Technology
Sophos Acquires Braintrace to Provide Next Generation Cybersecurity
By Adedapo Adesanya
Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, has announced the acquisition of Braintrace to manage cyber threats and provide responses to its customers.
This further enhances Sophos’ Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem with Braintrace’s proprietary Network Detection and Response (NDR) technology.
Braintrace’s NDR provides deep visibility into network traffic patterns, including encrypted traffic, without the need for Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) decryption. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, Braintrace launched in 2016 and is privately held.
As part of the acquisition, Braintrace’s developers, data scientists and security analysts have joined Sophos’ global Managed Threat Response (MTR) and Rapid Response teams.
Sophos’ MTR and Rapid Response services business has expanded rapidly, establishing Sophos as one of the largest and fastest-growing MDR providers in the world, with more than 5,000 active customers.
Braintrace’s NDR technology will support Sophos’ MTR and Rapid Response analysts and Extended Detection and Response (XDR) customers through integration into the Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem, which underpins all Sophos products and services.
The Braintrace technology will also serve as the launchpad to collect and forward third-party event data from firewalls, proxies, virtual private networks (VPNs), and other sources.
These additional layers of visibility and event ingestion will significantly improve threat detection, threat hunting and response to suspicious activity.
Speaking on the acquisition, Mrs Joe Levy, chief technology officer, Sophos said, “You can’t protect what you don’t know is there, and businesses of all sizes often miscalculate their assets and attack surfaces, both on-premises and in the cloud. Attackers take advantage of this, often going after weakly protected assets as a means of initial access.
“Defenders benefit from an ‘air traffic control system’ that sees all network activity, reveals unknown and unprotected assets, and exposes evasive malware more reliably than Intrusion Protection Systems (IPS).”
“We’re particularly excited that Braintrace built this technology specifically to provide better security outcomes to their Managed Detection and Response (MDR) customers.
“It’s hard to beat the effectiveness of solutions built by teams of skilled practitioners and developers to solve real-world cybersecurity problems,” he added.
Sophos will deploy Braintrace’s NDR technology as a virtual machine, fed from traditional observability points such as a Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) port or a network Test Access Point (TAP) to inspect both north-south traffic at boundaries or east-west traffic within networks.
These deployments help discover threats inside any type of network, including those that remain encrypted, serving as a complement to the decryption capabilities of Sophos Firewall.
The technology’s packet and flow engine feed a variety of machine learning models trained to detect suspicious or malicious network patterns, such as connections to Command and Control (C2) servers, lateral movement and communications with suspicious domains.
Since Braintrace built its NDR technology specifically for predictive, passive monitoring, its engine also provides intelligent network packet capture that IT security administrators and threat hunters can use as supporting evidence during investigations. The novel NDR analysis and prediction technique is patent pending.
On his part, Mr Bret Laughlin, CEO and co-founder of Braintrace said, “NDR is critical to successful threat hunting. Braintrace’s competitive differentiation is its unique NDR technology that our MDR analysts leveraged for finding, interrupting and remediating cyberattacks.
“With our own NDR technology, the team responds faster and more accurately because of the real-time, automated visibility and threat verification they have into encrypted traffic.
“We built Braintrace’s NDR technology from the ground up for detection and now, with Sophos, it will fit into a complete system to provide cross-product detection and response across a multi-vendor ecosystem.”
Braintrace’s NDR technology is a key component for defending against cyberattacks today and in the future.
Sophos research demonstrates how adversaries aggressively and constantly change tactics to evade detection and execute their attacks.
Braintrace’s technology helps uncover malicious C2 traffic from malware, such as ColbaltStrike, BazaLoader and TrickBot, as well as zero-days, that could lead to ransomware and other attacks. This visibility allows threat hunters and analysts to pre-empt any potential ransomware attack, including recent strikes by REvil and DarkSide.
Sophos plans to introduce Braintrace’s NDR technology for MTR and XDR in the first half of 2022.
