Sophos Anti-Virus For Mac Supports Newly Released OS X Lion

PRESS RELEASE

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - Jul 20, 2011) - With the release of Apple's biggest operating system upgrade in years, IT security and data protection firm Sophos today announced that its market-leading Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac and Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac: Home Edition will fully support Apple's Mac OS X Lion (10.7). Current users of Sophos Anti-Virus products for Mac will continue to be fully protected as soon as they upgrade to Mac OS X Lion, now available. New users will also have immediate compatibility after downloading the security product.

As Apple's operating system has increased in popularity in recent years, so have security threats for users. Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac provides automatic detection against existing and new threats for Mac OS X Operating Systems, including Lion. The solution detects both Mac and Windows malware, and is backed by SophosLabs, Sophos's global network of highly skilled researchers and analysts that protects businesses and users from known and emerging malware -- viruses, Trojans, spyware and rootkits.

"It's clear that Mac's market share has increased substantially and consequently Mac has become a viable marketplace for cybercriminals," said Chris Kraft, product management vice president at Sophos. "We are committed to providing complete protection for all our users. By supporting the latest updates in Mac OS we are better able to ensure our Mac users are constantly protected against the growing number of Mac threats."

SophosLabs has seen a recent rise in malware specifically targeting Mac OS X users including a series of recent fake anti-virus attacks including MacDefender and Mac Security. In a recent Sophos Facebook page poll, 89% of the 968 people who answered the poll said they would recommend friends and family install anti-virus software on their Macs. Due to the rise in Mac malware in 2011, many Mac users have realized the need to take security on their home computer seriously as well as recognized the advantages of running anti-virus software.

Since November 2010, approximately 700,000 users have downloaded the free Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac: Home Edition. Sophos Anti-Virus Home Edition for Mac is available for free downloads. In addition, Sophos has also established a dedicated Mac support forum to help users with Mac-related malware problems.

About Sophos More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs -- a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards. Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK.