided it overcomes hesitation, legacy mindsets, and weak leadership.
Shoyinka Shodunke
The call was made known on Friday, at Tech Revolution Africa 2.0, during a keynote session titled “The Digital Economy Forecast for 2026.”
The conference, sponsored by, alongside David Ogebe, Chief Executive Officer of HOH, was designed to connect the full value chain of technology across the continent. It brought together talents, innovators, policymakers, startups, investors, and industry leaders to network, collaborate, discuss the future of technology, and drive innovation across Africa.
Speaking at the event, Shoyinkareferenced Africa’s historical experience with past industrial revolutions, the MTN CIO warned against repeating old mistakes.“Africa was completely missing from the first industrial revolution. In the second, we were only providers of raw materials, and in the third, we were merely consumers.
“Revolutions punish hesitation. When Africa hesitated in the first, second, and third revolutions, we lost out, and history punished us”, he said.
Shodunke stressed that the fourth digital revolution presents a different reality, driven by data, cloud computing, and talent rather than heavy capital investments.
“The inputs today are data, cloud, and talent. The factory now sits in the cloud. For the very first time, Africa has an opportunity not just to participate, but to lead, because the playing field has changed.” He stated.
He identified leadership, rather than capital or talent, as the biggest challenge facing Africa’s digital future. “Our biggest risk is not lack of capital or talent; it is leadership.”
Shodunke said: “This is not a time for comfort or committee meetings. It is a time for bold leadership that is willing to disrupt legacy products, legacy revenues, and even itself.”
Using MTN Nigeria as a case study, he noted that the company has moved beyond basic connectivity into cloud services, fintech, and artificial intelligence.
According to him, connectivity and data have become commodities, and the real value is in building intelligence on top of those commodities, where winners in this digital era would emerge.
He therefore urged African youths and innovators to act decisively.
His words: “History does not reward those who wait to be convinced. The time to act is now. Africa must not be left behind again; this time, we can set the trend for the fourth digital generation.”
While noting the visible growth of the platform, the transformation and revolution that have been carried out within a year, Shodunke commended the conference conveners for building a strong ecosystem for technology conversations in Africa.
Following his keynote session, the MTN CIO was honoured with the Pan-African Technology Leader of the Year award, in recognition of his impact and outstanding contributions to technology development across Africa and his consistent leadership in advancing the continent’s digital ecosystem.
Microblogging platform X has suffered widespread outage, leaving millions of users across multiple countries unable to access tweets.
Elon Musk
The disruption began with users in the UK initially reporting issues. Then, in Nigeria, after 1pm, Nigerians also noticed issues accessing X.
In the United States, over 42,000 users flagged similar problems, while more than 45,000 outage reports were recorded in Japan. Users in Canada, Australia, France and Germany also reported difficulties.
Many users said the website became stuck on the X logo or displayed an error message reading: “Something went wrong. Try reloading.” On the mobile app, feeds either failed to load or appeared blank, though prompts to subscribe to X Premium were still visible.
The platform, owned by Elon Musk, has not issued an official explanation.
Unlike other major social media networks, X does not operate a public system status page. Its developers’ platform, however, indicated that “all systems are operational”.
The outage marks the latest in a series of disruptions in recent months. Similar incidents occurred last month and late last year, including one linked to network issues at Cloudflare, which affected multiple websites globally.
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