The University’s Sophos Anti-Virus licence is expiring
30 Jul 2019
The University’s licence for Sophos Anti-virus expires on Tuesday 20 August 2019, and all instances of Sophos provided by the University must be uninstalled from University or personal computers before this date
Windows computers – University owned
Most University Windows computers use McAfee Anti-virus and are not affected by this change, however a very small number of unmanaged computers may have Sophos Anti-virus installed, so this will need to be removed. To do this you should:
- Select the Windows start menu
- Search for ‘Add or remove programs’ in the search field
- Search for Sophos under ‘Apps & features’
- Select Sophos and then select the option to uninstall
Guidance on how to install McAfee Virus Scan Enterprise can be found by searching for ‘mcafee installing antivirus’ in the IT Support Portal
Apple Macs - University owned
University managed Macs
The majority of University Macs purchased in the last 12-18 months will be managed. You do not need to do anything if your Mac is managed, as it will automatically update from Friday 2 August. A simple way to check if your Mac device is managed or not is to see if there is a black “Software Centre” icon in the dock.
This can also be viewed via the Launchpad app or from the macOS Applications folder.
Unmanaged Macs
For all unmanaged University owned Macs, Sophos Anti-Virus will need to be uninstalled and McAfee Endpoint Security will need to be installed. View the Knowledge Base article below, or search for “McAfee macOS” in the Support Portal for instructions:
Linux Computers – University Owned
For University owned Linux systems, Sophos Anti-Virus will need to be uninstalled and McAfee Endpoint Security will need to be installed. View the Knowledge Base article below, or search for “McAfee Linux” in the Support Portal for instructions:
Personal computers
All University provided versions of Sophos must be removed before Tuesday 20 August – this includes installations on Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS and Linux computers.
Sophos will stop working and updating after this date, so your computer will be unprotected if you do nothing.
You should install a free or paid for anti-virus solution of your choice, or if you wish to continue with a Sophos product, ‘Sophos Home Free’ can be downloaded directly from their website.
Please note: The University is not responsible for the content of external websites or the performance and support of the above software.