We strongly recommend that customers do not upgrade any macOS clients running Endpoint Protection to macOS Big Sur at this time. The EAP for Sophos Central is targeted for the week of Nov. 23rd, 2020, pending final testing. The EAP will run through our Sophos Community with details to follow. Recommended Reads Sophos Endpoint and Apple macOS 11 Big Sur. Release Notes & News; Recommended Reads; Forums; Early Access Programs; Live Discover & Response Query Forum. Signing up for the Big Sur EAP The following steps will provide a short overview about how to setup the Sophos Endpoint Client. Please be aware that this setup is for the EAP and is supported through the Sophos Community only. Open a web browser and navigate to central.sophos.com. A policy is a set of options (for example, settings for malware protection) that Sophos Central applies to protected users, devices, servers, or networks. Intercept X with EDR. Sophos Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) lets you investigate detected threats (“threat cases”) and search for new threats.
Skip to end of metadataGo to start of metadataApple made some significant changes under the bonnet of the macOS operating system called Big Sur. As of Big Sur's release in November 2020, the antivirus programme we use - Sophos Central - is not compatible and will not protect a computer from viruses. Additionally the VPN client we use doesn't work properly.
Until Sophos and Fortinet produce versions that support it CSCS will be blocking the installation of Big Sur. This is likely to last until the end of March 2021 but will be regularly reviewed.
If you try to install Big Sur on a computer with Sophos Central you will be able to download it, but when you try to run the installer you will see a message advising that it has been blocked.
If you click details you'll see more details saying that 'use of application macOS Big Sur Installer has been blocked by your administrator'
If you absolutely must install Big Sur, uninstall Sophos Central. Install the University's MacAfee AntiVirus (which is free for Cambridge staff and students) https://help.uis.cam.ac.uk/service/security/antivirus/mac. Then do the Big Sur update.
Version 1.5.3
New features
This version introduces support for macOS 11 Big Sur.
Version 1.5.2
New features
Added support for Secure Enclave (iMac 2019 and MacBook Air 2019).
Discontinued support for macOS 10.12.x.
Unsupported file system warning messages (for example a Linux partition) are now reported only once in Sophos Central.
We no longer list unsupported file systems when running the command-line tool 'seadmin'.
Resolved issues
| Issue ID | Description |
|---|---|
| MACDP-854 | Resolved an issue in which the macOS message 'Enter a password to unlock' doesn't disappear after the same user password is confirmed. |
| MACDP-847 | Resolved an issue in which encryption doesn't start when internet connectivity is disabled. |
| MACDP-845 | Resolved an issue in which encryption doesn't start automatically until you have signed in again or restarted. |
Version 1.5.1
New features
This version introduces support for macOS Catalina 10.15.
Version 1.5
New features
You can now rotate the recovery key without needing a password. This applies to macOS 10.14.
Added support for the newly introduced 'Dark Mode' on macOS Mojave 10.14.
Big Sur Camping
Added support for Secure Enclave (iMac Pro and new MacBooks).
Added support to encrypt the boot volume only, which is a new policy setting in Sophos Central.
Added a check and a warning if the current user doesn't have a mobile account, which is needed to enable FileVault 2.
Sophos Central Big Sur Ca
Added SDU support to the command-line tool seadmin (SDU information now contains seadmin result).
Resolved issues
| Issue ID | Description |
|---|---|
| MACDP-573 | Resolved an issue with Sophos Central Encryption failing to send the recovery key to Sophos Central. |
| MACDP-462 | Resolved an issue in which the recovery key was missing after upgrading to macOS High Sierra. |
| MACDP-726 | Resolved an issue with SophosEncryptionD not handling the unexpected output of diskutil information. |