Sophos Home Premium for PC and Mac can protect home networks running both types of machine simultaneously. Sophos is also quite capable of protecting enterprise level networks as well as smaller family-based networks of computers.

Not your average antivirus

Like other programs vying for attention in the security & privacy market, Sophos Home needs to protect from all types of potential viruses and malware. Sophos does this and even more effectively, for both Windows and iOS users, in real-time. The program continuously updates itself to stay ahead of the latest malware, whether it be Trojans, potentially unwanted apps (PUAs), ransomware, or spy bots. These features all come free with Sophos Home Security Free, but advanced real-time protection only comes with Sophos Home Premium, which requires an annual subscription. As well as receiving better antivirus protection, premium subscribers can protect up to ten devices. Given that many homes now have at least one smart device per household member and at least a couple of computers, this makes the package attractive for families. The subscription also includes advanced privacy protection, which safeguards against malicious actors taking control of a device’s webcam and microphone. Sophos Home Premium also encrypts files and drives to help maintain the user’s privacy when surfing the web. The developers also maintain a SophosLabs blacklist database of websites known to cause problems so, that Sophos Premium can stop visits to such sites occurring and provide warnings when bad links are clicked.

Home Protection?

Given that so many antivirus programs need some computer knowledge and know-how to get them up and running, it is important to ask how Sophos Home Premium stacks up when it comes to home users. Thankfully, Sophos has a clear user interface that means anyone can install and run it without a problem. It bridges the gap between home users and IT professionals, but installing the software for the first time does drain system resources and will take some time, depending on your internet connection's bandwidth. Once installed, Sophos only needs a single click to start up, run a virus check, and then remove any unwanted code. The software highlights any problems that it comes across and keeps a record for later inspection. Both Sophos Home Free and Sophos Home Premium have this quick start and scan function. These scans can take a while depending on how many files need to be analyzed. Consequently, it is best to run scans at night or at other times of the day when the computer in question is not in use.

Staying protected

Sophos Home Premium’s annual subscription model allows users to stay one step ahead of hackers and malicious actors.