Sophos has confirmed that chief executive Kris Hagerman will step down as the company looks to consolidate its position as a cyber security as a service provider.
Joe Levy will assume the role following Hagerman’s departure after being appointed president last year.
Hagerman, who will serve as an advisor to the company until April 1, has been CEO of Sophos since 2012. He's led the company through significant growth, with revenue reaching more than $1 billion, and its worldwide customer base growing from around 150,000 customers to more than 580,000.
He also led the company's successful IPO on the London Stock Exchange in 2015, and oversaw its sale to Thoma Bravo in 2020.
"I am proud of our team’s accomplishments over the last 12 years as we have transformed Sophos into a true next-generation cyber security leader and an industry innovator in delivering cyber security as a service," Hagerman said.
"I am excited to pass the baton to Joe Levy as president and acting CEO to lead Sophos into the future. Joe and I have worked closely together for over nine years, and he has been pivotal in leading our product, services and technology initiatives that have underpinned Sophos’ growth. He has my full and enthusiastic support."
Sophos eyes managed service gains
Levy has been with the company for nine years, having joined from Blue Coat Systems. Since the sale to Thoma Bravo, Levy is credited with turning the company from a product-only vendor into a global cyber security as a service company, with Sophos now having more than 20,000 managed services customers worldwide.
He also launched the company's operational threat intelligence unit, Sophos X-Ops, a 500-person team offering real-time and historical attack data.
"I am extremely excited for the opportunity to further grow Sophos as a global cyber security leader. Many organizations worldwide are still neglected relative to the industry’s focus on securing large enterprises, leaving them exposed to opportunistic and targeted attacks," Levy said.
"Our immediate goal is to work with our partners to further expand our collective ability to secure organizations that are unprotected or need stronger cyber defenses."
RELATED WHITEPAPER
Last January, Sophos announced that it was laying off 10% of its staff - around 450 people worldwide - as part of its restructuring.
The aim, it said, was to "achieve the optimal balance of growth and profitability" and to allocate more resources to its cyber security as a service operations.
"We’re pleased to appoint Joe as the President and acting CEO of Sophos. Joe’s hands-on career as a cybersecurity practitioner, innovator and successful business leader moves Sophos into a whole new level of competitiveness," said Chip Virnig, partner at Thoma Bravo and a Sophos board member.
"With his industry pedigree and accomplishments, Joe is well-positioned to lead Sophos in the direction the market is demanding."
-
Hounslow Council partners with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build resilience and transition away from legacy techSpomsored One of the most diverse and fastest-growing boroughs in London has completed a massive cloud migration project. Supported by AWS, it was able to work through any challenges
-
Salesforce targets better data, simpler licensing to spur Agentforce adoptionNews The combination of Agentforce 360, Data 360, and Informatica is more context for enterprise AI than ever before
-
Sophos names Torjus Gylstorff as new chief revenue officerNews Sophos has announced the appointment of seasoned industry executive Torjus Gylstorff as its new chief revenue officer.
-
Sophos acquires Secureworks for $859 millionNews Sophos will look to integrate Secureworks’ Taegis XDR platform while combining the pair's threat intelligence capabilities
-
Sophos names Joe Levy as new CEO
News The experienced cyber security veteran takes the reigns as Sophos looks to expand its presence in the midmarket
-
InfoSec 2011: The big themesNews We look at the major talking points of this year's InfoSecurity conference.
-
EU cyber war simulation deemed successfulNews An EU project to improve cyber security coordination across Europe was successfully completed yesterday.
-
Just one in every 28 business emails is not spamNews Spam continues to dominate the corporate inbox in 2008, but social networks are being increasingly targeted with 'spear phishing'.
