Rundown
Malware Scan | Yes |
Malicious Software Blocking | Yes |
Phishing Protection | Yes |
Vulnerability Scan | Yes |
Firewall | Yes |
Wi-Fi Hotspot | Yes |
Anti-Fraud | Yes |
Real-Time Protection | Yes |
Password Manager | Yes |
Antivirus software is a type of software that is supposed to prevent, detect, delete, and scan various types of viruses from a computer or OS (operating system). The majority of the antiviruses start running scans in the background once they are installed on your computer and work against the potential virus attacks as a defensive wall.
With the ever-growing demand for all-in-one security-packed software, users are looking for those types of software to buy, which will help them clean up their system, attain protection against cybercrimes, back up their data, gain online protection over the internet, and also help their OS run seamlessly.
Based on the type of user, some people require light, fast, and reliable antivirus software. In contrast, some people are looking for software optimized and integrated with a massive list of features.
It amazes experts that Bitdefender was able to deliver both, and it addressed the queries of all types of antivirus users. When AV-Test made Bitdefender go through several security-centered tests, the results were shocking. It gained maximum marks in all the test categories ranging from protective effect, speed, and usability.
Bitdefender Short Review
Bitdefender provides the user with advanced malware detection and comes with features optimized to create air-tight security for your OS’s internal protection. Bitdefender is so light and efficient; it works without slowing down your PC.
The web protection feature can detect phishing sites and block them instantly when the antivirus software is up and running. It also has a built-in protection feature for your internet browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
Currently, Bitdefender is the most feature-friendly antivirus available in the market and is climbing the list of best antivirus software fast. It not only protects your devices from malware and viruses, but the system optimization tools of the software also help you clear up space on your PC, thus enhancing the overall performance of your OS.
Moreover, the antivirus application comes with a built-in VPN or Virtual Private Network. The VPN works by encrypting your entire internet traffic via 256-bit AES encryption and creating a secure tunnel for it. Once your internet traffic goes through that protected tunnel, no one can spy, track, or hack your online data.
The parental control handle of Bitdefender is entirely customizable and comes integrated with features like geofencing and location tracking. The anti-theft protection feature only works on Windows; hopefully, they will introduce this amazing feature in their other applications and platforms.
Bitdefender uses a cloud-based scanner for the detection of viruses and malware. They have swayed away from traditional methods, and that’s why their malware detection rate is 100%.
To sum it all, Bitdefender provides their users with the coverage of:
- Malware & Virus Detection
- Web Protection
- VPN
- System Tune-up
- Secure Browser
- Parental Control
Advantages and Disadvantages
Benefits
- Best antivirus this year, according to lab test results.
- Do Not Track activation.
- Comes optimized with a VPN.
- Ransomware protection works great.
- Banking/financial protection.
- Extra-security packed features.
- Excellent customer support.
- Performance is streamlined.
Drawbacks
- A separate subscription for unlimited VPN.
- Parental Control requires a costly subscription.
- Encryption of hard disk requires separate products.
Specifications
Real-Time Data Protection | Profiles (Games, Movies, Work) |
Network Threat Protection | Battery Mode |
Advanced Threat Defense | Anti-tracker |
Multi-Layer Ransomware Protection | Safe Online Banking |
Vulnerability Assessment | Password Manager |
Web Attack Prevention | File Shredder |
Rescue Environment | Wi-Fi Security Advisor |
Anti-Fraud | Social Network Protection |
Autopilot | Global Protective Network |
Bitdefender Photon | Bitdefender VPN |
Pricing Discussion
You can get protection from Bitdefender software for as low as $2.50/month. If we compare the pricing plans offered by Bitdefender with its competitors, we see that it is the cheapest and most lightweight product available in the market nowadays.
Bitdefender has taken over the market by storm as per its low rates and reliable performance. The plans are distributed based on the number of years for which you want to buy a plan and how many devices you want to be licensed by the software.
The 1-year plan of Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is at a discounted rate right now with a 50% discount tag and will cost you a total of $29.99 for the first year. The one-year plan will give you a license for at least 3 devices.
The 2-year plan of Bitdefender Antivirus Plus initially had a price tag of $89.99 for two years; however, with the recent revisions in their pricing plans, the two-year plan with three device licenses will cost you a total of $67.49 for the first two years.
