Bitdefender opiniones 2022: ¿Es un buen antivirus? [Análisis]

Bitdefender is one of my favorite antiviruses in It has all of the cybersecurity protections most users need to stay % safe, it’s super easy to use across all devices and operating systems, and it’s cheaper than most competing brands.

During all of my tests, Bitdefender had perfect results against all types of malware samples, and thanks to its cloud-based virus engine, it didn’t slow down my computer even during full system scans. It also has some of the best web protections on the market, detecting more fake and risky sites than both built-in protections from Chrome, Firefox, or Edge, and anti-phishing protections from other antiviruses.

In addition to high-end malware and web protections, Bitdefender also has more security features than almost all other brands, and all of its extras work as promised and are very simple to find and use. Bitdefender has:

• Advanced ransomware protection.
• System optimization.
• Secure web browser for safe online payments.
• Password manager.
• VPN (virtual private network).
• Parental controls.
• Webcam and microphone protection.
• Anti-theft protection for Windows and Android.
• And a lot more…

Most of Bitdefender’s features work great — the system optimization tools cleared up a lot of space on my PC and improved my device’s performance, the VPN is comparable in speed and performance to standalone VPNs, and the parental controls are highly customizable and even include location tracking and geofencing. I also think it’s amazing that Bitdefender’s anti-theft protection works on Windows devices – most competitors like McAfee and Avira offer anti-theft on mobile devices only.

But as much as I like Bitdefender, I can’t say it’s without flaws. Its password manager may be too basic for some users — it doesn’t have a desktop app, and it’s lacking features like emergency access and password sharing. The mobile security app for iOS is also very limited, providing only web protection, simple email breach monitoring, and a limited VPN. And the VPN that comes bundled with most of Bitdefender’s plans only lets you use MB data per day, which is barely enough for web browsing. That said, the VPN with unlimited data is available on Bitdefender’s top-tier Premium Security plan (or you can get it as an add-on to any of the other plans).

And even if you upgrade to the most expensive plan with the unlimited VPN (and coverage for up to 10 devices), Bitdefender still offers an excellent value (and it’s still cheaper than most brands with fewer features).

Overall, Bitdefender is one of the best internet security products around. It’s got unbeatable malware protection, provides lots of really good features, it’s easy to use, and it offers affordable plans for all budgets. And all of Bitdefender’s packages come with a risk-free day money-back guarantee, so there’s no risk in trying it out.

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Bitdefender Full Review

Bitdefender provides cutting-edge internet security for a great value.

Its cloud-based scanner uses machine learning along with traditional signature-based scanning to provide % malware detection.

It also provides excellent web protections, a fast VPN, comprehensive system tune-up, a secure browser, and some of the best parental controls on the market today (along with several more useful additional protections).

Alongside free versions for Windows and Mac, Bitdefender offers several premium plans — Antivirus Plus is a good entry-level antivirus for users looking to protect 1 Windows PC, Internet Security adds coverage for up to 3 Windows PCs and is a great mid-range option for families, Total Security is an excellent value for users looking to protect up to 5 Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices, and Premium Security is the best-value package for those who want all of Bitdefender’s features plus the VPN with no limitations.

There’s a day money-back guarantee on all of Bitdefender’s plans.

Bitdefender Security Features

Virus/Vulnerability Scan

Bitdefender’s antivirus scanner is both thorough and lightweight. It uses a huge malware directory and machine learning to detect both known and emerging malware. And because most of the malware scanning takes place in the cloud, Bitdefender’s antivirus engine takes up a fraction of CPU and disk space during scans.

Bitdefender offers 4 types of scans:

• Quick Scan. A lightweight scan of core system files and temporary files where viruses are often stored.
• System Scan. An in-depth analysis and scan of the entire system for malware and vulnerabilities.
• Custom Scan. Scanning in any system location where there might be potential threats.
• Vulnerability Scan. Scanning for privacy risks in application settings as well as critical software updates.

I tested Bitdefender’s virus scanner by hiding nearly 1, malware samples throughout my virtual Windows computer, including viruses, worms, trojans, adware, spyware, rootkits, ransomware, cryptojackers, and keyloggers — once my system was fully infected with malware, I performed a full system scan.

Bitdefender’s full system scan took just under 1 hour to complete — this is comparable to top competitors such as Norton and Avira whose scans take around 45 minutes to complete.

However, unlike most competitors, Bitdefender has a minimal impact on system performance. I didn’t notice any slowdown on my system throughout the entire scanning process — even other premium competitors like TotalAV cause some slowdown during full system scans.

Bitdefender also lets users schedule scans — you can choose between several scheduling options, including at system startup, daily, weekly, and monthly. However, users can only schedule custom scans — Norton, Avira, and TotalAV all provide easy, one-click scan scheduling for all types of scans.

Overall, Bitdefender’s malware scanner is one of the best on the market — it’s fast, it doesn’t cause slowdowns, and it has perfect malware detection rates. If you’re looking for a lightweight, powerful antivirus scanner, Bitdefender is an excellent choice.

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Real-Time Protection

Bitdefender’s real-time protection (Bitdefender Shield) actively scans every file and email attachment the moment you access them. Bitdefender Shield’s default settings include the following scans:

• Potentially unwanted applications. Software that hides inside other applications (usually bundled freeware).
• Network shares. Issues in remote networks on your device.
• Boot sectors. Issues that may change the boot sequence.
• Only new and modified files. Threats that may hide in new and changed files.
• Keyloggers. Malware that captures keystrokes.

While Bitdefender Shield’s default protections are good enough for most users, advanced users can customize real-time settings to also include applications, scripts, and archives. Advanced users can also choose to exclude any of the options mentioned above.

For my testing, I downloaded around infected .exe samples, .txt files, and .rar files (compressed folders), and I also ran network-based attacks from my Android and another PC.

Bitdefender’s real-time protection blocked every single malware file before I could download it. But Bitdefender Shield didn’t merely interrupt my downloads — it wouldn’t even allow me to start them, greying out the “Save File” button.

Overall, I’m really impressed by Bitdefender’s real-time protection. Some competitors provide similar real-time malware detection rates, but Bitdefender provides the best customization options on the market for its real-time scanner.

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Anti-Phishing/Web Protection

Whenever you visit a website, Bitdefender’s anti-phishing protection compares it against a regularly updated database of millions of dangerous, blacklisted sites. If there’s a match, Bitdefender blocks access to the site.

I tested Bitdefender’s anti-phishing protection with a huge directory of phishing sites — Bitdefender blocked all of the fake websites I tried to access. Chrome, Firefox, and even third-party anti-phishing tools from competitors like Panda and Kaspersky failed to detect as many suspicious sites as Bitdefender.

