
In 2010, the majority interest of Sophos was sold to Apax. Jan Hruska and Peter Lammer remained as members of the board of directors. In 2006, Peter Gyenes and Steve Munford were named chairman and CEO of Sophos, respectively. At that time viruses were being spread primarily through email spam and this allowed Sophos to produce a combined anti-spam and antivirus solution. In 2003, Sophos acquired ActiveState, a Canadian software company that developed anti-spam software. In the late 1990s, Sophos concentrated its efforts on the development and sale of antivirus technology, and embarked on a program of international expansion. During the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Sophos primarily developed and sold a range of security technologies in the UK, including encryption tools available for most users (private or business). Sophos was founded by Jan Hruska and Peter Lammer and began producing its first antivirus and encryption products in 1985.

It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Thoma Bravo in February 2020. While not a primary focus, Sophos also protects home users, through free and paid antivirus solutions (Sophos Home/Home Premium) intended to demonstrate product functionality. Sophos is primarily focused on providing security software to 1- to 5,000-seat organizations.

Sophos develops products for communication endpoint, encryption, network security, email security, mobile security and unified threat management. Sophos Group plc is a British based security software and hardware company.
