Sophos is a developer and vendor of security software and hardware, including anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, network access control, encryption software and data loss prevention for desktops, servers, email systems and other network gateways.

SophosLabs is the company's global network of threat analysis centers.

Founded in 1985 by Dr. Peter Lammer and Dr. Jan Hruska, Sophos is a privately owned company and is co-headquartered in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England and Burlington, Massachusetts, USA. The company has subsidiaries and branch offices in Australia, the Benelux, Canada, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain. With annual revenues of more than $400 million, the company employs approximately 1,500 staff worldwide.

During the late 1980s and into the 1990s mainly sold a range of security technologies in the UK including encryption tools still used widely in the banking community. Late in the 1990s faced with slowing growth and a reducing profit Sophos concentrated its efforts onto sales of anti-virus technology and embarked on an a program of international expansion during which the subsidiary operations were formed and the transition to selling with partners was made. Rapid growth and healthy cash generation enabled Sophos to create a global brand as well as a maintain a headquarters in the UK.