What’s more, Bitdefender features a convenient notification screen, so you can see what websites it has blocked and why. This makes it easy to permanently add a false positive to Bitdefender’s exception list. Whitelisting sites can be done in one click, whereas other antiviruses such as Norton require you to dig through settings and advanced protocols to whitelist safe sites. However, keep in mind that you should only whitelist sites if you are absolutely certain that they’re legitimate and don’t contain malware.

Bitdefender’s web protection also prevents you from accessing a webpage that contains downloadable malware — it also checks search results for dangerous sites, scans encrypted websites, and checks sites for fraudulent content.

Overall, Bitdefender provides exceptional anti-phishing protection as well as protection against a wide range of other web-based threats. In addition to blocking more phishing sites than most competitors, Bitdefender also makes it easy to whitelist websites and adjust web protection settings.

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System Optimization

Bitdefender’s OneClick Optimizer is a basic but useful tool for freeing up disk space on your computer. It scans your system and removes unnecessary files from your device — but it’s pretty minimal when compared to competitors like Avira (which offers a startup optimizer, game booster, driver updater, and battery usage manager).

Bitdefender basically removes a variety of junk files, including:

• Temporary system files.
• Windows junk files.
• Recycle bin files.
• Broken registry items.
• Browser history.

I ran the scan with no other applications running in the background, and it only took around 2 minutes to complete.

Bitdefender managed to free up a total of GB from my PC, which is really good. Some competitors that have a better assortment of system tune-up tools weren’t as effective at making room on my disk! However, I would recommend that most users double-check the scanned “junk” files by clicking View details before proceeding to delete them.

However, Bitdefender’s tuneup tool has some annoying limitations — for example:

Before clicking “Optimize,” Bitdefender recommended that I review the issues it had flagged. But Bitdefender didn’t let me view the details about those issues. For example, it flagged one broken software location in my registry options, yet it wouldn’t let me see the file name or date. This was frustrating because I wanted to know what I was deleting, not just the location of the file in question.

I’d also like to see more features included in Bitdefeder’s system tuneup tool. For example, TotalAV’s built-in optimization includes a startup manager, an application uninstaller, and a duplicate file finder.

That said, after running Bitdefender’s one-click optimization, I noticed a speed increase on my PC. This simple one-click method for freeing up space does have some limitations, and it’s missing some features that competitors provide. But overall, it’s very convenient and does a good job.

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Secure Web Browser (SafePay)

Bitdefender’s secure web browser, SafePay, is a great way to keep hackers from stealing your personal information when making online transactions.

Here are the main benefits of using SafePay:

• Prevents hackers from remotely accessing your desktop.
• Stops you from taking snapshots of your screen.
• Utilizes Bitdefender’s password manager to protect your passwords.
• Emulates a virtual keyboard to prevent keystroke tracking.
• Turns on built-in VPN protection ( MB daily limit).

I wanted to show off SafePay’s protections, but I couldn’t capture any screenshots due to its built-in screenshot-blocker, which is great — if you can’t screen-capture your browser, then neither can intrusive hackers!

I tested SafePay with my PayPal account. Apart from being unable to use any of my screen capture tools, I was even unable to copy-paste my password or 2FA codes while using SafePay! The virtual keyboard popped up the moment I was asked to enter my login details, keeping keyloggers from recording my password or personal info.

However, pages loaded pretty slowly, and I couldn’t stream HD video with SafePay — it’s definitely not designed to replace your web browser. But for anyone that does business online, SafePay is a really good privacy enhancement tool.

If you’re looking to protect your information as much as possible during online transactions, SafePay is a really good addition to Bitdefender’s already impressive web protection toolkit.

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Password Manager

Bitdefender’s password manager is simple and secure — but it’s not as good as dedicated password managers like Dashlane or 1Password. Bitdefender doesn’t provide features like two-factor authentication (2FA) or password sharing. However, it does provide the essential functions of a password manager, such as:

• High-level encryption.
• Multi-device sync.
• Password generator.
• Unlimited password storage.
• Payment information storage.
• Auto-save and auto-fill.
• Password vault auditing.

Bitdefender’s password manager comes free with Bitdefender Premium Security, but lower-tier Bitdefender plans come with a day free trial of the password manager, after which you’ll have to pay an additional yearly fee.

To access the password manager, you need to install Bitdefender’s password manager extension (available for Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Brave). There’s also an Android and iOS app, but there isn’t a desktop version.

Bitdefender still offers the My Wallets features for Windows desktop users, which is a basic password vault with auto-fill capabilities and a password generator. But the My Wallets feature doesn’t offer the range of features or cross-platform compatibility included with Bitdefender’s password manager.

Bitdefender’s password manager lets you store passwords, identities (personal information, addresses, and phone numbers), credit cards and bank accounts, email credentials, license keys and logins for software, and Wi-Fi passwords.

The auto-fill and auto-save functions worked well during my tests. By default, Bitdefender auto-filled my details without requiring any clicks, but also I had the option to disable this and manually click to auto-fill my details. The auto-save feature offered to save my login credentials whenever I logged into new sites.

Bitdefender also has a pretty good password generator that enables users to generate passwords up to 32 characters long. This is good, but top password managers like LastPass can generate passwords that are up to 99 characters long.

But what I liked most was Bitdefender’s password vault auditing tool (named Security report), which gives users an easy-to-understand overview of their password security. It checks for weak, old, reused, and leaked passwords. While I would like to see Bitdefender include active dark web monitoring to continuously scan for leaked login credentials, like Dashlane does, I still like the simplicity of Bitdefender’s Security report feature.

Overall, Bitdefender’s password manager is intuitive and easy to set up, but it’s not quite as good as standalone password managers like 1Password, Dashlane, LastPass, or Keeper, all of which offer a wide range of additional tools, like password sharing, password auditing, dark web monitoring, 2FA, biometric logins, and much more for a similar price. That said, if you get Bitdefender’s password manager as part of the Premium Security plan, it is a decent easy-to-use option for users that don’t really need an advanced password manager app.

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Bitdefender VPN

Bitdefender’s VPN is powered by Hotspot Shield, one of the more popular VPN providers on the market. However, Bitdefender’s VPN has a much smaller server network and it doesn’t provide the same level of functionality as Hotspot Shield. That said, Bitdefender’s VPN covers all of the basics — it uses unbreakable bit AES encryption, has a no-logs policy, and comes with a kill switch.

Most of Bitdefender’s plans come with a free version of this VPN, but it’s not very good. Bitdefender’s free VPN picks a random server based on your location, and it only includes MB of browsing per day — barely enough to watch a single YouTube video.

However, users that upgrade to Bitdefender’s Premium Security plan or opt for a separate VPN subscription get unlimited browsing data as well as access to 30 servers around the world. And Bitdefender’s premium VPN has some of the best speeds of any antivirus’s VPN on the market — it’s even faster than some standalone competitors.

