Sophos snaps up Linux attack protection startup Capsule8

Cybersecurity firm Sophos Group plc announced today it has acquired Linux attack protection startup Capsule8 Inc. for an undisclosed price.

Founded in 2016, Capsule8 offers an attack detection platform built for Linux production environments. The service provides detection to customers whether they use software containers, virtualized computers or bare-metal servers with no software pre-installed, and whether they’re deployed on-premises or in the cloud.

Capsule8 Protect, the company’s main platform is pitched as liberating security operations teams from managing a high volume of manual operations. The platform replaces multiple legacy controls with a single solution that detects and prevents exploits in real time while preserving the performance and reliability of production infrastructures.

The platform can detect a wide range of cybersecurity attacks. Those include malware, memory corruption, new file behavior, unusual application behavior, suspicious interactive shells, container escapes, kernel and userland backdoors and privilege file operations. The platform provides support for all major Linux orchestrators including Kubernetes, Docker and CoreOS and configuration tools such as Puppet and Ansible.

Notable Capsule8 customers include Mimecast Services Ltd., Databricks Inc., ActBlue, Betterment LLC, Bison Trails, Fastly Inc. and Snowflake Inc.

Sophos plans to integrate Capsule8 technology into its Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem, providing robust and lightweight Linux server and cloud container security within this open platform. Sophos will also feature Capsule8 tech in its Extended Detection and Response solutions, Intercept X sever protection products and Sophos Managed Threat Response and Rapid Response services.

“With Capsule8’s technology, organizations are no longer forced to choose between system stability and security risk,” John Viega, chief executive officer of Capsule8, said in a statement. “Given the growth and mission-critical nature of Linux environments and the fast-changing, targeted threat landscape, organizations must be confident that their Linux environments are both performant and secure.”

The acquisition of Capsule8 is the 15th acquisition Sophos has made, according to Tracxn. Previous acquisitions include Avid Secure Inc. in 2019, Invincea Inc. in 2017 and Surfright in 2015.

Coming into its acquisition, Capsule8 had raised $30 million in venture capital funding, including a round of $6.5 million in 2019. Investors include Intel Capital, ClearSky, Bessemer Venture Partners and Rain Capital.

Image: Capsule8