BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired) - Sophos today announced the availability of Sophos UTM Connected, the latest version of its award-winning UTM (unified threat management solution). This release introduces expanded UTM managed endpoint protection with unique Web in Endpoint functionality, broader wireless coverage for large scale wireless deployments and higher performance networking.

As the complexities of securing all networks have grown, so have the struggles for businesses to fully optimize the many point security solutions they have purchased. A UTM is the proven solution to address this problem, however most simply put layers of protection on a single appliance. The introduction of Web in Endpoint functionality lets Sophos UTM go a stage further and make security layers communicate and combine to deliver more effective protection. This approach simplifies user experience and delivers a higher level of overall protection on which customers can rely.

"Small businesses face many of the same security challenges as do large enterprises -- a distributed workforce and doing more with fewer resources," said Charles Kolodgy, research vice president, IDC. "With Sophos UTM Connected, these businesses have a single consolidated security solution, one that allows them to deploy an endpoint client that synchronizes with their gateway web policy. Web security becomes easier to configure and stronger as a result."

Through a unique integration of gateway, endpoint and cloud technology, the Sophos UTM now provides administrators with full web protection and control for endpoints roaming outside of the corporate network. As systems roam the globe, this integration enables complete oversight and security for endpoints as though they are in the office. Policies can be updated and reporting data accessed in near real-time for every protected endpoint.

Sophos web protection is backed by SophosLabs, the company's global network of threat intelligence centers that identifies and protects against tens of thousands of infected URLs and hundreds of thousands of new variants of malicious code daily. Web in Endpoint is available at no extra cost to UTM Endpoint and Web Protection customers.

New UTM wireless capabilities enable businesses to extend wireless and accelerate VPN access faster and more securely. With wireless bridging and repeating support, Sophos access points reach further -- capable of extending wireless range without the need for Ethernet cables. Sophos VPN functionality now makes load balancing and failover of traffic between IPsec VPN tunnels simple to set up.

"We're excited about this latest release from Sophos and feel it will provide considerable benefit to customers, in particular, businesses with distributed workforces," said Sam Heard, president, Data Integrity Services. "Businesses need to ensure their employees are protected against web-based threats, and employees want ultra-fast wired and wireless connectivity; this makes Sophos UTM Connected a win/win for the entire organization."

"Customers and partners shape our UTM roadmap, ensuring that we deliver innovative technology that is practical to use in a business environment," said Chris Kraft, vice president, product management, Sophos. "Web in Endpoint is a great example of solving a complex problem with a simple solution. Because we have proven endpoint protection and secure web gateway expertise, we are uniquely positioned to help IT administrators secure their roaming workforces -- and having a single solution like this makes life easier for our channel partners to deploy security too."

Additional information on all of the additional features in Sophos UTM Connected can be foundhere. For additional information on Sophos' unified solutions, please visitwww.sophos.com/networksecurity.

About Sophos

More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos' complete security solutions as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Simple to deploy, manage, and use, Sophos' award-winning network security, encryption, endpoint security, Web, email, and mobile solutions are backed by SophosLabs -- a global network of threat intelligence centers.

Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available atwww.sophos.com.