Lastly, the third plan is for 3-years of Bitdefender Antivirus Plus. For licensing of three devices, you’ll have to pay $89.99 for the first three years. The past price tag was $119.99.
Free Version
Bitdefender Antivirus also has a Free Version, so users can use it to check out the software and the overall affectivity it has to offer. Bitdefender’s free version is not as capable as its premium versions; however, the list of features it provides in its freemium plans is simply marvelous.
The free version comes optimized with:
- Antivirus protection
- Anti-fraud
- Anti-phishing
- Defenses against harmful websites
- Ransomware protection.
A person who has done some deep-ended R&D on antiviruses knows how stuck-up antiviruses companies are, as there is no room for flexibility in their business plans. You’ll have to pay for everything. Bitdefender is challenging the industry by offering its users not just a free edition but also a 30-day free trial with a money-back guarantee. You don’t even have to purchase the license to use it.
Requirements (System/Software) & Installation process for Bitdefender
One needs to fulfill the following requirements to run the Bitdefender software on their Windows PC.
- Operating System: Windows 7 – 8.1 – 10 – 11 (with Windows 7, you need a Service Pack 1)
- Memory (RAM): 2GB
- Hard Disk Space: 2.5GB free space
- Browser: Internet Explorer version 11 – Chrome 56 and later – Firefox 52 and later – Microsoft Edge
Once the requirements are fulfilled, you can download Bitdefender’s file of 472MB and initiate the installation process. Afterward, you only need to create a My Bitdefender account, and you’ll be ready to use the antivirus software.
Features Discussion
Bitdefender is undoubtedly a feature-rich software where you’ll find everything on the home page of the application. All of the features work coherently to maintain and develop a secure network for all of your devices and protect you from external online threats.
Here are some of the major highlighted features of Bitdefender, which make it the most widely used cyber security solution.
Ransomware Protection
Ransomware is a practice that is used by cybercriminals where they enter malicious code into your OS and encrypt all of your files. For them to be decrypted, you’ll have to pay a hefty amount of money, usually via the medium of cryptocurrencies.
In recent years, the practice of ransomware has increased, and the majority of the victims are organizations. Individuals are also targeted daily; that’s why the need for an antivirus tool on all of your operating devices is becoming a necessity.
Once the attacker encrypts your files, a message will appear on your screen where the hackers notify you that your computer has been locked, and now you have to pay this much amount of money to unlock it.
Bitdefender prevents these kinds of events from taking place via its Ransomware Protection feature. It identifies ransomware attacks before they even take place. It detects those threats and immediately starts to create backups of all of your files so that in case the hacker can bypass the Bitdefender firewall (which has not yet happened), you can easily restore your corrupted data.
Safe File
The Safe File feature is another interesting anomaly which Bitdefender has placed in its software. One can use this feature to protect specific and targeted files in the folders of your choice.
These selected files on your hard drive cannot be changed or deleted once the Safe File feature has been set in place.
Scanning
All antivirus software offers a scanning feature; Bitdefender has done the same. You can choose between the options of quick scans or full system scans. Quick scans do not interrupt or affect the performance of your system; however, the full system scans can disrupt as it is a hectic job to scan the entire computer at one given time.
To address this query, Bitdefender has allowed its users to run custom scans where you can select individual folders and partitions for scheduled scans. The feature of custom scans allows the user’s system or a machine to remain clean and clear while scheduled scans are being run in the background turn after turn.
Also, you can right-click on a folder and run a scan on it.
Data Protection & Encryption
Every good antivirus software allows the user to encrypt individual folders containing sensitive information or data.
Encryption is a necessity nowadays, and Bitdefender allows you to encrypt the folders of your choice along with your partitions. You cannot encrypt your entire hard drive. To make this happen, you need the help of other tools like Gravity Zone Full Disk Encryption.
The process of encryption works by encoding your files or folders in such a manner so that they cannot be deciphered.
File Shredder
The file shredder feature helps you permanently get rid of your files and folders, so there is no chance left to recover them. When you delete a file in your computer, there are several traces of that particular file left on your OS, which can be used to recover the deleted file.
That’s why Bitdefender provides you with a permanent solution of not risking your data and getting bullied by hackers/cybercriminals.
Anti-theft
Several antivirus software and security suits already provide this feature in their services. Still, the implementation and performance of the ‘anti-theft feature have always been in question as it’s very difficult actually to make it streamlined.
