SonicWall has always been 100% channel-driven. Today, we’re honored to work with more than 17,000 channel partners worldwide — but even before SonicWall was known as SonicWall, we were working to build partnerships based on trust, loyalty and mutual success.

As early as the mid-1990s, SonicWall (then known as Sonic Systems) had already begun onboarding top resellers, value-added resellers (VARs) and systems integrators. By seeking out partner companies that focused on providing educational institutions and SMBs with high-quality, affordable inter-networking solutions, Sonic Systems was able to achieve tremendous growth in a short amount of time. This growth, in turn, fueled innovations that helped our partners and their customers continue to succeed.

SonicWall Launches Partner Recognition Programs

In recognition of these successful partnerships, in the late 1990s a newly rebranded ‘SonicWALL’ began developing a dedicated partner program. By 2000, this program had five distinct partner program levels — Reseller, Silver, Gold, Platinum and International Distributors — that would later become the foundation of today’s SecureFirst Partner Program.

The partner structure SonicWall currently employs dates back to 2004, when the Medallion Program was launched. This program was refreshed in 2007 to coincide with the launch of SonicWall’s first partner portal, PartnerLink.

In recognition of the unique needs of its Managed Security Services Provider partners, SonicWall announced its first MSSP program in 2005. This program was designed to help its channel partners grow their share of the managed services market and signaled a recognition of these partners that continues to the present day.

Partnering for a Successful Future: Today’s Programs

SonicWall’s partner programs have evolved a great deal since their inception, and today’s programs are more comprehensive and offer more benefits than ever before.

“At SonicWall, we listen,” said HoJin Kim, SonicWall SVP, Worldwide Channel, North American Sales. “We work incredibly hard to provide partners with everything they need in order to not only meet their yearly objectives, but exceed them.”

SecureFirst Partner Program

In 2016, SonicWall introduced the SecureFirst partner program. In the first 150 days, more than 10,000 partners registered to sell within the new program — 20% of which were new to SonicWall. Within a year, the program had grown 500% as partners around the world jumped at the opportunity to reintroduce SonicWall products to their comprehensive offerings.

The program’s ongoing success is due largely to its philosophy of partnering to win. In addition to the program’s goal of accelerating partners’ ability to be thought leaders in the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape, it also offers a number of perks. These include competitive margins, deal registration protection, technical training, sales enablement, marketing and lead-generation support, and more.

In recognition of our commitment to going above and beyond for our solution providers, in 2021 the SonicWall SecureFirst partner program received a 5-star rating in the 2021 CRN Partner Program Guide. This annual guide provides a conclusive list of the most distinguished partner programs from leading technology companies that provide products and services through the IT channel.

SonicWall University

SonicWall University, an online partner enablement platform designed to keep SecureFirst partner sales representatives, pre-sales and support engineers at the forefront of both cyberthreats and security solutions, was unveiled in 2017. This free, on-demand online training portal offers pathways for partners to earn SecureFirst Sales and Technical Accreditations that directly influence increased revenue attainment.

SonicWall MSSP Program

In 2020, SonicWall’s MSSP program was modernized to empower MSSPs with the resources and tools they need to protect their customers while improving operational efficiency and costs. In addition to branding and customization options, the new MSSP structure empowers SecureFirst partners to consume SonicWall services on either a monthly or annual basis, matching the way they do business.

SonicWall relies on its expansive base to fuel its momentum and is dedicated to continuing to grow programs like these to further meet the needs of our partners in the future.

As SonicWall moves into its third decade, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank our partners for their loyalty and commitment. It is both our mission and our privilege to continue working toward our mutual success in the years to come.

This month marks 30 years since SonicWall’s founding in 1991. To celebrate, we’ll be spending the month of August spotlighting the history, customers, products, partners and people that have helped shape SonicWall over the past three decades and will continue to inspire us in the years ahead.

SonicWall has enjoyed tremendous growth over the past 30 years, but it hasn’t happened by accident. From the beginning, we’ve strived to keep the customer at the forefront of our business — a decision that has taken us from our roots as a small peripherals provider to the full-service cybersecurity leader we’ve become.

Even before the company released its first firewall, SonicWall (then called Sonic Systems) had dedicated itself to helping small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB) find more cost-effective ways to deploy, operate and protect their network. Despite the countless advancements, developments and changes that brought the company from that point to now, we’ve never wavered in our commitment to this mission.

We have expanded on it, however. Today, SonicWall serves more than 500,000 customers in more than 215 countries and territories, and among these are many of the world’s largest organizations, enterprises and government agencies.