Here’s a comparison of my internet connection before and after activating Bitdefender’s VPN on a local US server:

As you can see, there wasn’t a noticeable difference in internet speed. This is especially good when compared to VPNs from companies like Panda, which can cut your download speed in half and send your PING skyrocketing!

Unfortunately, Bitdefender’s VPN isn’t a good choice for users interested in streaming.During my tests, all popular streaming services like Netflix noticed that I was using a VPN and wouldn’t let me access their content libraries. If you’re looking for a good streaming VPN, I recommend ExpressVPN.

On the other hand, Bitdefender is really good for torrenting — you can even set the VPN to auto-connect whenever you start a peer-to-peer sharing app. This is in complete contrast with McAfee, which doesn’t even let you turn on its VPN if you have a torrenting client installed on your PC.

Overall, I like Bitdefender’s premium VPN. While it doesn’t have a lot of the features that standalone VPNs provide, Bitdefender still provides surprisingly fast connection speeds and good encrypted browsing for users that want to increase their internet security.

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Parental Control

Bitdefender’s parental control app is available as a separate download for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

I tested the parental control app on my PC and Android. To set up Bitdefender’s parental control app, I navigated to the Privacy tab in the desktop app, and then I clicked on Configure under Parental Advisor. This took me to Bitdefender’s online portal, Bitdefender Central, where I first had to add a child. Next, I had to install the Bitdefender parental control app on the device my child would be using — I had to give the app all sorts of permissions on the mobile device, but this didn’t take me longer than a couple of minutes.

Next, I had to customize the parental app’s settings. In Bitdefender Central, I could:

• Set daily device limits (not available on iOS).
• Set device usage schedules.
• Manage (allow and block) apps.
• Whitelist and blacklist specific sites or categories of sites (not available for iOS).
• View location and set safe and restricted areas (available only on Android and iOS).
• View the latest phone contacts added to the contact list (available only on Android and iOS devices).

After configuring all of the settings, I tested the app with a friend. My friend tried visiting dozens of websites that belonged to the blacklisted categories, and Bitdefender’s parental control app blocked her from accessing each of those websites. The only thing I dislike about Bitdefender’s website filtering is that there’s no way for your child to ask for access to a specific website via the app.

All of the other features inside Bitdefender’s parental app worked perfectly — I could see how much time my friend was spending on her mobile phone, view which apps she accessed, and accurately track her location. I was impressed that I could ask my friend to send me a notification when she arrived safely at a specified location — this isn’t something that most competing antiviruses with parental controls offer!

I also really like that Bitdefender allows geo-fencing, so you can get alerts if your child leaves a predetermined safe area.

Overall, Bitdefender’s parental controls provide some of the best protections of any parental control app out there — parents who want to make sure that their kids are as safe as possible, both online and in the real world, will find a lot of value in Bitdefender’s parental control app.

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Webcam Security & Microphone Protection

Bitdefender’s webcam and microphone security protections stop hackers from covertly watching you through your device’s webcam and listening into your private conversations.

In my tests, Bitdefender monitored all of the apps that attempted to access my laptop’s webcam and microphone and notified me of any suspicious or unauthorized access attempts. A notification was displayed on my screen every time an access attempt was made, enabling me to either allow or deny access.

I like how I could customize access to my webcam and mic by enabling access for apps I consider safe, like Zoom and Slack. But I could also completely block any access attempts made by my web browser, and I was also able to block access to my webcam and mic entirely, so no apps could access these features.

My only issue is that the webcam and microphone protections are only available for Windows devices, so I couldn’t use them on my Mac.

Overall, I really like Bitdefender’s webcam and microphone protections. They’re very easy to set up, there are useful customization options, and the popup notifications make it easy to see which apps are making access attempts.

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Ransomware Remediation

Bitdefender’s Ransomware Remediation is designed to automatically protect your files when it detects ransomware running on your system. This feature is supposed to prevent any file encryption attempts and enable you to restore files encrypted by ransomware attacks.

I ran some isolated ransomware simulations, and while the Ransomware Remediation was effective in most cases, it didn’t seem to correctly restore a handful of files in other instances.

When clicking on the Restored Files button, I could see a list of all files that had supposedly been recovered, including video clips, photos, and other files, and I was able to access almost all restored files with all of the original information intact. However, a couple of files weren’t restored correctly, which was a little concerning.

Despite a few missed files, I think this feature is very useful. While I would like to see Ransomware Remediation correctly restore all files, almost all of my files were restored correctly, which is impressive, especially considering this feature is not something that many other antiviruses offer.

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Profiles

Bitdefender’s Profiles feature (Windows only) allows users to customize their experience with the software and optimize their PC’s performance depending on why they’re using their PC.

For instance, if you’re working, you can switch on Work Profile to reduce system slowdowns and enhance email protections. Or if you’re gaming, you can choose Game Mode, which improves system performance and reduces notifications while you’re gaming. You can also adjust the settings within each profile to suit your preferences.

Here’s the full list of profiles to choose from:

• Work Profile — Enhances email protections and reduces system slowdowns.
• Movie Profile — Stops pop-up notifications and minimizes background processes.
• Game Profile — Optimizes system performance while you’re gaming.
• Public Wi-Fi Profile — Activiates protections to keep you safe on public Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Battery Mode Profile — Changes software settings to improve laptop battery life.

You can set up Bitdefender so it changes your profile depending on the apps you’re using, but you can also switch between profiles manually.

I really like the Profiles feature — it’s easy to use and significantly improved my performance while using CPU-intensive programs like Adobe Illustrator for work. I also tested this feature while I watched Netflix on my laptop, and I didn’t experience any interruptions or system slowdowns.

While some antiviruses offer similar tools, like Norton’s gaming mode (which also improves system performance while gaming), I’m a huge fan of the range of profile options offered by Bitdefender and how easy it is to adjust each profile.

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Identity Theft Protection

I think Bitdefender has one of the most useful identity theft protection packages on the market in , but they’re only available as standalone purchases. Bitdefender offers a multi-layered approach to digital identity protection, monitoring data breaches and dark web forums, scanning social media for impersonator accounts, and even providing live credit reporting monitoring for US users.

I was really impressed that Bitdefender can track up to pieces of personally identifying information (PII), including addresses, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, and more.

The main Digital Identity Monitor page on Bitdefender’s online dashboard lists these tabs:

• Digital footprint.
• Data breaches.
• Impersonation check.
• Data brokers.
• Education.
• Event history.

I especially like that Bitdefender offers an option to remove your data from data broker lists (data brokers collect personal information on you and sell your file to advertisers and marketing teams) — Norton also offers this option with its identity theft protections. Bitdefender can remove your information from top data brokers like BeenVerified, White Pages, PrivateEye, and Spokeo.

For US users, Bitdefender has also added a live credit report monitoring system with two tiers of protection. Like TotalAV and Norton, Bitdefender monitors the major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax) for any financial activity involving your information. This can include loan applications, mortgages, rental agreements, and more.