Bitdefender’s anti-theft security feature is easy to operate and is user-friendly.
The anti-theft feature functions in cases where your device is either stolen, or you have lost it for some reason somewhere. Using Bitdefender’s anti-theft feature, you can set a lock on it remotely by going to your Bitdefender Central Dashboard and entering a PIN code from there.
Once that is done, access to your data will be impossible, and in cases where someone tries to unlock the device, your device’s front cam will take snapshots of the person who is trying to unlock it.
Not only does the anti-theft feature perform the function mentioned above, but it also sends you an approximate location of your device on your Bitdefender Central.
You also have the liberty to wipe all the data on your device remotely and protect your sensitive information.
Safepay (Payment Protection)
Safepay is Bitdefender’s browser for secure and private online banking and eCommerce purposes.
Almost all security suits nowadays have a secured browser to deal with fraudulent websites, banking malware, and hackers.
Safepay works on the same principle as other security browsers and prevents phishing, MITM attacks, keylogging, etc. All the potential threats which a user can face during their financial transactions are addressed in Safepay.
Another interesting factor introduced in Safepay is the integration of a virtual keyboard so that the user remains protected from attacks like keylogging. Also, snapshots of your screen are going to be blocked by Bitdefender.
Suppose the user is sitting in a place where they are forced to use public Wi-Fi or another network that is not protected, and they have to make an urgent online transaction. In that case, Bitdefender has built-in hotspot protection, which will guard your transactions and the sensitive data on your device.
Real-Time Protection
Bitdefender provides real-time protection. What is real-time protection?
Real-time protection is a security feature that stops malware from being installed on your device in real-time, i.e.; you won’t have to run scans after each small interval or schedule them again and again.
Phishing:
When up and running, Bitdefender actively blocks all types of phishing websites by detecting them and recognizing them as a threat. According to stats, 90%+ of the cyber-attacks use the medium of phishing. You can either get an email from a phishing website or get invited to those sites via social media messages. Bitdefender actively detects these threats and blocks them.
Parental Control:
Parental Control on security software works by blocking all the sites with graphic videos, explicit content, age-restricted content and violent sports like boxing. Bitdefender’s Parental Control works, but it is not the best one in the market. It blocks most of those sites but is not able to identify most of them.
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
Bitdefender has a built-in VPN in their Total Security Plan, but it has a limit of 200MBs daily. If you want more, you have to buy the VPN plan of Bitdefender to enjoy unlimited access to their VPN service.
Also, it is not as effective as the main top-of-the-line VPN dedicated company’s VPN products like Surfshark VPN, ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and PureVPN.
User Interface
The user interface of Bitdefender is pretty sleek and clean. Most of the features are divided between two groups, i.e., Privacy & Protection.
The privacy handle is mostly concerned with data protection and helps the user by filtering out most of the data you share with the world over the internet or the data that can be shared. It comprises:
- Password Management
- Payment Protection (Safepay)
- File Encryption
- Webcam Protection (Access)
- VPN
- And more.
The arrangement is made by keeping the user intent in mind, and most of the features can be accessed simply by 2 to 3 clicks.
In contrast, the protection handle is filled with:
- Antivirus Protection Features
- Online Threat Prevention
- Ransomware Protection
You can access several features there and utilize them to enhance your overall security.
The Dashboard of every software is one of the most vital aspects of measuring and accessing user-friendliness. Bitdefender has several shortcuts placed right there on the Dashboard for quick access and even allows the user to add custom buttons or features that they regularly use.
These are called ‘quick action buttons.’ You can only add a limited amount of quick action buttons.
Customer Support
The success of every business is dependent nowadays on the type of customer support they are offering. Fortunately, the customer support of Bitdefender is outstanding as their support team is operating all platforms ranging from email, chat, and on-call support.
The email support answers all of the queries within a period of two to three hours, whereas the live chat support will address your query within a period of 2 to 3 minutes.
All of this portrays that the customer support of Bitdefender is pretty efficient.
Final Verdict
Based on the looks, performance, and the set of features Bitdefender is integrated with, the company is here to stay and is not going anywhere for a long time. It has introduced innovations in the industry of online & OS system security and has informed us about the protection standard we need to follow.
It has powerful technology embedded inside it, which fights with malware, viruses, and cyber-attacks effectively. Bitdefender has certainly set a great standard for its competitors.