Sophos Acquires Secureworks for $859 Million

Sophos has completed its $859 million acquisition of managed cyber security services provider Secureworks in an all-cash transaction. It now claims to be the “leading pure-play” provider of Managed Detection and Response Services, supporting more than 28,000 global organisations.

Secureworks is an Atlanta, U.S.-based cybersecurity company that focuses on threat detection, response, and managed security services. Its acquisition will build out Sophos’ security operations platform for mitigating cyber attacks.

“The open and scalable platform helps organizations, especially those with diverse IT estates, safeguard current and future technology investments, providing greater operational efficiencies and return on cybersecurity spend,” Sophos said in a press release about the Secureworks acquisition.

Furthermore, Sophos X-Ops, its threat intelligence unit, is expanding its capabilities with the addition of Secureworks’ Counter Threat Unit and security operations and advisory teams.

SEE: IBM Acquires HashiCorp for $6.4 Billion, Expanding Hybrid Cloud Offerings

“With the integration of Secureworks, our expanded services and product portfolio will provide even stronger end-to-end security solutions that will include identity threat detection and response (ITDR), next-gen SIEM and managed risk, all in a single open platform,” said Sophos CEO Joe Levy, in the release.

“We will also be able to further advance our AI, threat intelligence and attack research through more diverse and deeper global telemetry that is analyst-tuned for the real-world. At every level, we are very excited about this next accelerated chapter for Sophos.”

Secureworks was acquired by Dell in 2011 for $612 million. Prior to this acquisition, it owned 79.2% of the company, but has been trying to sell up for a number of years. Secureworks has reportedly struggled to differentiate from other large cyber security providers, leading to a loss of share value.

Meanwhile, U.K.-based Sophos posted turnover of £644 million in March 2024, marking 5.4% growth, and saw profits double from £100.1 to £183.2. Levy said that Sophos has managed to maintain dominance in MDR, in part, thanks to its “native artificial intelligence” that it first developed nearly a decade ago. He also cited its “mature competencies in ransomware detection, malware analysis and threat actor tradecraft.”

Dell and other Secureworks shareholders will receive $8.50 per share in cash in the acquisition, which was originally announced last October. For now, both companies will continue to operate separately, supporting existing clients and developing their own new business opportunities.

Cyber attacks are becoming an increasingly serious problem for businesses due to the growing sophistication of hackers that are now augmented by AI, widespread digitization, and the rising value of sensitive data. As a result, cyber security companies are in great demand, and are competing to provide the most comprehensive offering.

SEE: 99% of UK Businesses Faced Cyber Attacks in the Last Year

In 2024, Cisco acquired Splunk, a data analytics and security platform, for $28 billion, while Mastercard acquired threat intelligence company Recorded Future for $2.65 billion. U.S. private equity firm Thoma Bravo bought AI security firm Darktrace for $5.3 billion, after acquiring Sophos in 2020 for $3.9 billion.

So far this year, 1Password, Tenable, WatchGuard, and Darktrace have all announced acquisitions to expand their security offerings.