Bitdefender’s identity theft protections are available as a standalone purchase.

Bitdefender’s Identity Theft Protection Standard monitors 1 of the 3 credit bureaus and provides live alerts and assistance in the event of identity theft. But upgrading to the Identity Theft Protection Premium plan provides a $2M insurance policy, tracks USPS change of address filings, court proceedings, tracking across all 3 credit bureaus, and up to $50K in ransomware and malware insurance.

Overall, Bitdefender’s identity theft protections are among the best on the market. They track as many as pieces of PII, provide live monitoring and assistance, and add a comprehensive credit monitoring service for US users.

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Anti-Theft Protection

Bitdefender’s anti-theft feature performed really well during my testing — I’d say it’s actually one of the best anti-theft features on the market.

However, it’s currently only available for Windows and Android devices, and I’d like to see Bitdefender offer support for Mac and iOS too.Lookout offers good anti-theft features for iOS, but Apple’s built-in anti-theft features are currently the best option for MacBook users.

Bitdefender’s anti-theft dashboard is accessible via the Utilities tab on the Bitdefender desktop interface, which will then take you to Bitdefender Central. From there, you can choose to locate your device, make your device sound an alert, lock your device, or wipe all of the data on your device to stop it from being stolen.

I tested it on my Android smartphone, and it was surprisingly easy to set up. All I had to do was download the Bitdefender app, sign into my account, and activate the anti-theft features by pressing TURN ON when prompted.

I first tested the location tracking feature. It was able to locate my device with pinpoint accuracy via the anti-theft dashboard — a dot appeared on the map showing that my phone was located at my exact location on my street. I was able to do the same via the Android app, as well as adjust all other anti-theft settings.

I also tested the alert feature, which sounded an incredibly loud and distressing scream noise, and the remote lock function, which locked my device and required me to input the lock code created during setup to access my device. However, while the lock code was useful on my HP laptop (which doesn’t have a passcode), when I tested the lock feature on my Android, it only required me to input my device’s PIN code.

Overall, I’m very impressed by Bitdefender’s anti-theft tools. They’re very easy to set up, they can accurately detect lost devices, and the added extras such as remote device locking and data wiping help to improve user security. I would like to see Bitdefender extend its anti-theft features beyond Windows and Android devices (support for Mac and iOS would be great), but I think most users would find the anti-theft features incredibly useful.

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Additional Features

Bitdefender is one of the most feature-rich internet security suites on the market in , and the features I previously described are just a small part of its entire offering.

Bitdefender also has:

• Firewall — Adjusts network settings based on whether you’re connecting to a dynamic network, a home/office network, or a public network. There’s also a “Stealth mode” that makes your device invisible.
• Wi-Fi protection — Analyzes Wi-Fi networks and routers for potential threats.
• Anti-tracking protection — Prevents web trackers from collecting your data for advertising and other purposes.
• File shredder — Permanently deletes files or folders.

The anti-tracking protection is a nice addition, as it enhances your online privacy. But I think the most useful extra feature is the file shredder. I have thousands of files on my system that I no longer need, but some of them contain sensitive information. Using Bitdefender’s file shredder, I’m able to permanently delete them, making it impossible for hackers to recover them using file recovery software (deleting them normally would make sensitive files easy to recover with the right technology).

Overall, Bitdefender has a truly impressive range of features — if you’re looking for an antivirus that has almost all of the internet security tools you can think of, Bitdefender won’t disappoint you!

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Bitdefender Plans and Pricing

Bitdefender offers several payment plans that cover 1– devices, but only Total Security and Premium Security work across all operating systems (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS). However, Bitdefender’s business package, GravityZone Premium, also supports Linux systems.

Most of the plans include a limited VPN (Premium Security is the only plan that comes with the unlimited VPN), but Bitdefender’s premium VPN is also available at checkout, and it costs less than most competing standalone VPNs.

Bitdefender offers both a free Windows plan and a free Mac plan, though both are very limited compared to the premium versions. That said, all of Bitdefender’s plans are affordable and include a risk-free money-back guarantee for 30 days.

Here’s a quick overview of all of Bitdefender’s plans:

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Bitdefender Free Antivirus for Windows — Basic Free Plan for Windows

Bitdefender offers a free Windows-only antivirus plan, but it’s very limited compared to the premium version. It still includes Bitdefender’s advanced anti-malware engine and online threat protection, but not much else.

The anti-malware engine and online protections run exactly the same as the premium versions of Bitdefender, but it doesn’t include Rescue Environment, which enables you to remove advanced malware, like rootkits.

To access all extra security features, such as network threat prevention, Ransomware Remediation (restore files corrupted by ransomware), Safepay, and the VPN, you’ll need to upgrade to one of Bitdefender’s premium plans.

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Bitdefender Virus Scanner for Mac — Basic Free Plan for Mac

Bitdefender offers a free version of its software for macOS, but it’s very basic — it’s only an on-demand virus scanner that lets you scan your Mac for viruses and malware.

Bitdefender’s free Mac version uses the same advanced anti-malware engine as the premium version — which earned Bitdefender a spot on our best free Mac antiviruses of But it doesn’t have real-time protection, meaning it’s only good for removing existing malware, and not for protecting against future infections.

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Bitdefender Antivirus Plus — Basic Paid Plan (Windows Only)

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus includes real-time malware defense and web protection, as well as:

• Multi-layer ransomware protection.
• Secure browser for online finances.
• Password manager.
• Wi-Fi protection.
• VPN ( MB daily data).
• Anti-tracking protection.
• User profiles (including gaming mode).
• File shredder.

Top positive review

All positive reviews›

out of 5 starsUnrivaled protection and Support.

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 28 May

Pros -
*First things first - You receive daily updates, they are sometimes annoying because you have to restart your pc for Bitdef to perform but still it's for your own sake.
*Its UI is friendly but it may take time to get used to it. Sometimes you may not find what you need to access because of it's complex menu system.
*Previously Detected a Worm on my system that even Norton didn't recognize..I was really impressed by it.
*Provides Online protection, scans your every moment so you don't download any malware, gives updates on websites that are unprotected or previously hacked etc.
*Blocks any app from accessing your camera or mic. Also blocks any third party task that modifies or requests for files - This maybe troublesome while playing games because they need to get access to their own files which the AV may block and your may encounter an error while launching the same.
*Cons - Absolutely none until now.. only thing concerns me that its missing torrent and download protection. You may not know if the file contains any virus until you've downloaded the file and later scan. Norton has the feature to scan your torrents and downloads as soon as you download it but Bitdef doesn't have this feature. So for safety - first download and scan using Bitdef then only extract it. Not every thing on internet is safe nor secure.

One of Bitdefender’s strengths is the number of features each plan offers. Forbes Advisor breaks down the key attributes to summarize what Bitdefender offers.

Bitdefender&#;s consumer-centric plans start at $ per year for one device and go all the way up to $ for 10 devices for the first year. With the personal plan, you get standard features including anti-phishing capabilities, vulnerability assessment reports and a file shredder that permanently removes sensitive information off of your machine.

This review mainly focuses on the business on the business package option, but Bitdefender’s personal plans are also impressive. If you run a small or one-person business, those packages may be worth considering.

The GravityZone Security Platform

Bitdefender’s protection is built on the company’s GravityZone platform. GravityZone is a powerful security solution that can protect email servers, deal with security patches and encrypt your most sensitive data.

Pricing for Bitdefender’s entry-level business security plan starts at $ per year with protection for up to three devices and one server. Depending on what package and add-ons you go with, the software can easily cost over $10, per year for larger teams. This is in line with other business antivirus platforms we’ve seen on the market.

GravityZone also offers security for virtual machines, full disk encryption and protection for mobile devices, all of which you can manage through a centralized control console. Some versions of GravityZone security also provide a risk management console that shows your company’s overall risk to attacks and breaks down the specific machines that are causing problems.

Endpoint Detection and Response

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is one of the newest features in Bitdefender. This add-on module provides a visual overview of your computer systems that highlights potential attack paths by identifying any weak links in your systems and suggests the steps to patch any holes. If an attack happens, EDR lets you isolate and analyze where itcame from and why it happened in the first place.

Protection for Small Businesses

Although Bitdefender offers a lot of tools for a large enterprise, it also offers protection for small businesses. Bitdefender offers GravityZone Business Security, designed for anything from three devices to , which features a list of tools that are tailored toward small businesses without a dedicated IT team.

GravityZone is still at the heart of the service, so you have access to features like application behavior monitoring, ransomware protection and web-based security. Over similar small business services, however, Bitdefender also offers server protection.

You can protect a virtual or physical server as part of your plan, no add-on required. Server protection compromises 30% of your total devices, so you can protect one server with three devices and five servers with 15 devices. If you don’t have a server, you can still use your available devices as normal.

This is a huge benefit for small businesses with a local file server or two. A lot of competing services only offer server protection through an add-on or reserve it for more expensive plans. With Bitdefender, you can keep your servers safe no matter how many devices your business needs to protect.

When it comes to antivirus in , Bitdefender boasts a power-packed family of top-of-the-range packages and security suites including one of the best Mac antivirus. It's one of the very best providers out there and, through its core three plans, should have something for every home.

The consumer range starts with Bitdefender Antivirus Plus (opens in new tab). As you might guess from the name, it goes way beyond regular malware hunting with a stack of useful security and privacy extras: an additional layer of ransomware protection, Wi-Fi security scanning to detect network problems, banking protection via a secure browser, secure file deletion, a vulnerability scanner and a password manager.

Antivirus Plus also gets you the free version of Bitdefender VPN (opens in new tab). That's limited to a minimal MB traffic a day, but it could be worse - the unregistered version of Avira's Phantom VPN (opens in new tab) restricts you to MB a month.

Bitdefender VPN gains the most new functionality in the edition, too. It's smart enough to automatically connect when you need it (well, some of the time); split tunnelling enables choosing which apps use the VPN (opens in new tab), and which use your regular connection; there's a new Android app, and ad and tracker blocking is built in.

Bitdefender's other new features are harder to spot, though still welcome. An iOS Security Assessment highlights risky security settings and suggests changes; the Android app now detects and blocks more link-based mobile attacks; there's 'deep level analysis' to figure out the cause of a Windows attack, M1 compatibility and faster scans on Mac, and - hooray - Dark and Light modes for Mac and Windows.

The other big change this year is Bitdefender has dropped its free version. We don't like to see any free antivirus disappear, but Bitdefender's offering was basic in the extreme, and didn't really fit with the other products. With Sophos also dropping its free Sophos Home, there's not a lot of incentive for the big antivirus vendors to give their product away.

Plans and pricing

Antivirus Plus Pricing starts at $ for a one year, one device license ($ on renewal), and there are significant discounts if you extend your subscription. A three device, one-year license is $ in year one, for instance, $ on renewal; a five device, two-year license is priced at $, and a ten device, three-year license is $, or just $6 per device per year.

Bitdefender Internet Security (opens in new tab) extends the package with a firewall, spam filter and parental controls. Webcam protection enables blocking unauthorized access to your webcam, and a microphone monitor lists any apps accessing your microphone.

A one device, one-year Internet Security license is $ in year one, $ on renewal, 50% more expensive than Bitdefender Antivirus Plus. But again, the price premium falls away as you add more devices and years. A three device, one-year license is $ in year one, $ on renewal; a five device, two-year license is $, and the maximum ten device, three-year license is only $, or $ per device per year.

At the top of the range, Bitdefender Total Security (opens in new tab) adds device clean-up and optimization tools, a simple anti-theft system, and introduces apps to cover Mac, Android and iOS devices, as well as Windows - a huge bonus.

Total Security pricing isn't quite as flexible as the rest of the range (there are only 5 and 10 device options), but it's such good value you're unlikely to care. A baseline five device, one-year license is only $, for instance, $ on renewal. A ten device, three-year license is $ for the first term (such a good introductory discount it's cheaper than Antivirus Plus or Internet Security), $ ($ per device year) on renewal.

Some of these headline prices can look high, especially when there's no introductory discount, but they're generally good value in the long-term. Kaspersky Anti-Virus (opens in new tab) costs only $ to protect 5 devices for the first two years, for instance, but renews at $ Bitdefender Antivirus Plus covers the same hardware for $ from the beginning (even covering 10 devices costs only $).

If you're not yet convinced, no problem: every product has a day trial build available. There are no credit card details required, just register with your email address and you can check out Bitdefender's abilities for yourself.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus

Installing Bitdefender Antivirus Plus (opens in new tab) is quick, simple and largely automatic. We pointed, we clicked, and within a couple of minutes a reassuring 'Bitdefender is successfully installed' message told us it was time to get started.

Bitdefender equipped our test system with 13 new background processes and Windows services, some filter drivers and assorted other low-level clutter. That's not unusual for an antivirus (opens in new tab), but it can be a problem if it's a drag on your system speed.

AV-Comparatives' October Performance Test (opens in new tab) found no real problems, though, placing Bitdefender in a reasonable 7th out of 17 for system impact (lower is best.) 

Next up, we ran our self-protection tests, where we check security apps to see if malware can disable them. Steps include trying to delete or replace files, suspend or close key processes, stop core services, remove or edit scheduled tasks, unload filter drivers, and change key settings. Bitdefender has always been a very well defended product, though, and this time was no different: the package shrugged off our attacks and carried on as normal.

