Sophos (LSE: SOPH), a global leader in network and endpoint security, today announced that Gartner, Inc., has positioned Sophos as a Leader in its 2018 Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms1 . Sophos has been positioned as a Leader in all 10 of these reports since they were first published in 2007.

In the report, Gartner states that the definition of an Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) has been updated:  “In September 2017, in response to changing market dynamics and client requirements, we adjusted our definition of an EPP. An EPP is a solution deployed on endpoint devices to prevent file-based malware, to detect and block malicious activity from trusted and untrusted applications, and to provide the investigation and remediation capabilities needed to dynamically respond to security incidents and alerts…Organizations are placing a premium on protection and detection capabilities within an EPP, and are depreciating the EPP vendors' ability to provide data protection capabilities such as data loss prevention, encryption or server controls.”

“The threat landscape is evolving at an astonishing rate,” said Dan Schiappa, senior vice president and general manager of products at Sophos. “During the last 12 months alone we have seen repeated ransomware attacks that traditional endpoint protection alone cannot adequately protect against. To stay at the forefront of endpoint protection, vendors must continually analyze the landscape and innovate the approach to protection faster than cybercriminals can innovate their attack techniques. We believe Gartner’s continued placement of Sophos in the Leaders quadrant in the Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms demonstrates that Sophos is able to innovate and deliver solutions that organizations of all sizes can use every day. Predicting future threats is the future of security protection and the deep learning capabilities we have added to our portfolio is enabling us to do just that, more effectively than any other next-generation vendor.”

Further strengthening the advanced levels of protection within its endpoint portfolio, Sophos also announced today that it has added deep learning neural network and advanced anti-exploit technology to the newest release of its next-generation Intercept X. Intercept X can be installed alongside any traditional endpoint protection from any vendor, immediately boosting detection speed and accuracy. Sophos believes that its next-generation enduser, server, and network protection technologies will further its leadership and continue to keep customers protected as threats evolve. The advanced machine learning technology has been further developed by Sophos to enhance Sophos Sandstorm capabilities and is powering automated threat analysis in SophosLabs facilities worldwide.