How to Configure Sophos Anti-Virus for Home Systems When you download and install Sophos on your home computer, on-access scanning is enabled. However, the settings for scheduled scans and scanning for spyware are not configured. This gives you the freedom to set the program up to suit your schedule and needs. This document gives step-by-step instructions for setting up full-system scans with recommended settings as well as other configurations within the program such as scheduled scans. Index 1) How to Configure On-Access Scanning to Scan for Spyware 2) How to Setup a Full System Scan 3) How to Enable Sophos Live Protection 4) How to Enable Sophos Suspicious Behavior Detection 5) How to Enable Sophos Web Protection Configure On-Access Scanning to Scan for Spyware Sophos is pre-configured for on-access scanning. This means the program will check each file you access to ensure it is not infected. By default, on-access scanning is set up to check for viruses, but not spyware or adware. To set Sophos up to check for viruses and spyware with on access scanning: 1. Right-click on the Sophos shield in the taskbar. A menu will appear. Click on Open Sophos Endpoint Security and Control. NOTE: When using Windows 7, if you don t see the icon then you may need to left-click the up-arrow in the taskbar FIRST. 2. When the Sophos Anti-Virus program opens, select Configure Sophos Anti-Virus. How to Configure Sophos Anti-Virus for Home Systems Page 1
3. Select On-Access Scanning. 4. For optimal threat detection, the following should be checked under the Scanning tab: Enable on-access scanning for this computer On read On write On rename 5. Click on the Options tab and ensure the following are checked: Scan for adware and PUAs Scan for suspicious files (HIPS) NOTE: Settings under Extensions and Exclusions tabs are set for optimal performance and it is recommended that these settings are left unchanged. 6. Click on the Cleanup tab and select: Automatically clean up items that contain virus/spyware Deny access and move to: (leave the location as default. This will move files that were not cleaned to a folder located at the location specified) Click OK to return to the main screen. How to Configure Sophos Anti-Virus for Home Systems Page 2
The same steps described above can be used for Right-click scanning. Right-click scanning allows you to run a quick scan on a file by right-clicking on the file name in My Computer or Windows Explorer. To configure Right-click scanning, select it from the configuration list (see step 3 above). Setup a Full System Scan: 1. Right-click on the Sophos shield in the taskbar. A menu will appear. Click on Open Sophos Endpoint Security and Control. NOTE: When using Windows 7, if you don t see the icon then you may need to left-click the up-arrow in the taskbar FIRST. 2. When the Sophos Anti-Virus program opens, select Scans. 3. When the next screen appears, select Set up a new scan. How to Configure Sophos Anti-Virus for Home Systems Page 3
4. In this section, give the scan a name such as Home Scan and select the drives you would like to have scanned. In most cases, this will be the C:\ drive. Selecting this drive will automatically select your My Documents folder and all items on your desktop. If you have a second hard drive on your system, you may choose to scan it as well. Simply select it and it will be included in the scan. Once you have selected the drives for scanning, click Configure this scan at the bottom of the window. 5. This dialog box will allow you to specify options for the scan. For optimal threat detection, the following should be selected under the Options tab: Scan for adware and PUAs Scan for suspicious files (HIPS) Scan for rootkits How to Configure Sophos Anti-Virus for Home Systems Page 4
6. Click the Cleanup tab. The settings should be selected: Automatically clean up items that Contain virus/spyware Deny access and move to: (leave the location as default. This will move files that were not cleaned to a folder located at the location specified) Automatically clean up adware and PUAs Click OK to return to the scan setup screen. 7. Click SAVE to return to the main screen. 8. You ll now see your scan set up under Available scans. To run a full system scan on demand, click Start next to the scan you just created. Keep in mind that a scheduled scan can take 45 minutes to two hours, depending on your system. A full system scan at the time of installation is recommended, so Sophos can clean any viruses or spyware currently on your computer. How to Configure Sophos Anti-Virus for Home Systems Page 5
9. If you would like to set up a regularly scheduled scan, click the Edit button for your Home Scan. 10. Next, click Schedule this scan that appears near the bottom of the window. This will open the scheduler dialog box. 11. Select Enable schedule to make the schedule accessible. Select a day and time to run a scheduled scan, keeping in mind that a scheduled scan can take 45 minutes to two hours, depending on your system. It is best to schedule the scan to happen at a time you can have your computer turned on, but not be working on it. You will need either the administrator password for your computer, or another username and password that are in the administrator s group on your computer. Once you ve entered all of the necessary information, click OK to return to the main screen. How to Configure Sophos Anti-Virus for Home Systems Page 6
10. Click the Save button. This will return you to the Sophos Anti-Virus console, where you ll see your scheduled scan listed in the Available scans area. Changes to the scheduled scan can be made anytime by clicking the Edit button. NOTE: The Start button disappears from the Available scans area when scheduling is enabled you can still initiate a manual scan by clicking Scan my computer. Additional Protection: Sophos has implemented a few new features to offer added virus/spyware protection to your computer. These features are explained in-depth on Sophos website via the following links: Sophos Live Protection Suspicious Behavior Detection Web Protection Enable Sophos Live Protection 1. Right-click on the Sophos shield in the taskbar. A menu will appear. Click on Open Sophos Endpoint Security and Control. How to Configure Sophos Anti-Virus for Home Systems Page 7
NOTE: When using Windows 7, if you don t see the icon then you may need to left-click the up-arrow in the taskbar FIRST. 2. When the Sophos Anti-Virus program opens, select Configure Sophos Anti-Virus. 3. Click Sophos Live Protection. 4. Check the following options: Enable Live Protection Automatically send sample files to Sophos Click OK to get back to the Configure screen. Enable Suspicious Behavior Detection 1. Right-click on the Sophos shield in the taskbar. A menu will appear. Click on Open Sophos Endpoint Security and Control. How to Configure Sophos Anti-Virus for Home Systems Page 8
NOTE: When using Windows 7, if you don t see the icon then you may need to left-click the up-arrow in the taskbar FIRST. 2. When the Sophos Anti-Virus program opens, select Configure Sophos Anti-Virus. 3. Click Suspicious behavior detection. 4. Check the following options: Detect suspicious behavior Detect buffer overflows (if running Windows XP) Alert only NOTE: This is set to Alert only to make sure you re notified about suspicious behavior, but that it doesn t keep you from completing a legitimate task. If suspicious behavior is detected then you should scan your computer with Sophos. Click OK to get back to the Configure screen. Enable Web Protection 1. Right-click on the Sophos shield in the taskbar. A menu will appear. Click on Open Sophos Endpoint Security and Control. How to Configure Sophos Anti-Virus for Home Systems Page 9
NOTE: When using Windows 7, if you don t see the icon then you may need to left-click the up-arrow in the taskbar FIRST. 2. When the Sophos Anti-Virus program opens, select Configure Sophos Anti-Virus. 3. Click Web protection. 4. Check the option for Block access to malicious websites. Click OK to return to the Configure screen. How to Configure Sophos Anti-Virus for Home Systems Page 10