Interface

Launching Bitdefender Antivirus Plus for the first time fires up a simple tour highlighting key areas of the interface and explaining what they do. Experienced users will probably figure this out on their own, but it's good to have this guidance available for those who need it.

Bitdefender's nicely designed dashboard gives you speedy access to the functions you'll need most often, with Quick Scans and the VPN just one click away.

A left-hand sidebar organizes Bitdefender's other tools into Protection, Privacy and Utilities areas, and tapping any of these lists the various functions they contain. Most are sensibly named, and if you've ever used another antivirus you'll quickly find your way around, but tooltips are on hand if you need a hint.

If the standard dashboard layout doesn't quite suit your needs, you can customize it to remove default features or add new ones. Not interested in the VPN, maybe? In a click or two you could replace it with links to the full system scan, the password manager, disk clean-up module or a host of other tools. If only everyone was this flexible.

Overall, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus offers a polished and professional interface which delivers in just about every area. It's easy and comfortable to use for beginners, but also offers the configurability and control that experts need.

Bitdefender bitdefender reviews one of my favorite antiviruses in It has all of the cybersecurity protections most users need to stay % safe, it’s super easy to use across all devices and operating systems, and it’s cheaper than most competing brands.

During all of my tests, bitdefender reviews, Bitdefender had perfect results against bitdefender reviews types of malware samples, and thanks to its cloud-based virus engine, it didn’t slow down my computer even during full system scans, bitdefender reviews. It also has some of the best web protections on the market, detecting more fake and risky sites than both built-in protections from Chrome, Firefox, or Edge, and anti-phishing protections from other antiviruses.

In addition to high-end malware and web protections, Bitdefender also has more security features than almost all other brands, and all of its extras work as promised and are very simple to find and use. Bitdefender has:

• Advanced ransomware protection.
• System optimization.
• Secure web browser for safe online payments.
• Password manager.
• VPN (virtual private network).
• Parental controls.
• Webcam and microphone protection.
• Anti-theft protection for Windows and Android.
• And a lot more…

Most of Bitdefender’s features work great — the system optimization tools cleared up a lot of space on my PC and improved my device’s performance, the VPN is comparable in speed and performance to standalone VPNs, and the parental controls are highly customizable and even include location tracking and geofencing. I also think it’s amazing that Bitdefender’s anti-theft bitdefender reviews works on Windows devices – most competitors like McAfee and Avira offer anti-theft on mobile devices only.

But as much as I like Bitdefender, bitdefender reviews, I can’t say it’s without flaws. Its password manager may be too basic for some users — it doesn’t have a desktop app, and it’s lacking features like emergency access and password sharing. The mobile security app for iOS is bitdefender reviews very limited, providing only web protection, simple email breach monitoring, and a limited VPN. And the VPN that comes bundled with most of Bitdefender’s plans only lets you use MB data per day, which is barely enough 4k youtube to mp3 license key web browsing. That said, the VPN with unlimited data is available on Bitdefender’s top-tier Premium Security plan (or you can get it as an add-on to any of the other plans).

And even if you upgrade to the most expensive plan with the unlimited VPN (and coverage for up to 10 devices), Bitdefender still offers an excellent value (and it’s still cheaper than most brands with fewer features).

Overall, Bitdefender is one of the best internet security products around. It’s got unbeatable malware protection, provides lots of bitdefender reviews good features, it’s easy to bitdefender reviews, and it offers affordable plans for all budgets, bitdefender reviews. And all of Bitdefender’s packages come with a risk-free day money-back guarantee, so there’s no risk in trying it out.

Risk-Free for 30 days – Try Bitdefender (62% off)

Bitdefender Full Review

Bitdefender provides cutting-edge internet security for a great value.

Its cloud-based scanner uses machine learning along with traditional signature-based scanning to provide % malware detection.

It also provides excellent web protections, bitdefender reviews, a fast VPN, comprehensive system tune-up, a secure browser, and some of the best parental controls on the market today (along with several more useful additional protections).

Alongside free versions for Windows and Mac, Bitdefender offers several premium plans — Antivirus Plus is a good entry-level antivirus for users looking to protect 1 Windows PC, Internet Security adds coverage for up to 3 Windows PCs and is a great mid-range option for families, Total Security is an excellent value for users looking to protect up to 5 Windows, Mac, Android, bitdefender reviews, and iOS devices, and Premium Security is the best-value package for those who want all of Bitdefender’s features plus the VPN with no limitations.

There’s a day money-back guarantee on all of Bitdefender’s plans.

Bitdefender Security Features

Virus/Vulnerability Scan

Bitdefender’s antivirus scanner is both thorough and lightweight. It uses a huge malware directory and machine learning to detect both known and emerging malware. And because most of the malware scanning takes place in the cloud, Bitdefender’s antivirus engine takes up a fraction of CPU and disk space during scans.

Bitdefender offers 4 types of scans:

• Quick Scan. A lightweight scan of core system files and temporary files where viruses are often stored.
• System Scan, bitdefender reviews. An in-depth analysis and scan of the entire system for malware and vulnerabilities.
• Custom Scan. Scanning in any system location where there might be potential threats.
• Vulnerability Scan. Scanning for privacy risks in application settings as well as critical software updates.

I tested Bitdefender’s virus scanner by hiding nearly 1, malware samples throughout my virtual Windows computer, bitdefender reviews, including viruses, worms, trojans, adware, spyware, rootkits, ransomware, cryptojackers, and keyloggers — once my system was fully infected with malware, I performed a full system scan.

Bitdefender’s full system scan took just under 1 hour to complete — this is comparable to top competitors such as Norton and Avira whose scans take around 45 minutes to complete.

However, bitdefender reviews, unlike most competitors, bitdefender reviews, Bitdefender has a minimal impact on system performance. I didn’t notice any slowdown on my system throughout the entire scanning process — even other premium competitors like TotalAV cause some slowdown during full system scans.

Bitdefender also lets users schedule scans — you can choose between several scheduling options, including at system startup, daily, bitdefender reviews, weekly, and bitdefender reviews. However, users can only schedule custom scans — Norton, Avira, and TotalAV all provide easy, one-click scan scheduling for all types of scans.

Overall, Bitdefender’s malware scanner is one of the best on the market — it’s fast, it doesn’t cause slowdowns, and it has perfect malware detection rates. If you’re looking for a lightweight, powerful antivirus scanner, Bitdefender is an excellent choice.

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Real-Time Protection

Bitdefender’s real-time protection (Bitdefender Shield) actively scans every file and email attachment the moment you access them. Bitdefender Shield’s default settings include the following scans:

• Potentially unwanted applications. Software that hides inside other applications (usually bundled freeware).
• Network shares. Issues in remote networks on your device.
• Boot sectors. Issues that may bitdefender reviews the boot sequence.
• Only new and bitdefender reviews files. Threats that may hide in new and changed files.
• Keyloggers. Malware that captures keystrokes.

