Sophos Strengthens its Data Protection Strategy with SafeGuard Enterprise 5.50 and SafeGuard Easy 5.50

Breadth of latest SafeGuard solutions reinforces Sophos’s position as a strategic partner committed to the strongest data security and the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO)

MUMBAI / BANGALORE, India – April 11, 2010 – IT security and control firm Sophos today announced the release of version 5.50 of Sophos SafeGuard ® Easy and Sophos SafeGuard ® Enterprise, the industry’s first and only data protection product line designed to address the broadest array of customer requirements, implementation options and long-term data protection plans. This latest advancement furthers Sophos’s commitment to provide customers with a new approach to comprehensive security and data protection that reduces cost and complexity.

Leading the Industry in Product Depth and Expertise

In the 2009 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Mobile Data Protection, the analyst firm noted, "Every company must include mobile data protection in its IT operations plan." Sophos has delivered upon this message by offering two distinctly different data protection offerings that are ideally built upon the same award-winning platform.

Sophos SafeGuard ® Enterprise 5.50, the industry’s most advanced, multi-layered endpoint data security encryption and data leakage prevention (DLP) solution, is ideal for customers who are most concerned with the breadth of Sophos’s central policy management capabilities and the ability to secure desktops, laptops, removable media and other portable devices. The SafeGuard Enterprise engine complies with most recent standards and modern platforms to optimally support current and future needs of enterprise customers in securing their infrastructure.

For customers primarily addressing regulatory requirements such as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) Sophos SafeGuard® Easy 5.50 is an ideal, simplified full disk encryption solution for laptops and PCs. Given its shared engine platform, Safeguard Easy customers can seamlessly upgrade to SafeGuard Enterprise without the need to re-encrypt the company’s endpoints.

Leading the Industry in Lowest TCO
The new versions of Sophos SafeGuard solutions introduce several new capabilities that ultimately aim to further reduce the customer’s TCO, such as—

• Forgotten full disk encryption passwords can now be securely recovered with the Local Self Help functionality. Users simply answer questions they created during the initial enrollment to retrieve their password - bypassing the help desk completely, with the added benefit of lowering help desk costs.

• New Server Installation Wizard enables administrators to install the Sophos SafeGuard Enterprise server and client components, and required Microsoft server components, faster with accurate configuration settings.

• Administrator Accounts enhancements allow administrators to audit and perform essential tasks on PCs during encryption rollouts. Managing security officer roles and groups has also been made easier especially for large deployments.

• New administrator access options and updated policy controls provide a variety of deployment alternatives for both centrally- and non-centrally managed environments- from a few PCs in remote offices to over 100,000 PCs including those in service provider type deployments. IT administrators can easily rollout encryption across heterogeneous environments ensuring users are protected at all times regardless of their location.

• The latest Sophos SafeGuard solutions fully support Windows 7 64-bit support - including Sophos SafeGuard Enterprise modules — Device Encryption, Partner Connect, and Management Center. SafeGuard Enterprise Management Center and Server also support Windows Server 2008R2 (64-bit).

“The new SafeGuard Enterprise Server Installation Wizard allows us to install the server components and Management Center more quickly and efficiently – that’s a big plus,” said Vojta Borovian, Senior Desktop Engineer at LECG, a global management consultancy and business advisory services firm. “The improved management features allows us to easily upgrade to the new version by exporting policies, such as device protection from the existing 5.40 Management Center and importing into the 5.50 Management Center. We liked the new Administrator Accounts features as it gives the option of assigning administrative rights to groups and allows them to easily perform essential deployment tasks on PCs while ensuring that end-user access to PCs is auditable for compliance. Overall, we found SafeGuard Enterprise 5.50 to offer enhanced, easy-to-manage data protection, which allows our IT team to be more efficient.”

No Additional Cost
All existing Sophos SafeGuard Enterprise and Sophos SafeGuard Easy customers who are covered by the maintenance contract and have the appropriate license are entitled to receive the latest version at no additional cost. Sophos SafeGuard Easy customers interested in upgrading to Sophos SafeGuard Enterprise 5.50, please contact your Sophos account manager.

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About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use, and that deliver the industry’s lowest TCO. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs—a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, UK and Boston, US. More information is available at www.sophos.com