Is Sophos home free really free?

Given that many new methods are used every day to carry out cyberattacks on the internal network, it is felt that organizations need to use integrated security systems, such as Next-Generation Firewall and Unified Threat Management, to provide network security for administrators. this is the only firewall that uses its innovative technology called Heartbeat to integrate and secure endpoints with the firewall. Using this feature, the firewall is notified of complex threats and attacks in the shortest possible time and automatically takes the necessary defensive actions.

About Sophos

Sophos started producing antivirus and cryptography products in 1985, and many people now use the company's products. The security company focuses on simplifying and integrating network security solutions. this has been able to offer a variety of products in various security fields, including software, hardware, communications, cryptography, network security, email security, and mobile device security. Above all, it has been successful in the field of UTMs. Firewall provides an innovative way to manage firewalls and identify and respond to network threats. Sophos firewall is the latest advanced technology to protect your network against advanced ransomware and threats, including superior IPS, advanced threat protection, cloud security box, full AI, Dual AV, web control, threat analysis, and provide applications and email protection, and more. This firewall makes the web application complete and functional, and it is easy to set up and manage. Sophos firewall is the only network security solution that can fully detect the source of infection on your network and, in response, automatically restrict access to other network resources. This is possible by the unique and special technology of Sophos, which shares the distance between Sophos endpoints and your firewall and is called Heartbeat.

Sophos firewall called Sophos XG-Firewall and a beautiful user interface have a powerful core and can ensure the organization's security by having several features. Depending on network structure, number of users, network bandwidth, number of simultaneous connections, and finally, the organization's budget, network administrators can choose the most appropriate firewall among these products. The next-generation Sophos XG firewall exposes hidden threats, blocks unknown threats, and responds automatically to attacks.

Equipment

Sophos equipment can be provided and used as hardware, software, or virtual.

- Hardware Equipment

UTM Sophos hardware is a high-performance device optimized for network security. In these devices, Sophos security features, along with a robust operating system, are provided seamlessly on Intel-based hardware in a variety of capacities. For n-user networks, Sophos can easily access and manage the powerful security features of a web-based interface.

- software equipment

UTM Sophos software provides a complete set of security features, along with a solid operating system, as a software package. It is worth mentioning that this software package has all the security features of the hardware equipment and can be installed on the hardware to provide as much flexibility as possible.

-  Virtual Equipment

The virtual version of UTM Sophos is based on the software version and is configured for the VMware environment. Sophos is the first UTM product to receive Ready VMware certification.

Firewall Features

- Becoming more powerful by using artificial intelligence

The Sophos firewall can integrate deep learning technology into the Sandstorm sandbox to provide the best detection rate without Signatures repositories. Some malware is unrecognizable and malicious attacks are made quickly and effectively. Sandstorm, the next generation of Cloud-sandbox technology, is the only network sandbox to integrate this technology with Sophos XG to use in-depth learning analysis for more effective detection, and no additional hardware is required.

- Manage bandwidth and internet usage

- Existence of flexible network or user-based traffic (QoS) formatting

- Ability to set user traffic quotas to upload/download or total traffic

- Real-time VoIP optimization

- Authentication

Authentication of users within the network is a key factor in establishing network security so that identified users can access the resources they need and use the Internet according to the defined needs and rules, which include several methods of invisible authentication (Transparent Authentication), Proxy authentication (NTLM and Kerberos) and software or web authentication are available.

Guest users can also receive their username and password via SMS and authentication by completing their details in the web form that gets opened automatically.

- Authentication via: Active Directory, eDirectory, RADIUS, LDAP

- Client authentication agents for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux 32/64

- Authentication certificates for iOS and Android

- Single sign-on: Active Directory, eDirectory Services or Authentication Services for IPSec, L2TP, PPTP, SSL

Is it free?

Sophos offers two antivirus software products:

1. Home Free

This option is compatible with both Windows and Mac computers. It offers a set of services that are not as complete and comprehensive as the premium one. Sophos home free also provides a combination of up to three Windows and/or Mac computers doubles as a free trial.

2. Home Premium

The premium option of Sophos provides more security services indeed. As we know, premium options of all services and applications are much better and more useful than the free ones; in this regard, the Sophos home premium is offered strongly.

Security Equipment

Sophos Security comes with a secure, Linux-based operating system. With the free Firewall Essential Sophos security features, you can have basic security features such as Firewall, VPN, Routing, and some network services.

- Security Network

It protects against complex threats and attacks in the network layer that a firewall alone can not deal with. This suite provides an intrusion prevention system, protection against DoS attacks and VPN Site-to-Site communications, and Remote Access based on IPSec and SSL protocols.

- Security Wireless

Wireless network security features make it easy to manage the security of this type of network, which is provided with Sophos Point Access equipment, at the lowest cost and without the need for complex settings.

- Security Mail

It can protect email systems from viruses, spam, and data theft and allows users to receive safe and valid emails.

- Security Server Web

It protects web servers and applications against specific SQL Injection and XSS attacks. This type is also very effective in complying with information security standards.

- Security Web

It provides the ability to protect users against threats from malicious Internet sites and manages Internet usage by controlling users' access to authorized or unauthorized sites. As a result, viruses and spyware are detected and stopped before entering the network.

Comparison between this firewall and other security products such as Cisco

- In Cisco products, IPS, Security Web, and Control Application security features are provided as hardware components and not all UTM features can be fully accessed on a single device. As a UTM, Sophos offers a complete set of security features seamlessly.

- Cisco does not have a single management interface for configuration and easy management. Each security feature has a unique management interface assembled into a software called ASDM (provided separately from the Cisco product). On the other hand, Sophos has one of the most complete and most accessible web management interfaces.

- Cisco products do not provide any security features for Email security, and Cisco Security Email products must be purchased separately, which also destroys the security and UTM management integration.

- All models have an internal hard drive that allows you to log in with full details and report on the device.

- In products, users can change the user password and some user-related settings with the help of Portal User. While Cisco has limited this possibility to the network administrator.

- XGS Series firewalls with dedicated Xstream Flow CPUs enable maximum program speed, high-performance TLS inspection, and protection against powerful threats.

- The Firewall Xstream structure is designed to deliver incredible levels of visibility, protection, and performance to help meet the biggest challenges facing network administrators today.

- All XGS series firewalls are built with dual CPUs, combining a high-performance multi-core CPU with a dedicated Xstream Flow processor for targeted hardware-level acceleration. This gives you all the flexibility and compatibility of an x86-based firewall, plus a significant increase in performance over previous firewall designs.

- XG Firewall offers the best protection technology against the latest advanced threats such as ransomware, cryptography, robots, worms, hacks, infringements, and APTs with unique and creative technology to deal with Designed with threats we have not even seen before.