Sophos becomes Foundation Sponsor

Sophos Supports Preservation of History of Computing and Security by Becoming Foundation Sponsor for The National Museum of Computing

Sophos (LSE:SOPH), a global leader in network and endpoint security, has become a Corporate Foundation Sponsor at The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC), where the history of computing and security can be seen in action with the world’s largest collection of functioning historical computers. Sophos has committed to sponsor the museum until 2020, and will provide expertise and counsel as well as support the museum’s ongoing development of exhibit space and visitor experience.

The museum at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, conserves the history and development of computing for inspiration, education, learning and enjoyment. Block H of Bletchley Park, now the home of The National Museum of Computing, was built specifically to house the Colossus computers. These computers were instrumental in breaking the Lorenz messages of Hitler’s High Command, thus giving the Allies an unparalleled insight into the German war machine. Those achievements helped shorten and secure victory during the war, saving countless lives.

“The National Museum of Computing brings to life the massive evolution of computing that has occurred in living memory,” commented John Shaw, vice president of product management for Enduser Security at Sophos. “The very first computers were developed to break encrypted codes, and we now use encryption every day to secure our digital lives. Just as our ability to connect with people and services has expanded, so has our need to develop the next generation of security required to protect our computers from cyber criminals. Alan Turing, Tommy Flowers and their colleagues could never have imagined the sophisticated tools used to attack computers today and the advanced technology required to secure them. The UK plays a central role in both the history and the future of cybersecurity, which is why we are now proudly supporting the development of TNMOC.”

At the core of the museum is a highly successful education programme, aimed at school and college level students where they can learn the basics of computer coding. Sophos will be supporting the museum’s endeavour to continue this work through the renovation of the classroom-training suite. The classroom accommodates the Museum’s flagship educational programme, and the investment will involve upgrading the technology - allowing the students to work with state of the art equipment - along with increasing the capacity of the space.

“We are very excited to have Sophos now supporting us as a Foundation Sponsor,” said Andrew Herbert, chair of TNMOC. “Having Sophos on board will help us to continue to provide visitors with the opportunity to see and learn about historic computers and artefacts which were the result of pioneering British ingenuity. We look forward to working with Sophos to further develop the museum and inspire future generations of computer scientists, engineers and inventors.”

TNMOC also run a variety of programmes that aim to educate the public on an array of topics including computing, security and engineering. Sophos will be supporting the museums current activities through offering guidance at the girls in coding events, along with utilising in-house industry experts for the monthly guest speaker’s evenings. Simon Reed, vice president of SophosLabs, will begin the speaker series this October where he will be presenting on ‘State of the union on cyber-attacks from the frontline’.

About Sophos

Sophos is a leader in next-generation endpoint and network security, and as the pioneer of synchronized security develops its innovative portfolio of endpoint, network, encryption, web, email and mobile security solutions to work better together. More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos solutions as the best protection against sophisticated threats and data loss. Sophos products are exclusively available through a global channel of more than 26,000 registered partners. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, UK and is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol "SOPH." More information is available at www.sophos.com.

About The National Museum of Computing

The National Museum of Computing, located on Bletchley Park, is an independent charity housing the world's largest collection of functional historic computers, including the rebuilt Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer, and the WITCH, the world's oldest working digital computer. The Museum enables visitors to follow the development of computing from the ultra-secret pioneering efforts of the 1940s through the large systems and mainframes of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and the rise of personal computing in the 1980s and beyond. The Museum is housed in Block H, regarded by Historic England as one of England's top 100 'irreplaceable places'.

The Museum runs a highly successful Learning Programme for schools and colleges and promotes introductions to computer coding amongst young people to inspire the next generation of computer scientists and engineers.

Sponsors of the Museum have included Bletchley Park Science and Innovation Centre, Sophos, Bloomberg, CreateOnline, Ceravision, Fujitsu, InsightSoftware.com, Ocado Technology, FUZE, 4Links, Google UK, IBM, NPL, HP Labs, and BCS.

Outside the long school holidays, the whole Museum is open to the public from 12 noon – 5 pm on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, spring and summer Bank Holidays and during long school holidays. The Colossus and Tunny galleries are open daily. Public and private Guided Tours are available and bookable online – see the website or the iPhone app for details. Educational and corporate group visits are available by prior arrangement.

For more information, see www.tnmoc.org and follow @tnmoc on Twitter and The National Museum of Computing on Facebook and Google+.

Media Contacts

Stephen Fleming, Palam Communications, for The National Museum of Computing
01635 299116
s.fleming@palam.co.uk