Apple is releasing the latest operating system—MacOS 11 or Big Sur—for Macintosh computers Thursday, November 12. At this time, Sophos is not compatible with Big Sur. Sophos released a Big Sur-compatible version at the end of the first week of March, but it is still buggy. We are in contact with ETH IT Services to test this version. Applies to the following Sophos product(s) and version(s) Central Mac Endpoint, Sophos Enterprise Console Managed – Sophos Anti-Virus for mac OS X, Central Device Encryption for Mac. Operating systems macOS 11 “Big Sur” Support for macOS 11 Beta – overview. As macOS 11 is in Beta, it is not supported by Sophos. Support for macOS 11 Big Sur. Updated components. The threat detection engine is 3.80.1. Resolved issues. Security improvements. Version 9.10.1 New features. This release contains early access to a version of the endpoint software that supports macOS 11 Big Sur. Updated components. The threat detection engine has been updated to 3.80.1. On Premise (SEC): Sophos Anti-virus for MacOS version 9.10.2 and above have full support for Big Sur, and support for M1 processors via emulation (Rosetta 2).
macOS 11 Big Sur is now compatible with UCL's Remote Access VPN service. For more details see UCL Remote Access VPN client upgraded (now also compatible with macOS 11/Big Sur).
23 November 2020
macOS 11 Big Sur has now moved into full release. ISD are working to prepare the Remote Access VPN service for compatibility with macOS 11 Big Sur.
Big Sur And Sophos Update
However, there are two compatibility issues with the Remote Access VPN service for this new operating system:
Big Sur Sophos Endpoint Protection
- The current version of the AnyConnect client (4.8.01090) is not supported on macOS 11 Big Sur. We are working on testing the new AnyConnect client at the moment before deployment.
- Sophos have released a supported version of its anti-virus edition for Home users. This can however only be used on personal devices and MUST NOT be used on UCL-owned devices.
- Sophos do not yet have an available anti-virus edition of their Sophos Endpoint Protection which is the version that can be used on UCL-owned devices.
Therefore, based on the above reasons, it is highly recommend that you do not upgrade to MaOS 11 Big Sur in order to be able to continue successfully using the Remote Access VPN service. Further updates will be communicated here when they become available.
29 October 2020
It has been brought to our attention that Sophos Endpoint protection is not compatible with the beta/preview release of macOS 11 Big Sur.
Big Sur And Sophos Drive
If you choose to upgrade to macOS 11 Big Sur while it is in beta/preview, and use Sophos as your anti-virus client, you will not be able to connect to the UCL VPN service.
When macOS 11 Big Sur moves into general release, Sophos will release a supported anti-virus product.
For further information, please see Sophos's knowledge base article.