There are many reasons customers choose SonicWall. Our product portfolio incorporates the newest threat-prevention technologies while continuing to offer an industry-leading TCO. Our Boundless Cybersecurity model offers a platform approach to cybersecurity, employing artificial intelligence and machine learning to help businesses bridge the cybersecurity business gap.  And our solutions continue to earn the approval of third-party testing agencies.

But one factor is cited again and again in their decision to stay with SonicWall: Our customer service. We strive to provide a variety of avenues for customers to address any question or issue, and take the feedback we receive on the resolution process seriously.

Because some customers don’t want to have to make a phone call to resolve a simple issue, we’ve modernized self-service options that have earned high ratings from users. SonicWall’s self-service score is a best-in-class 16:1, meaning that among those who choose to troubleshoot an issue on their own, the overwhelming majority are able to quickly and easily able to find a satisfactory resolution. And our knowledgebase, which is home to a wide assortment of technical documents and how-tos, has earned a 96% satisfaction rating.

But for more complex issues, we recognize that there’s often no substitute for speaking to a real person. SonicWall’s technical agents have earned an 86% satisfaction rating, and 56% of our support cases are resolved in the first business day — allowing our customers to more quickly resume business as usual.

We’ve seen similar positive responses via the Gartner Peer Insights portal. Despite the fact that the SonicWall Community has only been online for a little over a year, it’s already earning a 4.2 out of 5 from respondents. Respondents that have utilized technical support have been similarly satisfied, ranking that facet a 4.3 out of 5.

And, true to its name, SonicWall ranks high in timeliness of vendor response, earning a 4.4 out of 5 — the same score given to SonicWall’s service and support overall.

As a whole, SonicWall earns a 4.62 out of 5 rating — higher than the Gartner Peer Insights score for a majority of our competitors, and a testament to our continued commitment to customer service, before, during and after the sale.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of the customers who have chosen to put their trust in us. It’s been a privilege serving you over the past 30 years, and we hope to spend the next 30 years doing all we can to continue earning your loyalty and exceeding your expectations.

In celebration of National Book Lover’s Day, we polled SonicWall leadership and employees for the all-time standout cybersecurity books. Here’s what they recommend.

Cybercrime headlines have become a regular fixture in the daily news. As we connect to the internet for everything from work and school to social interactions, cybercriminals have taken advantage of a widening pool of potential targets.

According to the latest data in the Mid-Year Update to the 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, ransomware attacks were up 151% year to date through June 2021. In fact, SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers recorded more ransomware attacks during the first half of 2021 than all over 2020.

As a result, cybersecurity has grown from a dedicated technology industry to a general interest topic. That’s why we’ve put together a list of cybersecurity books that everyone should — and can — read. From our employees’ responses, we’ve crafted a list of books that share wisdom gained from real-life experiences and threat research, all while providing a highly entertaining read.

