Cybercriminals are resourceful, organized and relentless, and businesses need 24/7 monitoring and management of their network. Yet many organizations don’t have the expertise or in-house security teams to optimally configure and manage security around-the-clock.

The solution? Third-party Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services that augment an organization’s security capabilities with the continual monitoring, advanced analytics and threat-hunting expertise they need.

MDR requires excellent tools and intelligence but at its core is human expertise. That’s why I’m so pleased to announce our acquisition of Rook Security, a pioneer and leader in MDR, and to welcome Rook founder and CEO J.J. Thompson, and the rest of his team, to Sophos.

Rook Security’s 24/7 team of cyberthreat hunters and incident response experts monitor, root out, analyze and respond to security incidents for businesses of all sizes.

Our re-sellable MDR services will combine Rook Security’s threat detection, investigation and response capabilities with our recently acquired DarkBytes technology platform and our Intercept X Advanced with EDR product.

We’ll also be aligning Sophos’s synchronized security technology and product portfolio with Rook Security’s services for MDR customers.

With MDR, Sophos’ approximately 47,000 channel partners worldwide will be able to provide businesses of all sizes with expert services that continuously detect, hunt for, and respond to security incidents.

The delivery of services such as MDR will be an essential component of how cybersecurity is provided in the future. I’m thrilled to welcome Rook Security’s analysts and security expertise to Sophos to empower our customers with the world’s best protection and immediate response to incidents.