Sophos v9 causing problems

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Brynn wrote:

Has anyone had the problem with Sophos home for the Mac with it causing Firefox not to download web pages? I was on v8.0.14 and upgraded to v9 when I had news of same. However Firefox v23.0.1 stopped loading web pages. When I removed Sophos the problem disappeared. Am reluctant to use it again. My OS is 10.8.4

Brynn

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Before you removed v9, did you try turning off "Web Protection?" In testing the v9  beta, I found Web Protection slowed down page loading in Firefox though it didn't block page loading entirely, but that was using Firefox 17.0.8 ESR.

hi ZRL1

No I did not try turning off "Web Protection". This will nullify the idea of the program won't it? as most of the threats come via the WWW.

Brynn

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Brynn wrote:

hi ZRL1

No I did not try turning off "Web Protection". This will nullify the idea of the program won't it? as most of the threats come via the WWW.

Brynn

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Actually no, since v8 doesn't have the Web Protection feature now. As I understand it, Web Protection involves forwarding your chosen URL's to a Sophos database of websites with known bad reputations and/or malware and if the URL is in the list, "in both cases, you will get a notification page instead of the real content when the protection features are enabled in the preferences" to quote Bob Cook.

Hi ZRL1

Have reinstalled v9.0.1, will see how it goes, seems to be downloading web pages OK at the moment.

Brynn

Hi ZRL1

Just started the v9.0.1 up and the problem has ret'd (not loading web pages). So turned off the Web protection in the Pref's and it loaded the pages which did not before I turned it off. This means there is no protection from virus's on the web does'nt it? So the programme is rather pointless?

Any thoughts?

Brynn

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Brynn wrote:

Hi ZRL1

Just started the v9.0.1 up and the problem has ret'd (not loading web pages). So turned off the Web protection in the Pref's and it loaded the pages which did not before I turned it off. This means there is no protection from virus's on the web does'nt it? So the programme is rather pointless?

Any thoughts?

Brynn

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Again, turning off Web Protection leaves you with protection very similar to v8, since that didn't have the pro-active website blocking to begin with. As I understand it, the difference is rather than dealing with malware that's found to be present on your Mac, websites which Sophos has identified to be the source of malware or otherwise risky are prevented from loading to begin with. Note that legitimate websites which have been hacked for nefarious purposes would still be passed through until they are identified as dangerous.

Also note that depending on your browser and the extensions, if any, you install and use, the attack vector that's used by a malicious website (e.g., JavaScript or cross-site scripting), could be blocked even without Web Protection. If the attack vector is "social" (i.e., "click on this link to receive $1.5 million from Nigeria") and the common sense extension is installed in the user, Web Protection wouldn't be needed either.

Hi ZRL1

 Thankyou, you've explained very well.  I've turned off both of the items that give access to websites. Is this correct? and if not which one should be on?

Brynn

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Brynn wrote:

Hi ZRL1

 Thankyou, you've explained very well.  I've turned off both of the items that give access to websites. Is this correct? and if not which one should be on?

Brynn

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Yes, I'd turn off both of them. But I'd also advise taking advantage of some of the security extensions available for some browsers. The problem with that is that they may interfere, to one extent or another, with the intended operation of the website. Essentially, security and safety are trade-offs. I compare it to not tweeting while walking down the street. Awareness of surroundings is boring, but, especially at intersections, it could save your life.

Thanks, will Sophos be sorting this out do you think? or is this a part of thepaid for programme?

Brynn

I honestly don't know; I'm just a user like you. But I'm sure these threads are monitored. I could be wrong but I don't think there is a paid version of the Mac software; that applies to Windows.

BTW, did turning the Web Protection options off fix the problem?