Sophos Certified Engineer Practice Exam

The first step when removing Sophos Endpoint Protection from a Windows endpoint is to disable tamper protection in Sophos Central. Tamper protection is a security feature designed to prevent unauthorized uninstallation or modification of the Sophos software. By ensuring that tamper protection is disabled, you allow the uninstallation process to proceed without any interruptions or blocks. This step is crucial to maintaining the integrity of the endpoint’s security during the removal process.

When tamper protection is enabled, attempts to uninstall the software can be thwarted, leading to potential complications that may require additional troubleshooting or administrative actions. Thus, starting with this step ensures a smooth and hassle-free removal of the software.

The other options would not be effective as initial steps. Simply uninstalling from the Control Panel without addressing tamper protection could lead to uninstallation failures. Rebooting the endpoint or disabling firewall settings does not directly address the requirement to bypass tamper protection, and doing these actions first would be premature and potentially cause delays in successful uninstallation.