Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac

[cdwyer737]

So I have a shiny new MacBook Pro provided by my company, it has Sophos AV installed as per IT policy, this unfortunately has a significant impact on speed. Due to my main user account having multiple connected servers and NAS units I created a local admin account which I use when I'm at home, is there a way to stop Sophos starting on this specific user account automatically? It is not in my startup items so I'm guessing it starts in the background somewhere as a OS X equivalent to a Windows 'service' or something. I want to reduce loading time for things when I'm at home, also AV on a Mac is not REALLY necessary and is only there due to company IT policy anyway.

Please help!

Thanks

 

[Drew017]

So I have a shiny new MacBook Pro provided by my company, it has Sophos AV installed as per IT policy, this unfortunately has a significant impact on speed. Due to my main user account having multiple connected servers and NAS units I created a local admin account which I use when I'm at home, is there a way to stop Sophos starting on this specific user account automatically? It is not in my startup items so I'm guessing it starts in the background somewhere as a OS X equivalent to a Windows 'service' or something. I want to reduce loading time for things when I'm at home, also AV on a Mac is not REALLY necessary and is only there due to company IT policy anyway.

Please help!

Thanks

Have you talked to your IT department about it? Perhaps they aren't aware that this is not a necessity, and slows the computer.

 

[KUguardgrl13]

Ugh Sophos... I was required to download it when I lived in the dorms at my university. I just removed it a few weeks ago when I did a bloat ware purge.

 

[GGJstudios]

Your IT department is sadly misinformed. I recommend avoiding Sophos, as it can actually increase a Mac's vulnerability, as described here and here. 3rd party antivirus apps are not needed to keep a Mac malware-free, as long as the user practices safe computing, as described in the following link.

Mac Virus/Malware FAQ​

If anyone insists on running antivirus for some reason, ClamXav (which is free) is one of the best choices, since it isn't a resource hog, detects both Mac and Windows malware and doesn't run with elevated privileges.

Check the following locations for apps that automatically launch on startup and delete any you don't need/want:

• System Preferences > Accounts > yourusername > Login Items (Lion and ML users: System Preferences > Users & Groups > yourusername > Login Items)
• /Library/LaunchAgents/ (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)
• /Library/StartupItems/ (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)

 

[printz]

This is pretty disturbing, with IT departments crippling your computer out of ignorance. I hope I can say 'no' when it happens, especially by bringing up alternatives like ClamXav GGJ is mentioning.