Sophos Review

Deyan Georgiev
Deyan Georgiev

Updated · Oct 18, 2022

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With advanced enterprise tools and business-grade cybersecurity for home-use, Sophos antivirus meets the needs of many. It protects your device from malware with the help of artificial intelligence. Our Sophos antivirus review explores all its features.

VPN included

No

Malware removal rate

High

Parental control

Yes

Scanning speed

Fast

Ransomware protection

Yes

Impact on system performance

Low

Malware detection rate

High

Customer service

Excellent

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Sophos Review

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Best for: Users who are looking for business-grade security

Strengths
Strengths Multi-platform use
Strengths Parental control
Strengths AI-threat detection
Weaknesses
Weaknesses Slightly confusing portfolio of products
Weaknesses Separate firewall
Weaknesses Web protection is not very advanced

Sophos uses AI to battle all known and emerging malware. It protects your device from viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, and other cyber threats.

With packages for both home and business users, Sophos software is suitable for almost everybody. The business products include endpoint protection, a firewall, cloud optimization, and fully managed threat response.

On the other hand, home users can enjoy business-graded security that fits both novice and experienced users’ needs. We especially liked the cross-platform malware protection.

Sophos Antivirus Features

This Sophos antivirus review will list all the Home and Business products’ features, so you can decide whether this software matches your needs.

Malware Scan and Clean

Sophos Home offers a deep scan of your device. It’s able to discover sophisticated malware and eliminate Trojan horses, spyware, and rootkits

The AI threat detection protects against new and developing viruses, worms, bots, unwanted apps. The real-time protection gives you increased software security.

Ransomware Security  

The Sophos Home software Premium version keeps your files secure by blocking any ransomware attempts and rolling back affected files to a pre-tampering state. It catches cyber attacks at boot time when your device is most vulnerable. 

This feature runs remotely. While it misses an option to scan folders and drivers, it certainly keeps cyber-criminals and hackers at bay.

Privacy Protection 

How many times have you considered covering your camera or muting your mic? The Sophos for Home Premium edition prevents unwanted access to the camera and microphone.

Simultaneously, it acts as an anti-keylogging software that encrypts keystrokes so no one can read what you’re typing. This gives you an additional level of browsing and banking protection.

Web Protection

When it comes to internet security, the Sophos web filtering blocks phishing and compromising websites. Keep in mind that while this feature is excellent, other antivirus programs block a higher number of malicious platforms.

Parental Web Filtering

The parental web filtering feature allows you to block specific categories. But it doesn’t support all browsers, so your children might end up seeing the content if they move outside of Chrome, Mozilla, Safari, or Opera.

Intercept X Endpoint

Sophos security prides itself on offering comprehensive business packages. The Intercept X Endpoint package includes:

  • Endpoint detection and response
  • Anti-ransomware
  • Deep learning technology
  • Exploit prevention
  • Managed threat response
  • Active adversary mitigations

XG Firewall

XG Firewall gives you all-in-one enterprise protection, exposing suspicious traffic and providing insight into your network.

Next-gen protection blocks intrusions and filter network traffic, keeping your organization secure. You can even expand this firewall to protect your remote employees.

Managed Services

The managed threat response is an integral part of Sophos virus protection. If you’re on the business package, you get help from an elite team of response experts who’ll work on neutralizing threats. The team will take care of any attacks and lets you decide on any additional actions you’d like to take.

Cloud Protection

Moving to the cloud offers on-demand availability of resources without active management, and it’s cost-effective. Even though cloud infrastructures are known to be safe, there’s no such thing as total security. 

Being a business-oriented antivirus, Sophos is here to boost cloud security. With Cloud Optix, you’ll be able to:

  • Observe inventories and visualizations across multiple clouds
  • Receive instant risk-profiling of security risks 
  • Track cloud services and reduce costs
  • Stay compliant and seamlessly integrate security checks 

Email

While almost everybody uses email, it can be a point of entry for hackers to attempt ransomware, phishing, and keylogging attacks. Sophos AI-powered email security helps to stop any cyberattacks and checks for malicious URLs within emails upon delivery.

Sophos also works as an anti-phishing module. It uses specific authentication techniques to determine whether an email is legit. Suspicious emails are blocked, quarantined, or tagged with a warning.

Sophos Intercept X for Mobile

If you’re looking for Sophos protection for mobile devices, you’ll be happy to know that the app is available for Android, iOS, and Chrome OS devices. This free app offers security for your device, networks, and applications.

