Maybe I am learning something new. Presently I have Norton Internet Security (NIS) installed on all my computers. I wouldn't think it would be a good thing to have two AV's running on the same machine, just a bit of overkill, not harmful. Would you recommend removing NIS from the machines and install Sophos Endpoint instead? Presently I'm thinking about using a Win10 VM and running from that for a while using the Sophos Endpoint just to test it out.
No, you definitely do not want to rely on Sophos Endpoint as your main antivirus/HIPS program, as those two features are sub par in comparison to other antivirus/internet security programs. The reason it's not recommended to run multiple antivirus programs is because each will scan the other's quarantine folder, resulting in issues. Provided you add each program's quarantine folder to the exclusion list of the other, they will run fine together.
- For example, I use Comodo Internet Security Pro and Sophos Endpoint Security and Control, adding the quarantine folder of each to the other's antivirus exclusions list.
Sophos Endpoint Security and Control's Web Protection feature is awesome however, and you can disable Antivirus and HIPS in Sophos Endpoint & just have Web Protection enabled. I recommend this option if running on a PC with a CPU that isn't a quad core and does not have at least 8GB of RAM.
Also, Sophos Endpoint can be synced with Application Control and have it's access settings set via WebAdmin (provided the PC has a direct route to the Sophos router either via LAN or VPN).
Norton, Bitdefender, Avast, Avira, Kaspersky and others are all going to do the same type of web monitoring as the Sophos client utility (if installed and configured).
Kaspersky is a product one should have trepidation about using, as all businesses with Kaspersky contracts have been
warned by the FBI & Homeland Security to stop using Kaspersky products, due to evidence Kaspersky is working directly with the Russian Government, forwarding data to them (NSA and DIA have been actively involved in investigating Kaspersky since at least
May).
Other products do offer a similar feature to Sophos Endpoint's Web Protection, however Sophos Endpoint uses Sophos' database, of which is more robust that most, if not all, consumer grade AV/IS solutions.