1. The Smartest Person in the Room
   2021, Christian Espinosa
   Christian Espinosa has poured his experience as an IT engineer and company CEO into this book with a fresh approach to cybersecurity. The book is detailed with business management insights and guidance for strategic planning. It is designed to help executives and managers solve the weakest link in cybersecurity: people. According to Espinosa, high intelligence and talent lose meaning when companies lack effective communication, intelligence and self-confidence, leaving organizations weak and vulnerable to exploitation. Espinosa outlines a seven-step methodology for turning a company’s greatest weakness into robust defense against the most common cyberthreats.
2. Practical Cyber Security for Extremely Busy People
   2020, Daniel Farber Huang
   A guidebook written in concise, easily consumed sections designed to help individuals take actional steps to protect themselves, their families and their careers from cyber threats and online exploitation. Learn how to prevent companies from tracking your online movements, secure your online bank accounts and prevent identity theft. This book makes personal cybersecurity less intimidating and more efficient for any internet user.
3. Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know
   2014, P.W. Singer, Allan Friedman
   New York Times best-selling author P. W. Singer and renowned security expert Allan Friedman give us a simple and informative resource for deciphering our ongoing problems with cybersecurity. The narrative is wrapped around several essential questions: how cybersecurity works, why it matters and what we can do to help it along. The narrative is well-illustrated, with excellent stories and anecdotes that offer important and entertaining points about major players in cybersecurity.
4. Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon
   2015, by Kim Zetter
   Kim Zetter is an investigative journalist who is well-known for her coverage of cybersecurity and national security issues. While this book is a bit older, it builds a case for the identity of the creator of Stuxnet and how the malware was used to sabotage Iran’s nuclear production infrastructure. In addition, the book illustrates how the malware went on to trigger a new age of warfare and threat. Finally, Zetter goes beyond the history of hacking attacks and makes several predictions about new threats we face.
5. Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking
   2018, Christopher Hadnagy
   Written by Christopher Hadnagy, an IT educator and entrepreneur, Social Engineering illustrates how ‘social’ hackers think. Hadnagy points out that it’s much easier to trick someone into sharing their passwords than to exert the brute force necessary to hack into a system. This book examines social hackers’ psychological tactics and tricks to steal identities, commit fraud, and gain access to even the largest and most well-protected enterprise computer systems.
6. The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age
   2018, by David E. Sanger
   Written by New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger, The Perfect Weapon describes the confluence between cyberweapons and geopolitics. Sanger summarizes how hacking tools have transformed into cheap weapons utilized by democracies, despots, and terrorists alike and used virtually anonymously. Sanger reminds us that two American presidents — Bush and Obama — showed the world how it is done by launching the first massive state attack to destroy Iran’s nuclear centrifuges. Yet, ironically, America and its allies were badly unprepared when other state actors tuned the very same weapons against them. This book should be on everyone’s list because it illustrates “the perils of technological revolution, where everyone is a target.”
7. Cult of the Dead Cow
   2019, Joseph Menn
   Author Joseph Menn describes his life as a teenage member of a hacker’s ‘club’ with a weird name. Menn explains the group’s genesis, how they worked, a few of their exploits, and how they became the country’s oldest and most respected ethical hacking group. According to Menn, the group coined the word “hacktivism” to force large corporations to rethink security protocols and protections for personal data. As of the book’s publication, the group and its followers are still engaged in hacktivism against misinformation and promoting security measures that help make personal data safer.
8. Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin’s Most Dangerous Hackers
   2019, Andy Greenberg
   Author Andy Greenberg, a senior editor for WIRED magazine, writes a riveting narrative about a series of devastating cyberattacks that span three years (from 2014 to 2017) that started with utility companies in the U.S. and Europe and NATO administrative offices. The attacks resumed with a well-known deployment of malware known as NotPetya that paralyzed global corporations, railways, postal services, hospitals and did about $10 billion in damage. At the time, it was an unprecedented and the most destructive cyberattack the world had seen. Greenberg’s examination explores the realities of state-sponsored cyberattacks and still-relevant insights on the implications of a new type of global warfare.
9. The Fifth Domain: Defending Our Country, Our Companies, and Ourselves in the Age of Cyber Threats
   2019, by Richard A. Clarke, Robert K. Knake
   The Fifth Domain is written by two former U.S. presidential cybersecurity officials, Richard Clarke and Robert Knake. The authors open by listing the four known domains of warfare —land, air, sea, and space — adding the fifth domain: cyberspace. Next, they offer detailed profiles of several high-profile attacks and the lessons learned. Finally, the deeper dive gives us technical details about system resiliency that corporations and organizations can adopt to keep them out of trouble.
10. Cyber Warfare – Truths, Tactics & Strategies
    2020, Dr. Chase Cunningham, foreword by Gregory J. Touhill
    This book clearly and plainly defines strategies and tactics for cybersecurity. Written by retired chief U.S. Navy cryptologist and cyber forensic analyst Dr. Chase Cunningham, the book is a quick read and easily digestible despite some of the high-level technical narratives. Readers gain an understanding of the tactics that threat adversaries use in the modern distributed IT world. Dr. Cunningham also dives into emerging cybersecurity issues such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and deep fakes.
11. Tribe of Hackers: Security Leaders
    2020, Marcus J. Carey and Jennifer Jin
    This volume is one of four books under the “Tribe of Hackers” title, written for people who want to work and succeed in the expanding field of information security. One of the series’ best editions, the book focuses on leadership training specifically for cybersecurity in a collection of essays written by non-corporate global thinkers from the field. Published by Wyle, a publisher that specializes in nonfiction business instructionals, this book and the companion series is a great way to kick off a career or grow an existing one.
12. Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker
    2012, Kevin Mitnick
    Ghost in the Wires is a thrilling true story of intrigue, suspense, and unbelievable escapes — and a portrait of a visionary who forced the authorities to rethink the way they pursued him, and forced companies to rethink the way they protect their most sensitive information.

Honorable Mention

It may not be a book about cybersecurity, but we cannot end this list without mentioning this upcoming release from Colonel Chris Hadfield.

Colonel Hadfield left a lasting impression on SonicWall employees globally when he kicked off the global Boundless 2020 virtual partner conference last August. Hadfield is set to release The Apollo Murders, a fictional account of three astronauts in a tiny spaceship, a quarter million miles from home, in October 2021. His debut thriller, The Apollo Murders is a high-stakes thriller unlike any other. Hadfield captures the fierce G-forces of launch, the frozen loneliness of space, and the fear of holding on to the outside of a spacecraft orbiting the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour as only someone who has experienced all of these things in real life can.