Sophos and Secureworks merger aims to deliver ‘superior’ XDR to SMBs: CEO Joe Levy

According to Levy and Secureworks CEO Wendy Thomas, the $859 million deal is aimed at allowing MSPs to improve detection and response to smaller customers who are constantly exposed to cyberattacks.

Sophos’ planned acquisition of advanced detection and response specialist Secureworks will accelerate the cybersecurity giant’s efforts to bring improved XDR capabilities to protect small and medium-sized businesses, which are frequent targets of attacks, according to Sophos CEO Joe Levy.

Even with the addition of Secureworks’ enterprise-focused capabilities, “we’re going to continue to focus on SMBs and the middle market because we believe they’re the ones who most need premium offerings,” Levy said in the report. interview.

(Related: Sophos-Secureworks merger: 5 takeaways from major partners)

Levy and Secureworks CEO Wendy Thomas spoke with CRN last week following the announcement of an $859 million deal between Sophos, which is owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, and Secureworks, whose majority owner is Dell Technologies.

According to Levy, the proposed acquisition will undoubtedly be one of the largest investments in SMB security in recent years and, importantly, will mean huge new opportunities for partners, including MSPs.

A focus on meeting partner needs “will be fundamental to how we bring these companies together,” said Levy, a Sophos veteran who was named the company’s interim CEO in February and permanent CEO in May.

Thomas said the goal of the merger is to create a combined company that can become an even more formidable player in the fight against cybercriminals targeting SMBs and mid-market organizations.

“I think when you bring together two important players that have both the technology and the best of managed detection and response services, you can deliver enterprise-grade security results that are made available to the market at an affordable price and ease of implementation. “It’s changing the industry,” she said.

Executives said that while there is no doubt that Secureworks XDR’s capabilities will be used to enhance the Sophos security platform, decisions are still being made regarding integration and whether Secureworks will continue to be offered as a separate platform.

XDR is a fast-growing category in cybersecurity. Its goal is to provide enhanced security that extends beyond endpoints by collating data from across an organization’s environments and devices, then prioritizing the most serious threats for response.

“A more complete proposal”

Executives from Sophos’ solution provider partners told CRN they were optimistic about the deal’s potential, saying it should make Sophos more competitive in the XDR and MDR markets, as well as make advanced security more affordable for smaller customers.

Today, while Sophos has a broad portfolio of security offerings, the company does not have a full suite of detection and response capabilities beyond the endpoint, partners say.

However, if the Secureworks deal closes, “Sophos will now have a more complete offering,” said Jason Norred, chief information security officer at Solutions II, a Sophos partner based in Littleton, Colorado.

“Sophos combined with Secureworks allows them to run the full endpoint and MDR stack, as well as capture the rest of the organization’s security logs and implement full XDR response capabilities,” Norred said. “I think it will be an attractive offer.”

The acquisition “will definitely make (Sophos) more competitive,” he said. “It gives them a seat at the table.”

Given the enormous threat to SMBs, investment in expanding XDR capabilities for small businesses is highly welcome, Norred said. “SMBs are just in dire need of help,” he said.

Ultimately, “I think Sophos-Secureworks is well positioned to bring to market an offering that is sort of an end-to-end solution that will really allow SMBs to level up their security program, hopefully with an affordable entry point.” – said Norred.

Head-on competition

Other Sophos partners who spoke to CRN agreed, including Michel Drolet, founder and CEO of Towerwall, a provider of security solutions and professional services based in Framingham, Massachusetts. Drolet said there is no doubt that the acquisition will allow Sophos to compete head-on. with many players in the MDR market, although much depends on integration models and pricing.

However, many existing MDR providers are “a little expensive for SMBs,” which could give Sophos a huge advantage if it can keep an expanded MDR offering available to smaller customers, she said.

Tyler Rasmussen, vice president of cybersecurity at Executech, a Sophos MSP partner based in Salt Lake City, also welcomed Sophos’ planned acquisition of Secureworks, calling it “a very positive and encouraging sign.”

The deal “confirms their commitment to invest in and continue to improve their XDR and MDR services, which are now absolute requirements for small and medium-sized businesses,” Rasmussen said.

Speaking to CRN, Levy said a key aspect of the upcoming opportunity for the combined company is the adoption of a “superior” model when it comes to security operations, which will effectively “accelerate the convergence” of XDR and SIEM (security information and event management).

“There is certainly tremendous value in the technology that Secureworks has built into its Taegis platform,” he said. “I’m very excited about the increased value we will be able to deliver to our customers through this.”

Vulnerabilities, identity threat detection

Specific areas Levy mentioned included Secureworks’ vulnerability detection and response capabilities, which “we know will be very valuable to our customers,” he said.

Levy also pointed to Secureworks’ identity threat detection and response (ITDR) offering, which will complement Sophos’ existing ITDR capabilities in the Microsoft ecosystem.

“The ITDR capabilities built by Secureworks are superior to most other security offerings we have seen in the space. So there’s incredible value in that,” he said.

Both CEOs emphasized the partnership-oriented mentality of each of their companies, suggesting that this bodes well for the integration of channel programs after the deal closes.

“Turning Point” against hackers

Thomas, who helped oversee Secureworks’ transition from an MSSP to an XDR-focused security provider, said the company was actually even inspired by Sophos’ commitment to partners.

“Sophos has a pretty stellar reputation in the partner ecosystem,” she said, noting that the company realized early on that “the example we should emulate is Sophos’ partner approach.”

Levy said he believes the combined company’s relationship with MSPs will be “critical to our ability to turn the tide” in SMBs’ fight against threat actors.

Overall, “I think we have a really powerful opportunity to bring these two divisions together,” Levy said.