While Bitdefender Shield’s default protections are good enough for most users, advanced users can customize real-time bitdefender reviews to also include applications, scripts, and archives. Advanced users bitdefender reviews also choose to exclude any of the options mentioned above.

For my testing, I downloaded around infected .exe samples. txt files, and .rar files (compressed folders), and I also ran network-based attacks from my Android and another PC.

Bitdefender’s real-time protection blocked every single malware file before I could download it. But Bitdefender Shield didn’t merely interrupt my downloads — it wouldn’t even allow me to start them, greying out the “Save File” button.

Overall, I’m really impressed by Bitdefender’s real-time protection. Some competitors provide similar real-time malware detection rates, but Bitdefender provides the best customization options on the market for its real-time scanner.

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Anti-Phishing/Web Protection

Whenever you visit a website, Bitdefender’s anti-phishing protection compares it against a regularly updated database of millions of dangerous, blacklisted sites. If there’s bitdefender reviews match, Bitdefender blocks access to the site.

I tested Bitdefender’s anti-phishing protection with a huge directory of phishing sites — Bitdefender blocked all of the fake websites I tried to access. Chrome, Firefox, and even third-party anti-phishing tools from competitors like Panda and Kaspersky failed to detect as many suspicious sites as Bitdefender.

What’s more, Bitdefender features a bitdefender reviews notification screen, so you can see what websites it has blocked and why. This makes it easy to permanently add a false positive to Bitdefender’s exception list. Whitelisting sites can be done in one click, whereas other antiviruses such as Norton require you to dig through settings and advanced protocols to whitelist safe sites. However, keep in mind that you should only whitelist sites if you are absolutely certain that they’re legitimate and don’t contain malware.

Bitdefender’s web protection also prevents you from accessing a webpage that contains downloadable malware — it also checks search results for bitdefender reviews sites, bitdefender reviews, scans encrypted websites, bitdefender reviews, and checks sites for fraudulent content.

Overall, Bitdefender provides exceptional anti-phishing protection as well as protection against a wide range of other web-based threats. In addition to blocking more phishing sites than most competitors, Bitdefender also makes it easy to whitelist websites bitdefender reviews adjust web protection settings.

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System Optimization

Bitdefender’s OneClick Optimizer is bitdefender reviews basic but useful tool for freeing up disk space on your computer. It scans your system and removes unnecessary files from your device — but it’s pretty minimal when compared to competitors like Avira (which offers a startup optimizer, bitdefender reviews, game booster, driver updater, and battery usage manager).

Bitdefender basically removes a variety of junk files, including:

• Temporary system files.
• Windows junk files.
• Recycle bin files.
• Broken registry items.
• Browser history.

I ran the scan with no other applications running in the background, and it only took around 2 minutes to complete.

Bitdefender managed to free up a total of GB from my PC, which is really good. Some competitors that have a better assortment of system tune-up tools weren’t as effective at making room on my disk! However, I would recommend that most users double-check the scanned “junk” files by clicking View details before proceeding to delete them.

However, Bitdefender’s tuneup tool has some annoying limitations — for example:

Before clicking “Optimize,” Bitdefender recommended that I review the issues it had flagged. But Bitdefender didn’t let me view the details about those issues. For example, it flagged one broken software location in my registry options, yet it wouldn’t let me see the file name or date. This was frustrating because I wanted to know what I was deleting, bitdefender reviews just the location of the file in question.

I’d also like to see more features included in Bitdefeder’s system tuneup tool. For example, TotalAV’s built-in optimization includes a startup manager, an application uninstaller, bitdefender reviews, and a duplicate file finder.

That said, bitdefender reviews, after running Bitdefender’s bitdefender reviews optimization, I noticed a speed increase on my PC. This simple one-click method for freeing up space does have some limitations, and it’s missing some features that competitors provide. But overall, bitdefender reviews, it’s very convenient and does a good job.

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Secure Web Browser (SafePay)

Bitdefender’s secure web browser, SafePay, is a great way to keep hackers from stealing your personal information when bitdefender reviews online transactions.

Here are the main benefits of bitdefender reviews SafePay:

• Prevents hackers from remotely accessing your desktop.
• Stops you from taking snapshots of your screen.
• Utilizes Bitdefender’s password manager to protect your passwords.
• Emulates a virtual keyboard to prevent keystroke tracking.
• Turns on built-in VPN protection ( MB daily limit).

I wanted to show off SafePay’s protections, but I couldn’t capture any screenshots due to its built-in screenshot-blocker, which is great — if you can’t screen-capture your browser, then neither can intrusive hackers!

I tested SafePay with my PayPal account. Apart from being unable to use any of my screen capture tools, I was even unable to copy-paste my password or 2FA codes while using SafePay! The virtual keyboard popped up the moment I was asked to enter my login details, keeping keyloggers from recording my password or personal info.

However, pages loaded pretty slowly, bitdefender reviews, and I couldn’t stream HD video bitdefender reviews SafePay — it’s definitely not designed to replace your web browser. But for anyone that does business online, SafePay is a really good privacy enhancement tool.

If you’re looking to protect your information as much as possible during online transactions, SafePay is a really good addition to Bitdefender’s already impressive web protection toolkit.

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Password Manager

Bitdefender’s password manager is simple and secure — but it’s not as good as dedicated password managers like Dashlane or 1Password, bitdefender reviews. Bitdefender doesn’t provide features like two-factor authentication (2FA) or password sharing. However, it does provide the essential functions bitdefender reviews a password manager, such as:

• High-level encryption.
• Multi-device sync.
• Password generator.
• Unlimited password storage.
• Payment information storage.
• Auto-save and auto-fill.
• Password vault auditing.

Bitdefender’s password manager comes free with Bitdefender Premium Security, but lower-tier Bitdefender plans come with a day free trial of the password manager, after which you’ll have to pay an additional yearly fee.

To access the password manager, you need to install Bitdefender’s password manager extension (available for Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Brave). There’s also an Android and iOS app, but there isn’t a desktop version.

Bitdefender still offers the My Wallets features for Windows desktop users, which is a basic password vault with auto-fill capabilities and a password generator. But the My Wallets feature doesn’t offer the range of features or cross-platform compatibility included with Bitdefender’s password manager.

Bitdefender’s password manager lets you store passwords, identities (personal information, addresses, and phone numbers), credit cards and bank accounts, email credentials, license keys and logins for software, and Wi-Fi passwords.

The auto-fill and auto-save functions worked well during my tests. By default, Bitdefender auto-filled bitdefender reviews details without requiring any clicks, but also I had the option to disable this and manually click to auto-fill my details. The auto-save feature offered to save my login credentials whenever I logged into new sites.

Bitdefender also has a pretty good password generator that enables users to generate passwords up to 32 characters long. This is good, but top password managers like LastPass can generate passwords that are up to 99 characters long.

