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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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  • 0

    A home user has to lie in the 'Software Export Compliance' form in order to download, because even having selected Home User in the Job Role we are still required to fill in Company and Industry.

    :1021402
  • 0
    Specimen wrote:

    A home user has to lie in the 'Software Export Compliance' form in order to download, because even having selected Home User in the Job Role we are still required to fill in Company and Industry.

    I really doubt you lied at all. Perhaps exaggerated a tiny amount. Gotta love export compliance rules. We don't make the rules, we just follow them.

    :1021410

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

  • 0

    Of course I didn't lie, I carefully worded it as "a home user has to lie", it does not impy I did! ;)

    So about the Preview, here are my observations, this just my opinion, some of them are true also for 9.2.7.
    I notice it also catches Windows PUA, I like this.


    Visual suggestions:


    * The overall visual style needs to be updated, it still looks teh same as it did back in Snow Leopard days.

    * This overall style also needs to be more coherent, other windows should be updated to match the Quarantine Manager.

    * The interface needs to be unified, right now it's a collection of windows, the scan window, the Preferences window, the Quarantine Window.
    It's normal that Preferences pop a new window, but all the otehr could be an expansion ot the main one.

    * The on demand scan results should ddisplay in the GUI without needing to open the log file, or there should be a visible button that shows the relevant information (not all the log file but just the files considered to be issues and threats).

    Functional suggestions :

    * Cleanup of a Threat takes quite long (normally it's just deleting a file, a download that was quarantined, shouldn't take this long?)

    * It's not clear for the user that the content of Secure connections isn't scanned (eg.: downloading EICAR test file via HTTPS)

    :1021412
  • 0

    Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated! Keep the feedback coming!

    :1021415

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

  • 0

    Hope you are finding the 9.4.0 Preview useful. Someone asked me for more detail about enabling the new PUA detection feature for the on-access scanner.

    Its the top checkbox in the Options panel. Once enabled you will start to block PUAs. Detections will appear in the new Quarantine Manager. If you want to detect and clean PUAs then use a custom scan. Look in the Options panel, you can detect and (optionally) automatically clean up PUAs.

    :1021470

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

  • 0

    Very much looking forward to El Capitan support - watching this space!!

    :1021493
  • 0

    Hello everyone,

    Another user asked about testing that the PUA detection feature was working. Turns out to be quite easy, and I thought I'd pass this tip along to the wider community.

    Visit the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization website for their Feature Settings Check page:

    http://www.amtso.org/feature-settings-check-potentially-unwanted-applications/

    In the middle of that page is a link to the standard test file. If you have enabled the PUA detection and blocking for the on-access scanner then you'll recieve a pop-up message as soon as you download the file. You can also visit the new Quarantine Manager user interface to clean up this test file.

    :1021512

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

  • 0

    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.

    :1021513
  • 0

    something to do with Time Machine maybe...?

    :1021515
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