This is an email I sent out to my superiors.

So I am was put in complete shock talking to the Sophos technical support rep. We Migrated a test VDI pool to SSVM for Sophos Central which scans virtual machines. Downloaded the eicar test file. Sophos blocked it. We waited for the email to come through. No email. Thought it was a problem. Opened up a ticket with Sophos. They specifically told me, “Why would you want an email for something that was already taken care of?”

He had to say my name because there was a good 10seconds of dead air.

Eventually I blew all his arguments he tried to throw at me, which sounded like canned ones.

What if another zero day virus comes in with this one? Didn’t have an answer except to have the full client on instead of using SSVM. Then why make a SSVM for Sophos Central? Sales pitch garbage.

What if they were going to bad websites and I need to block an uncategorized website that spreads Virus’. Sorry it wont detect that and email you.

Didn’t ask but I should have to make an even better point.

What if a Virus’ came through a local source? File or document that is read only? We would never know because it was cleaned up on the client end.

This is yet another feature and functionality lost with migrating to Sophos Central. And their lack of security expertise always leaves me with the worry this product is a liability to the company. What was their solution? Like all other security flaws, they ask me to put in a “Feature Request”. Which is their way of saying. I am passing the buck.

I am getting the tech to update the ticket and will get confirmation of this

So it appears that the non-premium version of Sophos Home has been silently moved from "Free Edition" to "Free Trial". The dashboard is no longer functional and after updating the software it appears essentially bricked with nothing but an ad for premium.

Feels like the beginning of the end for Sophos. I understand sometimes a company will discontinue a product, but to pull the rug out from under me is unhelpful to say the least, especially on a security focused product.

I am very disappointed. I had previously considered upgrading to premium, but I do not consider Sophos an option anymore. I do not feel comfortable trusting my security to a company who will brick my AV with no advance warning.

No blog post or announcement in sight - in fact most of the website still says "Free" but the landing pages have been changed to "Free Trial".

Wondering if others are running into the same issues. Discussion is welcome.

Edit: Thanks u/zw9491! Looks like it has been officially mentioned in at least one location so at least we don't have to speculate.

It also confirms

No, your computer is not protected after the license expires. None of the Sophos Home settings/protections will work until the license is renewed.