Sophos gains top NCSC certification for incident response

Sophos, the global leader of innovative security solutions combating cyberattacks, recently announced a significant achievement for its Incident Response service, being awarded the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Centre's (NCSC) Cyber Incident Response (CIR) Level 2 status by CREST.

This prestigious award indicates Sophos as a reliable partner for most private sector organisations requiring support for cyber incident response. The NCSC, part of the U.K.'s intelligence and cyber agency, is committed to minimising the impact of security threats within public and private sectors. Recognising Sophos reflects the company's ability to respond to an increasingly volatile cybersecurity landscape where financially motivated crimes, such as business email compromise (BEC) attacks and ransomware, pose significant threats.

Recent data from Sophos' 2024 Threat Report reveals an alarming rate of ransomware attacks featuring remote encryption, up by 62% in the last year alone. The director of Incident Response at Sophos, Peter Mackenzie, stated, "The threat landscape is constantly shifting, and cybercriminals are continually refining their tactics and tools to inflict damage." He highlighted this achievement as "a real testament to Sophos' Incident Response work fighting adversaries."

Rowland Johnson, President of CREST, warmly congratulated Sophos on the achievement. "As a delivery partner for the NCSC's Cyber Incident Response (Level 2) scheme, we are delighted to congratulate Sophos for gaining Assured Service Provider status," he said. "This means Sophos has been assessed as capable of supporting most organisations with common cyberattacks, such as ransomware. It provides valuable assurance to buyers of the high quality of Sophos' incident response services."

Gaining the Level 2 Certified Incident Response (CIR) certification marks a significant advancement for both Sophos and its channel partners. Gerard Allison, Senior Vice President of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Sophos, added, "Sophos provides its partners and MSPs with real-time and historical data insights, information, and understanding of attacker behaviours from its Sophos X-Ops unit." He emphasised that their strength in cybersecurity rests on their ability to integrate and share intelligence across all security products and services.

Sophos Incident Response is accessible for any organisation under active attack. Once prepared in advance, businesses can utilise the invaluable support provided by the Incident Response retainer, ensuring they are fortified against the ever-evolving threat of sophisticated cyberattacks.