ESET 8.x firewall blocks Apple AirDrop

[Laurie 0]

The new version of ESET we've been forced to upgrade to with Mac OS 15 (we did an OS upgrade without and all network access was lost, so we've found a very painful, manual way to update to 8.x so we can upgrade the os - a really bad experience, your test and UX people need firing.  Seriously, if you can't keep up with OS updates and have your products upgradable with the central console then sort your lives out)... and then found Apple Airdrop from mobile devices is blocked by the firewall.  We're disabling ESET firewall and going back to the Apple one.   We may well look for a replacement product if this isn't sorted ASAP - and a restoration of the local Firewall configuration we used to have would go a long way to allowing us to resolve these issues ourselves in future.

I'm going to go spam your Twitter and other socials I can find to warn others considering using your products for Mac until you get your act together and sort these things out.  Please reply ASAP, I'll be working through the weekend to try and fix the mess you've made with this hopeless update.

[Marcos 5,259]

8 hours ago, Laurie said:

The new version of ESET we've been forced to upgrade to with Mac OS 15 (we did an OS upgrade without and all network access was lost, so we've found a very painful, manual way to update to 8.x so we can upgrade the os - a really bad experience, your test and UX people need firing.

Unfortunately this complaint should be addressed to Apple, the maker of macOS. Many other mac products suffer from the same issue as you can read at https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/apple/macos-sequoia-change-breaks-networking-for-vpn-antivirus-software/.

[Laurie 0]

47 minutes ago, Marcos said:

Unfortunately this complaint should be addressed to Apple, the maker of macOS. Many other mac products suffer from the same issue as you can read at https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/apple/macos-sequoia-change-breaks-networking-for-vpn-antivirus-software/.

Not really, putting ESET in the same group as Crowdstrike isn't the best marketing when we know their failures this year.

It's not Apple's fault you can't update to 8.x through the central console, which tells you 6.x is 'up to date'.  It's not Apple's fault every web communication is blocked in 6.x and you have to manually unpick ESET.  It's not Apple's fault the ability to manually configure exceptions (like /usr/libexec/sharing, which would fix the airdrop issue) has been removed in 8.x.

This is all on ESET, a total failure to test, and a failure to respond.  Show me, for example, where the email or banner is from ESET warning users not to update Mac OS until they've updated ESET, and then detailing the problems they will meet?

Nothing - just letting their paid userbase see machines incapacitated and even when finally 'fixed' by fighting the old and new ESET version still a lot of issues.

It's nice to know ESET don't have a solution and just post deflection without even sympathy.  I'll go talk to the company owner about finding a replacement that actually cares, tests, and works.

[Marcos 5,259]

First of all, Bleepeingcomputer.com is not owned by nor in any way related to ESET. According to https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/welcome-guide/, it is

a free community where people come together to discuss and learn how to use their computers in an atmosphere that is both helpful and welcoming. With over 700,000 registered members asking and answering questions, BleepingComputer.com has become a vibrant and lively community of like-minded people.

BleepingComputer is paid for completely by advertisement revenue and the moderators are all volunteers. What this means is that any support and advice you receive from this site is completely free.

That said, the article is not sponsored nor paid by ESET so calling it a marketing practice is wrong.

As for upgrade to ESET Endpoint Security v8, from v7 it's automatic as long as you didn't turn off the auto-update policy.

Also when creating a software install task, it's available for selection:

As for the problem with Airdrop, it is that the firewall requires the appropriate rule to allow the communication. In automatic mode the firewall allows all outbound communication but for non-initiated inbound communication the appropriate permissive rule must be created.

According to https://support.apple.com/en-am/102538: Make sure that incoming connections aren't blocked in firewall settings. I've reached out to the developers with a request for instructions what rules need to be created for AirDrop to work.