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Version 9.4.0 Preview Now Available [Update: release candidate build published today]

bobcook

We are working on a major new revision of the Sophos Anti-Virus Home Edition in the near future, and we’d like to get your help with evaluating it. This software has passed all of our internal testing but its always useful to get feedback from real users.

New features in this version:

  • Detection and cleanup of Potentially Unwanted Applications (adware, spyware, and certain remote access tools fall into this category)
  • Updated Quarantine Manager user interface
  • Faster Web Protection filtering component
  • Security and stability improvements


We invite to have you download and install this “preview” update to your Mac. Start by downloading the installer here:

http://www.sophos.com/Pages/DownloadRedirect.aspx?downloadKey=8579BC43-753D-48D0-8C74-60593FEB7097


SHA-256 hash: a4b78abdc4cea2bc212aa1b740c3b2229316b7cdb2509e7f2a307cf1f1c36735

When you run the installer it will install version 9.4.0b1. If you have an existing installation it will upgrade your software to version 9.4.0b1.

You can then enable the detection of PUAs in the On-Access preferences panel. These applications will be blocked from running automatically. Its possible we will detect tools that you are using as part of your daily routine - if so you can “authorize” their usage from the new Quarantine Manager window. You can later undo this choice by visiting the Authorizations preferences panel. Custom scans can also detect and optionally clean up PUAs when detected. Check out the Options tab for each scan.


Things to know about this build:

  • It's passed all of our internal testing, including the same level of protection from malware as the existing version (9.2.7)
  • It's beta, and therefore you should know that its incomplete e.g. only the English user interface is available today and the documentation isn’t updated yet
  • This build isn't yet ready for use with Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan, but we will be ready in the near future - watch this space for details


Your feedback is appreciated, as we’d like to uncover any lingering issues before general release.

Not happy with this version? You can download the 9.2.7 installer from our website and run it to downgrade your install. If you do, please let us know why.

[UPDATE 27th AUGUST]

We published the release candidate build today, all existing 9.4.0b1 installations will automatically upgrade. Check your version number, it should say 9.4.0 (no more "b1"). We made a number of improvements, bug fixes, tweaks, etc. to this build and looking for more feedback. Some highlights:

  • compatible with the System Integrity Protection feature on Mac OS X El Capitan 
  • the Quarantine Manager has a different appearance when empty (should be more obvious about how the new QM works)
  • faster boot times due to cacheing of previously scanned system files
  • more reliable updating code when the network condition is less than ideal (you might have heard about this issue in these forums)
  • translations for a few languages other than English

Please let us know if you run into any problems or issues. The same installer link above will still give you 9.4.0b1 but its first update will get you to the new build.

:1021401


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    catnip689 wrote:

    As happened with the previous version, the new version worked for a day or two now won't stop downloading on iMac with Yosemite, can't even cancel the download.

    Weird. Not heard of this type of issue in a long time. Can you get a sample of what the "SophosAutoUpdate" process is doing when its stuck like this? You can get one via the Activity Monitor. Switch to view all processes, find SophosAutoUpdate, and select "Sample Process".

    You can kill SophosAutoUpdate through Activity Monitor as well.

    I'm also be interested to get a network trace of what SophosAutoUpdate is doing when it gets stuck. Assuming its a reproducible problem (sounds like it is) then start up Terminal and run this command:

    sudo tcpdump -i en0 -w ~/Desktop/sau-capture.pcap port 80

    Note that command assumes your external network interface is en0. And this command will capture *all* HTTP traffic when its run, so be cautious about what you are doing when you run the capture command. I recommend stopping your web browser before stating the capture.

    When the capture has finished, press Control-C then find the file on our desktop. You can send it to me directly, or post it here. Note that anything you post here can be read by pretty much the entire world.

    :1021516

    ---

    Bob Cook (bob.cook@sophos.com) Director, Software Development

Reply
  • 0
    catnip689 wrote:

    As happened with the previous version, the new version worked for a day or two now won't stop downloading on iMac with Yosemite, can't even cancel the download.

    Weird. Not heard of this type of issue in a long time. Can you get a sample of what the "SophosAutoUpdate" process is doing when its stuck like this? You can get one via the Activity Monitor. Switch to view all processes, find SophosAutoUpdate, and select "Sample Process".

    You can kill SophosAutoUpdate through Activity Monitor as well.

    I'm also be interested to get a network trace of what SophosAutoUpdate is doing when it gets stuck. Assuming its a reproducible problem (sounds like it is) then start up Terminal and run this command:

    sudo tcpdump -i en0 -w ~/Desktop/sau-capture.pcap port 80

    Note that command assumes your external network interface is en0. And this command will capture *all* HTTP traffic when its run, so be cautious about what you are doing when you run the capture command. I recommend stopping your web browser before stating the capture.

    When the capture has finished, press Control-C then find the file on our desktop. You can send it to me directly, or post it here. Note that anything you post here can be read by pretty much the entire world.

    :1021516

    ---

    Bob Cook (bob.cook@sophos.com) Director, Software Development

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