Sophos Home Premium – 25% off — Good Anti-Malware Protection for Advanced Users

Sophos is a well-known cybersecurity firm that offers security software for businesses. They also offer antivirus software that’s “business-grade” to home users.

I wanted Sophos Premium to test if it is as good as advertised and could stop advanced malware.

Sophos’s scanning abilities were amazing. It was able to block and remove almost all malware samples I downloaded, including rootkits, ransomware, and viruses.

I also tried Sophos’s other features:

• Web protection.
• Parental control.
• Remote device management.

Remote management is one of the greatest features of Sophos. Remote management is possible for up to 10 devices.

To access all features and change settings, I don’t like that Sophos users must use the online portal. Although Sophos’s minimalistic desktop app is functional, it does not offer advanced features such as scanning your computer or accessing its online dashboard.

I also think Sophos should have additional features than most 2022’s top anti-viruses, such as device optimization or VPN.

Sophos is a basic antivirus that provides reliable protection against emerging and known threats to the internet.

Sophos Full Review

Sophos Premium protects up 10 devices. But, Sophos is an effective and simple antivirus that can be used on multiple devices.

Sophos offers a desktop app, but most features and settings can be accessed online via a web browser. For beginners, both the online dashboard as well as the desktop app are simple to use.

Sophos Security Features

Sophos premium offers all the necessary antivirus security features, including

• Protection from ransomware, malware
• Protection using artificial intelligence.
• Protect your webcam.
• Protection for the web
• Filtering of parental web.

These features are easy to use and have simple on/off buttons. Remote control allows you to manage settings, scans and parental controls across multiple devices.

The Mac version of Sophos Home Premium is not as powerful as the PC version. Remote device management is available.

The Home Premium package doesn’t include additional features like a VPN or secure storage cloud.

Sophos anti-malware software is affordable, reliable and effective. This program covers up to 10 devices.

Malware scanner

Sophos’s antivirus scanner is very easy to use.

Sophos claims their malware scanner can detect a variety of malware and cyber threats. To be sure, I spent a lot of time testing it.

There were hundreds of malware files stored on my computer. Some malware samples were new.

Sophos’s system scan was impressive. It detected 97% of the downloaded malware samples. It even found the “zero-day” threat!

Sophos’s initial malware scanner detection percentage is lower than that of Bitdefender and Norton.

I downloaded the malware samples from Sophos and launched them one by one.

Sophos recognized and blocked all the malware programs that I attempted to launch.

Sophos was able to detect and scan for malware.

Sophos Home Premium has a great malware scanner. It detected almost all the malware samples that I uploaded. It detected all malware samples including advanced ransomware, trojans, and viruses.

Remote Management

Remote management with Sophos lets you manage your program’s security features remotely from any device. All this via your computer or Mac through the Sophos website dashboard.

Remote management is easy to use. I simply clicked on Dashboard tab within the desktop app. This took me to the Sophos website dashboard. From there, I could click on the Add new gadgetbutton. I can add up to ten computers or Macs for remote management.

To add remote devices, I copied the Sophos URL. I copied the URL and emailed it to anyone who requested it.

I was able to view their devices via the Sophos Online Dashboard after they had installed Sophos. There I could control many functions and make settings changes.

Overall, I love Sophos Home Premium remote monitoring. This tool is great for both beginners and experts. It is also extremely easy to use.

Protection for the Web

Sophos Web Protection claims that it protects your computer from malicious websites. These sites include fake phishing websites that pretend to be legitimate sites and steal personal information like bank account numbers or login details.

I tested several URLs from PhishTank to see if Sophos Web Protection was effective. It was amazing to see that Sophos blocked 100% of these URLs, both phishing and malware.

To whitelist blocked websites, I used the protection tab. Next, I entered my domain name into the website exceptions tab. This is a simple process, but it can be tedious if you need to whitelist multiple sites.

I did not encounter any false positives in my testing so I don’t see why people would whitelist popular websites.

It’s amazing that Sophos offers a setting to ensure safe online banking. You can get a reputation score from feedback from other users.

One of the best things about Sophos’s Web Protection, is that it doesn’t require you to install any additional browser extensions.

Parental Controls/Content Filtering

Sophos home premium has a basic parental content filtering system. It can block websites that fall within the General Interest, Social Networking & Computing, and Adult & Unappropriate category.

After setting up parental controls, I tried to visit sites blocked by Google Chrome. A desktop warning and a message from the web browser indicated that the site had been blocked with Sophos Premium.

I was disappointed that I could not blacklist websites or block social media sites. WebsiteExceptions allows users to whitelist blocked sites.

