14 DAY TRIAL // UK-based security vendor Sophos has launched a full-featured free anti-malware solution for the Mac operating system, tailored to the needs of home consumers.
The new Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition leverages the company's business-grade threat intelligence to protect Mac computers from all types of threats.
It comes with an on-demand scanner allowing users to check all files and folders, including archives, on their system for malware.
The product offers real-time protection through its on-access scanning component, which analyzes every file upon execution and blocks it, if it exhibits malicious signs.
The on-access scanner can also be configured to scan files opened from network shares, as well as specify exclusions, which can prove useful in case of false positives.
Sophos is well known for the powerful heuristic detection capabilities of its products. This technology allows them to protect against emerging threats even if specific signatures are lacking.
Other functionality of the product includes auto-updates with a configurable interval, event logging, settings locking and a quarantine manager.
Files detected as suspicious are not deleted directly, but quarantined, so the user can have a closer look and decide the right course of action.
If Sophos is not a name which resonates with consumers as much as those of other antivirus firms, it's because so far the company has focused on the business market, where it is an important player.
Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition is the vendor's first venture into the consumer sector and we took the occasion to ask Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at the company, about the strategy behind this move.
"Sophos has traditionally focused on the business market, and we remain focused on that. That's one of the reasons why we have decided to give our anti-virus for Mac away for free to home users - we don't want to sell it to them!" Mr. Cluley told us.
"One of the nice things about Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition as that it doesn't constantly nag you to upgrade to a 'full' version like some other products might - because we continue to be focused on protecting businesses," he explained.
So basically Sophos has nothing to lose by putting out a free antivirus product aimed at a market segment it didn't capitalize on anyway. As far as benefits go, Mr. Cluley mentioned increased brand awareness.
"Clearly Mac users need to protect against malware, but many of them are currently not running any anti-virus. The criminals know this and may increasingly consider Mac owners a 'soft target' as a result.
"We hope that our move will convince more Mac users that they have nothing to lose by running anti-virus software, and everything to gain," the security expert added.
We're glad to finally see a full-featured free antivirus solution for Mac, like there are currently many for Windows. However, we suspect that Mac antivirus developers like Intego, SecureMac, and other security companies with commercial Mac solutions in their portfolios, are not too happy right now.
The latest version of Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition can be downloaded here.