The Interswitch Retail Summit 2026 will convene on April 23, 2026, at the Lagos Marriott Hotel Ikeja, bringing together senior leaders across Nigeria’s retail ecosystem for a focused conversation on the future of commerce. The forum, themed “The Modern Retail Playbook: What Works, What’s Changing, What’s Next?”, is designed to foster meaningful, execution-driven dialogue among decision-makers and key industry stakeholders. At its core, the event aims to bridge the gap between insight and action in a rapidly evolving market.
Nigeria’s retail sector is undergoing a profound and inevitable evolution. The familiar structures that once defined how businesses operate, how customers engage, and how transactions are completed are steadily giving way to a more dynamic, technology-driven ecosystem. For many organisations, this shift has moved beyond theory into daily reality, where decisions around growth, efficiency, and customer experience must now be made within the context of constant change.
At the centre of this evolution is the growing influence of digital technology. Consumers are more informed, more connected, and more demanding than ever before. They expect seamless interactions, faster service, and consistent experiences across both physical and digital channels. Meeting these expectations requires more than incremental improvements; it calls for a fundamental rethinking of how retail operations are structured, delivered, and scaled.
Leadership, therefore, has taken on a more integrated and strategic role. Today’s Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), and Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are not just managing their respective functions; they are collectively responsible for navigating a new kind of business environment. Strategy, technology, and finance are no longer separate conversations; they intersect in ways that directly influence an organisation’s ability to compete and grow.
Across Nigeria, there are already clear signs of adaptation. Retailers are leveraging data to better understand customer preferences and tailor their offerings in real time. Payment solutions are becoming more seamless, reducing friction at checkout and enabling new forms of commerce. At the same time, partnerships across the ecosystem are unlocking efficiencies and opening new pathways for growth. Yet, while progress is evident, it remains uneven.
Many organisations are still grappling with how to translate emerging trends into practical strategies that deliver measurable outcomes. This underscores the importance of platforms that bring industry leaders together. When decision-makers exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, and learn from one another, the entire ecosystem benefits. It is through these shared conversations that best practices are refined, new approaches are tested, and meaningful progress is accelerated.
As a company with over two decades of experience enabling digital payments and commerce across Africa, Interswitch Group has seen firsthand how collaboration drives innovation. Its work across retail and the broader commerce ecosystem reinforces a simple but powerful reality: the most effective solutions are often developed through partnership. Whether it is integrating payment systems, improving operational efficiency, or enhancing customer engagement, the ability to work across boundaries is becoming a defining feature of successful organisations.
The timing of the forum is particularly significant. Nigeria’s economic landscape continues to evolve, presenting both challenges and opportunities for businesses. Rising operational costs, shifting consumer spending patterns, and increased competition are prompting organisations to rethink traditional approaches. At the same time, advances in technology are opening new possibilities for efficiency, scalability, and innovation. Navigating this dual reality requires a balanced approach, one that combines strategic foresight with disciplined execution.
Operational efficiency will be a key area of focus at the forum. In a competitive environment, the ability to streamline processes, reduce waste, and optimise resources can significantly impact performance. Technology plays a central role in enabling this shift through automation, improved visibility, and more informed decision-making. However, unlocking these benefits requires more than tools; it demands organisational alignment and strong leadership commitment.
The forum will also explore the future of retail in Nigeria, with a focus on emerging trends and their implications for business strategy. From the rise of omnichannel retailing to the growing importance of data-driven insights, the forces shaping the industry are increasingly interconnected. Understanding these dynamics is essential for leaders looking to position their organisations for sustained success.
Ultimately, the evolution of Nigeria’s retail sector is not a distant prospect; it is already underway. The question for business leaders is no longer whether they will be affected, but how they will respond. Will they take a proactive approach, seeking out insights and building the partnerships needed to thrive, or will they struggle to keep pace with change?
Platforms like the Interswitch Retail Summit 2026 offer a timely opportunity to choose the former. By bringing together the individuals shaping the future of retail, the forum creates space for learning, collaboration, and decisive action. In a rapidly evolving landscape, such platforms are no longer optional; they are essential for leaders looking to build resilient, future-ready retail businesses in Nigeria.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Four Nigerian firms have been selected to join the 10th Google for Startups Accelerator Africa Cohort, which began on April 13 and will end on June 19, 2026.
