Sophos Firewall for the Home

March 3, 2016 Marcel Zimmer
Sophos

We are often asked why high-quality IT security solutions are only available for companies or with a deep reach into the pocket. Fortunately, the answer to this question is that this is not true.

The company Sophos offers the free Sophos UTM Home Edition download especially for private use. All you have to do is register on the Sophos website. You will then receive your private licence and the corresponding download link from Sophos. The Sophos UTM Home Edition offers you the following functions:

Overview

The free Home Use Firewall is a fully functional version of the Sophos UTM Firewall, available to home users free of charge and without obligation. It includes full versions of the normally paid-for subscriptions Network Protection, Web Protection, Email Protection and Web Server Protection with VPN functionality and protects up to 50 IP addresses.

The Sophos UTM Free Home Use Firewall has its own operating system and overwrites all data on the computer during the installation process. Therefore, use a computer provided specifically for this purpose. This will be converted into a fully functional security appliance. Perfect for a computer that you have sitting unused in the corner.

Functions

Increase your Internet bandwidth - By using multiple Internet connections at the same time, you can easily increase your bandwidth at home.
Keepyour kids safe while surfing the web - With our web filtering, you can protect yourself from viruses and spyware, block unwanted websites and get full visibility into your home's internet usage.
Fend off annoying spam - Keep your inbox free of spam. Our mail filtering cleans any POP3 or SMTP mailbox.
Access your home network from anywhere - Log in via VPN to securely access your computers, transfer files or print documents - from anywhere in the world and even from your smartphone.
Stay connected with colleagues and friends - Create a permanent tunnel to other UTM devices and connect to your friends' networks. Or access your company's networks protected by us via an encrypted connection and work from home!
Stop viruses from the web and in email - Two scanning engines provide dual protection and reliably stop viruses hiding in file downloads, email attachments and websites. Sophos catches them at the gateway before they can do any damage to your computers.
And much more ...

Preparations

All you need is a small computer with at least 2 network interfaces, or a small Sophos SG 105 or Sophos SG 105w (with integrated WLAN access point).

For the Sophos UTM Home Edition to function smoothly on the Sophos SG hardware, you will unfortunately need to do a few things on the Linux command line after installation.

In the Sophos UTM web admin, go to Management > System settings and Shell access. Activate the access and assign a password for the login user and the root user.

Use Putty to log in to the firewall.

The following file must be deleted: "rm -/etc/ASG".

Restart Sophos UTM. Now you can install the home license in the portal.

Outlook

In the next blog entry, you will learn how to install Sophos UTM Home Edition on your computer.

Author: Marcel Zimmer

Marcel Zimmer is the Technical Managing Director of EnBITCon. During his time in the German Armed Forces, the trained IT developer was able to gain numerous project experiences. His interest in IT security was significantly awakened by his service in command support. Even after his service, he is an active reservist in the Bundeswehr.

His first firewall was a Sophos UTM 120, which he had to set up for a customer project. Since then, his interest in IT security has grown steadily. In the course of time, various security and infrastructure topics have come into his focus. His most interesting projects included, for example, WLAN coverage in an explosion-proof area, as well as a multi-site WLAN solution for a large