Sophos’s content filter only works with the most popular web browsers, Chrome, Firefox Firefox Edge and Internet Explorer Safari. When I tested parental controls using Vivaldi, I was able to see all blocked websites.

Sophos’ parental controls are very limited in functionality. You cannot whitelist websites from blocked categories or block certain websites.

• Email support.
• Live chat assistance.
• Knowledgebase.

I used Sophos Knowledge Base to learn more about the features and answer a few questions about the setup process.

Sophos offers a live chat from 8am to 8:30pm Eastern Standard Time. A friendly and knowledgeable person answered my questions quickly.

Sophos offers responsive email support. I sent a question about scanning individual files. Within six hour, I received a response email. It was polite and informative. The email also gave details on how to scan files.

Sophos has a great customer service department. Quick answers to general questions about the software are also provided by the knowledge base

Sophos should provide phone support in addition to live chat support. McAfee is a top competitor.

Are Sophos’s Antivirus Products Secure and Reliable in 2022?

Sophos is a basic antivirus. It offers high malware detection rates, intuitive dashboards, and remote management.

Sophos is very easy to use. However, the online dashboard is not accessible. This makes it difficult to use. It cannot open the online dashboard or start a scan.

Sophos’s Malware scanner was remarkable. It detected 97% of the malware, did not slow down my computer during full system scans, and took up less CPU space than other top-end products.

Sophos offers all the necessary antivirus features, including ransomware prevention as well as advanced web security. There are additional features like remote management, webcam protection, basic parental controls, and protection from ransomware.

While I love remote management, I don’t think they are as good as Norton or McAfee. These include performance optimization, system cleanup tools and VPN.

Sophos Home Premium Antivirus Pack is a basic antivirus that provides near-perfect detection rates. You can also try it for free for 30 days.

Is Sophos Home Premium effective in protecting against malware?

Sophos’s antimalware software detected 97% of the malware samples that I had downloaded before installing it. It also blocked 100% of the samples. This makes it one my most trusted anti-malware engines.

Sophos web protection also includes antiphishing and banking protection. My financial data was also protected by the banking protection.

Is Sophos Antivirus Free?

Sophos does not offer a free plan. You can try it free for 30 days and then return your money in 30 days.

There are better options than those that offer basic protection. However, it is better to invest a little more in premium protection.

Are Sophos Home Premium Mac-friendly?

Sophos Home Premiumsoftware are excellent choices for Mac users.

Sophos Home Premier identified most macOS-related malware and stopped them loading. CryptoGuard, Sophos’s antiransomware function, was also a great feature. It blocks all encryption behavior on Macs or PCs.

There are better options than Intego for Mac, but Sophos Premium remains a great option for Mac users looking for a basic, reliable antivirus.

Is Sophos Home Premium going to slow down my computer’s performance?

During testing, Sophos did not slow down my computer. During a full system malware scan, it used only 15% to 20% of my CPU and very little when the Anti-Malware Engine (real-time) was active.

These results were superior to those of most top competitors. McAfee used half of my CPU to run a scan. This is quite an amount for an average computer.

Sophos Antivirus

Name: Sophos Antivirus Review and Prices

Description: Sophos sells Sophos' single antivirus software package, Sophos Premium. It is available in three-year and two-year subscriptions. Home Premium for a one year plan is $44.99, and $59.99 each subsequent year. A two-year plan costs $74.99 and $99.99 for each of the subsequent two-year periods. A three year plan costs $104.99 in the first three years, $139.99 every three years thereafter. Sophos provides a credit-free 30-day trial with all of its protections.

Offer price: $44.99 to $139.99

Currency: USD

Operating System: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS

Application Category: Sophos - Brand Review

Author: Best Antivirus

[ More ]

• Security
  (4)
• Features
  (3.5)
• Ease of use
  (4)
• Customer Support
  (4)
• Pricing
  (3.5)

Overall

3.8

Summary

Sophos’ Home Premium antivirus program is good and performed well in our rating. Sophos Home Premium contains many of the protection tools incorporated in Sophos Central, an enterprise-level, cloud based cybersecurity platform. It addresses a variety hacking threats including ransomware, malware, and attempts to phish. Sophos Premium can’t remove a malicious program file. It will inform you where it is located and allow you to manually remove it. To find out more methods to get rid of the file, visit our knowledge base article.

Pros

• Single, low-cost paid version covers 10 devices
• Runs on both Windows and macOS PCs, with Android, iOS, and Chrome OS support pending

Cons

• No virtual private network (VPN) included or sold separately
• Relatively few features
• No identity theft monitoring

• Sophos for Windows
• Sophos for macOS
• Sophos for Android
• Sophos for iOS