Cyber security as a service outfit Sophos said that Kris Hagerman has packed it in as its CEO and will be an advisor to the firm until April 1, 2024. Joe Levy will be Sophos’s President and acting CEO.
Hagerman has been CEO of Sophos since 2012 and has seen the firm grow. The firm has tripled its revenue to over $1 billion. It has more customers, from about 150,000 to over 580,000 worldwide, making Sophos one of the top next-generation leaders in the cyber security business. Hagerman made Sophos go public on the London Stock Exchange in 2015 and sold it to Thoma Bravo in 2020.
Hagerman said he was happy with the company’s achievements over the last 12 years as it became a true next-generation cybersecurity leader and an industry pioneer in making cybersecurity a service.
“I am happy to hand over to Joe Levy as President and acting CEO to lead Sophos into the future. Joe and I have worked well together for over nine years, and he has been key in leading our product, services, and technology, which have made Sophos grow. He has my full and keen support.”
Levy is a nearly 30-year-old innovator in cybersecurity products and services. He has been working with the channel since the mid-1990s.
During his nine-year time at Sophos, Levy also made Sophos go from a product-only seller to the global cyber security service firm it is today. Sophos’ managed services now protect more than 20,000 customers worldwide. Levy also made his vision for creating an operational threat intelligence unit come true.
Called Sophos X-Ops, the 500+ person team joins together cross-departmental cyber security operators and threat intelligence experts to give real-time and past attack data that makes Sophos’ defences smarter and faster.
“I am very excited for the chance to grow Sophos as a global cyber security leader. Many firms worldwide still need to be included compared to the industry’s focus on securing big firms, leaving them open to attacks. Our first goal is to work with our partners to grow our ability to secure firms that are not protected or need more robust cyber defences.
“Our research shows that midmarket and smaller firms are increasingly in the sights of attackers. The link between the modern world, with these under-protected bits as its important part, leaves us all open to direct or indirect risk. The best way to reach all these firms is to arm Managed Security Providers (MSPs) and cyber-focused channel partners worldwide – those who can work cheaply at a huge global scale – with new security technologies and services they can sell or do together. The vision is that we are all more secure as more of us are secure, and in my new role, Sophos is more focused than ever on making that happen,” said Levy.
