Sophos Firewall: Important change for customers without a support license

The Sophos Enhanced Support license will become even more important, as Sophos is removing additional features from the Base License. Almost two and a half years ago, Sophos discontinued free updates. Now further important changes are being introduced.

At the start of 2025, Sophos announced significant changes intended to ensure proper license management and security for all customers. These changes affect both the XG hardware series and all Sophos Firewalls (SFOS), and they underline the importance of current licenses and support contracts. In this blog post, you will learn what is changing and how to prepare.

Why Sophos believes these changes are necessary

Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly targeted and complex. Devices with expired licenses or without valid support contracts pose an increased risk. Outdated hardware and insufficiently protected networks are attractive targets for attackers. For this reason, Sophos is adjusting its policies to ensure that systems run on current hardware and software.

Changes for XG hardware customers

From February 24, 2025, the following changes will take effect for customers with XG hardware who do not have active subscriptions (apart from the Base License) or support contracts:

1. Deactivation of WAN-based portals:
   • WebAdmin and User Portal will only be accessible internally.
2. Discontinuation of on-box reporting:
   • Local reporting and analytics functions will be disabled.
3. Pop-up notifications in WebAdmin:
   • Administrators must regularly acknowledge the risk posed by outdated devices.
4. Weekly EOL email notifications:
   • Reminders about the upcoming End-of-Life (EOL) of the hardware.

These measures are intended to draw attention to outdated hardware early and encourage the necessary upgrade steps.

Changes for all Sophos Firewall customers

For all Sophos Firewall customers, regardless of hardware, the following changes will take effect from March 28, 2025:

1. No access to Central Management and Central Reporting:
   • Without a valid subscription or support contract, central management and reporting features will no longer be available.
2. Discontinuation of technical support from April 2025:
   • Without a valid support contract, technical support will no longer be available, including RMA, phone support, and firmware updates (except for the first three updates).

These changes affect all firewall users who do not have active support contracts.

RMAs will almost certainly still be processed within the first year, as anything else would conflict with legal warranty requirements for hardware replacement.

What you should do now

To ensure that the firewall remains properly protected and functional, you should take the following steps:

1. Renew subscriptions:
   • Check whether the firewall has an active subscription and a valid support contract. (Sophos Enhanced Support)
2. Update hardware:
   • If you are still using XG hardware, plan an upgrade to XGS hardware before March 31, 2025.
3. Perform regular maintenance:
   • Ensure that devices are updated regularly and meet current security standards.

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