Sophos Free Tools

Sophos also offers a range of free features, including:

  • A free version of Sophos Home for PCs and macOS 
  • Intercept X for Mobile (iOS and Android)
  • Hitman Pro Malware Removal Tool
  • XG Firewall Home Edition
  • Virus Removal Tool
  • UTM Home Edition

Keep in mind that while the antivirus is a complete software, these tools are focused on specific platforms and serve as add-ons.

Security

To ensure its security, we looked at other Sophos reviews and lab tests in addition to our own experience. The software currently isn’t listed on the AV Labs test, but SE Labs gives Sophos Home antivirus a total accuracy rating of 93%.

Ease of Use and Interface

No Sophos review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the software’s interface and usability. Even though the installation takes a while, it will automatically scan your system and list threats once installed.

Users can easily manage the Sophos’ interface since the design makes it easy to spot any necessary actions. All that’s good will be marked green, and new activities will be orange. In case of any issues, support is available from the browser window.

System requirements: 

  • Windows 7 and higher (ARM architecture not supported)
  • Minimum 1 GB RAM
  • Minimum 1 GB free disk space
  • macOS X 10.12 Sierra or higher
  • Minimum 4 GB RAM
  • Minimum 4 GB free disk space
  • Additional 3 GB of free space are necessary for Sophos Home Premium and trial (macOS and PC)

Browsers for Sophos management console: 

  • Microsoft Edge
  • Chromium Edge
  • Apple Safari
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Google Chrome

Customer Support

Sophos has various support channels, including email, live chat, phone support, Twitter help, and a ticket system. Customer support is available from 8 AM to 8 PM EST, Monday to Friday. 

But that’s not all. Sophos AV also has a knowledge base, support packages for business owners, training to expand your skills, documentation on the products, and a community forum.

Please note that there’s a higher level of support for business users. The team of experts is always available and will react as soon as any threats are discovered. Separating the support levels is the right solution as business users enjoy increased safety, and the support system isn’t overwhelmed to assist users of Sophos Home edition.

Sophos Antivirus Pricing

While the free version of Sophos Home comes with many great features, upgrading to the premium version unlocks some great extras. All Sophos subscriptions come with a free trial. Following are the prices:

Sophos Home Premium:

  • One year - $44.99
  • Two years - $74.99
  • Three years - $104.99

At the time of writing, there's a discount.

Business Solutions: 

  • Price on demand

If the software doesn’t match your expectations, you’re eligible for a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Sophos Review - Verdict

To sum up this Sophos antivirus review, we believe the software provides excellent protection for business owners and easy-to-use solutions for home users.

Sophos is a robust antivirus suite with business-grade security across all plans. Even though the business tools come in separate packages, which may be slightly confusing to some, the tools themselves are top-notch.

If you’re still uncertain, we recommend trying the free version or trial to boost your security.

FAQ.


Is Sophos a good antivirus?

Yes, Sophos offers a high level of protection to both business and home users. Since it uses AI and a cloud-based malware database, you can rest assured that your devices will remain protected at all times.

Is Sophos better than Norton?

Norton gives better antivirus protection as it has robust malware detection and less impact on system performance. Even though our Sophos antivirus review pointed out that this antivirus has some great features, it still doesn’t match Norton’s security.

Is Sophos better than McAfee?

McAfee ranks better on independent test results than Sophos. Better malware detection and low impact on system performance make McAfee a better choice.

Who makes Sophos antivirus?

Toma Bravo acquired Sophos on March 2, 2020. It’s a leading private equity firm that focuses on software and technology service sectors.

Which is better: Sophos or Avast?

Sophos can protect more devices and operating systems than Avast. It also has better customer support, lower price, and more features. It’s safe to say that between the two, Sophos wins this battle.

What does Sophos mean?

The word ‘Sophos’ comes from Greek, and it means good and wise.

Is Sophos a firewall?

Sophos is not a firewall, but it offers an additional firewall feature. Our Sophos antivirus review found that the XG Firewall is the ultimate protection that exposes hidden risks and stops and isolates threats.

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Deyan Georgiev

Deyan Georgiev

Deyan has been fascinated by technology his whole life. From the first Tetris game all the way to Falcon Heavy. Working for TechJury is like a dream come true, combining both his passions – writing and technology. In his free time (which is pretty scarce, thanks to his three kids), Deyan enjoys traveling and exploring new places. Always with a few chargers and a couple of gadgets in the backpack. He makes mean dizzying Island Paradise cocktails too.

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