Fifteen companies are participating in the hybrid programme, which will receive dedicated guidance from experienced mentors and industry experts, alongside hands-on technical workshops focused on AI and machine learning.
The four Nigerian startups chosen for this scheme include Bani, MasteryHive AI, Regxta, and Termii.
They were picked from an exceptionally competitive pool of nearly 2,600 applications. The beneficiaries are utilising Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address critical local and regional challenges.
As for Bani, it is a cross-border payments infrastructure platform eliminating settlement delays for African businesses trading globally, while MasteryHive AI is an AI-native platform automating transaction reconciliation, fraud detection, and AML monitoring.
On its part, Regxta combines alternative data-driven credit scoring with a hybrid digital-agent distribution model to deliver financial products to unbanked micro businesses, while Termii uses its AI-native communications infrastructure platform to ensure reliable financial messaging for banks and fintechs.
African tech founders are actively solving fundamental infrastructural challenges, bridging gaps in financial inclusion, healthcare, and supply chains with complex AI.
The continent’s venture ecosystem showed remarkable resilience by raising $3.9 billion in 2025. However, scaling deep-tech solutions requires specialised technical infrastructure, advanced cloud capabilities, and strategic mentorship to complement this capital.
Accelerator initiatives provide these exact tools, ensuring local innovations can sustainably grow into businesses that power the continent’s digital economy.
“At Termii, we’re building AI-powered infrastructure that ensures financial transactions don’t fail, from login PINs to payment OTPs and fraud alerts.
“The Google Startup Accelerator is helping us accelerate our AI roadmap and scale globally, and even in the first week, access to technical support and insights has been incredibly valuable for our next phase of growth,” the chief executive of Termii, Mr Gbolade Emmanuel, stated.
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome these exceptional founders into Class 10. African startups are driving essential economic growth and social development.
“Our role is to serve as a supportive partner, providing these developers and founders with the technical infrastructure, mentorship, and global network they need to scale their solutions and amplify their real-world impact,” the Head of Startup Ecosystem for Google Africa, Mr Folarin Aiyegbusi, disclosed.
Since launching in 2018, the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa program has supported 106 startups from 17 African countries, empowering them to collectively raise over $263 million and create more than 2,800 jobs.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Nineteen emerging startups are being showcased at the 2026 Demo Day organised by the Ilorin Innovation Hub in partnership with IHS Nigeria, a part of IHS Holding Limited, also known as IHS Towers.
The participating small firms took part in the hub’s accelerator and incubation programmes. At this event, themed The Convergence, they will pitch their solutions to investors, venture capital funds, corporate partners, and the media.
The platform would be used to help them unlock funding opportunities, foster strategic collaborations, and amplify visibility for these startups that are developing solutions across critical sectors, including agriculture, health-tech, green energy, lifestyle, and digital services.
“We believe innovation and digital technology are powerful drivers of economic growth and sustainable development. This is why we partnered with the Kwara State Government on the Ilorin Innovation Hub.
“It is impressive and very fulfilling to see the diverse portfolio of ideas and solutions showcased today from the hub within a year of the commencement of operations. This speaks to the depth of creativity among Nigerians and what is possible when they are equipped and supported.
“Today’s event makes me proud of our investment in the space and underscores IHS Nigeria’s continued commitment to supporting technology, entrepreneurship, and digital innovation in Nigeria,” the chief executive of IHS Nigeria, Mr Mohamad Darwish, said.
The Managing Director of Ilorin Innovation Hub, Temi Kolawole, also said, “Today, we showcase 19 startups that have shown that when you combine talent with the right support, the results speak for themselves.
“The Ilorin Innovation Hub exists to ensure that geography is never a barrier to building something extraordinary, and this Demo Day is proof that we are on the right track.”
The Ilorin Innovation Hub, a partnership between the Kwara State Government and IHS Nigeria, began operations in February 2025 with programmes managed by Co-creation Hub and Future Africa.
The Demo Day presents an opportunity to take stock and assess how the Ilorin Innovation Hub is helping to nurture and bring to life groundbreaking ideas and solutions supporting economic resilience and addressing real-world societal challenges.
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