But what I liked most was Bitdefender’s password vault auditing tool (named Security report), which gives users an easy-to-understand overview of their password security. It checks for weak, old, reused, and leaked passwords. While I would like to see Bitdefender include active dark web monitoring to continuously scan for leaked login credentials, like Dashlane does, I still like the simplicity of Bitdefender’s Security report feature.

Overall, Bitdefender’s password manager is intuitive and easy bitdefender reviews set up, but it’s not quite as good as standalone password managers like 1Password, Dashlane, LastPass, or Keeper, all of which offer a wide range of additional tools, like password sharing, password auditing, dark web monitoring, 2FA, biometric logins, and much more for a similar price. That said, if you get Bitdefender’s password manager as part of the Premium Security plan, it is a decent easy-to-use option for users that don’t really need an advanced password manager app.

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Bitdefender VPN

Bitdefender’s VPN is powered bitdefender reviews Hotspot Shield, one of the more popular VPN providers on the market. However, Bitdefender’s VPN has a much smaller server network and it doesn’t provide the same level of functionality as Hotspot Shield. That said, Bitdefender’s VPN covers all of the basics — it uses unbreakable bit AES encryption, has a no-logs policy, and comes with a kill switch.

Most of Bitdefender’s plans come with a free version of this VPN, bitdefender reviews, but it’s not very good. Bitdefender’s free VPN picks a random server based on your location, bitdefender reviews, and it only includes MB of browsing per day — barely enough to watch a single YouTube video.

However, users that upgrade to Bitdefender’s Premium Security plan or opt for a separate VPN subscription get unlimited browsing data as well as access to 30 servers around the world. And Bitdefender’s premium VPN has some of the best speeds of any antivirus’s VPN on the market — it’s even faster than some standalone competitors.

Here’s a comparison of my internet connection before and after activating Bitdefender’s VPN on a local US server:

As you can see, there wasn’t a noticeable difference in internet speed. This is especially good when compared to VPNs from companies like Panda, which can cut your download speed in half and send your PING skyrocketing!

Unfortunately, bitdefender reviews, Bitdefender’s VPN isn’t a good choice for users interested in streaming.During my tests, all popular streaming services like Netflix noticed that I was using a VPN and wouldn’t let me access their content libraries. If bitdefender reviews looking for a good streaming VPN, I recommend ExpressVPN.

On the other hand, Bitdefender is really good for torrenting — you can even set the VPN to auto-connect whenever you start a peer-to-peer sharing app. This is in complete contrast with McAfee, which doesn’t even let you turn on its VPN if you have a torrenting client installed on your PC.

Overall, I like Bitdefender’s premium VPN. While it doesn’t have a lot bitdefender reviews the features that standalone VPNs provide, bitdefender reviews, Bitdefender still provides surprisingly fast connection speeds and good encrypted browsing for users that want to increase their internet security.

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Parental Control

Bitdefender’s parental control app is available as a separate download for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

I tested the parental control app on my PC and Bitdefender reviews. To set up Bitdefender’s parental control app, I navigated to the Privacy tab in the desktop app, and then I clicked on Configure under Parental Advisor, bitdefender reviews. This took me to Bitdefender’s online portal, Bitdefender Central, where I first had to add a child. Next, I had to install the Bitdefender parental control app on the device my child would be using — I had to give the app all sorts of permissions on the mobile device, but this didn’t take me longer than a couple of minutes.

Next, bitdefender reviews, I had to customize the parental app’s settings. In Bitdefender Central, bitdefender reviews, I could:

• Set daily device limits (not available on iOS).
• Set device usage schedules.
• Manage (allow and block) apps, bitdefender reviews.
• Whitelist and blacklist specific sites or categories of sites (not available for iOS).
• View location and set safe and restricted areas (available only on Android and iOS).
• View the latest phone contacts added to the contact list (available only on Android bitdefender reviews iOS devices).

After configuring all of the settings, I tested the app with a friend. My friend tried visiting dozens of websites that belonged to the blacklisted categories, and Bitdefender’s parental control app blocked her from accessing each of those websites, bitdefender reviews. The only thing I dislike about Bitdefender’s website filtering is that there’s no way for your child to ask for access to a specific website via the app.

All of the other features inside Bitdefender’s parental app worked perfectly — I could see how much time my friend was spending on her mobile phone, view which apps she accessed, and accurately track her location. I was impressed that I could ask my friend to send me a notification when she arrived safely at a specified location — this isn’t something that most competing antiviruses with parental controls offer!

I also really like that Bitdefender allows geo-fencing, so you can get alerts if your child leaves a predetermined safe area.

Overall, Bitdefender’s parental controls provide some of the best protections of any parental control app out there — parents who want to make sure that their kids are as safe as possible, bitdefender reviews, both online and in the real world, bitdefender reviews, will find a lot of value in Bitdefender’s parental control app.

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Webcam Security & Microphone Protection

Bitdefender’s webcam and microphone security protections stop hackers from covertly watching you through your device’s webcam and listening into your private conversations.

In my tests, Bitdefender monitored all of the apps that attempted to access my laptop’s webcam and microphone and notified me of any suspicious or unauthorized access attempts. A notification was displayed on my screen every time an access attempt was made, enabling me to either allow or deny access.

I like how I could customize access to my webcam and mic by enabling access for apps I consider safe, like Zoom and Slack. But I could also completely block any access attempts made by my web browser, and I was also able to block access to my webcam and mic entirely, so no apps could access these features.

My only issue is that the webcam and microphone protections are only available for Windows devices, so I couldn’t use them on my Mac.

Overall, I really like Bitdefender’s webcam and microphone protections. They’re very easy to set up, there are useful customization options, bitdefender reviews, and the popup notifications make it easy to see which apps are making access attempts.

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Ransomware Remediation

Bitdefender’s Ransomware Remediation is designed to automatically protect your files when it detects ransomware running on your system. This feature is supposed to prevent any file encryption attempts and enable you to restore files encrypted by ransomware attacks.

I ran some isolated ransomware simulations, and while the Ransomware Remediation was effective in most cases, bitdefender reviews, it didn’t seem to correctly restore a handful of files in other instances.

When clicking on the Restored Files button, I could see a list of all files that had supposedly been recovered, including video clips, photos, and other files, and I was able to access almost all restored files with all of the original information intact. However, a couple of files bitdefender reviews restored correctly, which was a little concerning.

Despite a few missed files, I think this feature is very useful. While I would like to see Ransomware Remediation correctly restore all files, almost all of my files were restored correctly, which is impressive, especially considering this feature is not something that many other antiviruses offer.

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Profiles

Bitdefender’s Profiles feature (Windows only) allows users to customize their experience with the software and optimize their PC’s performance depending on why they’re using their PC.

For instance, bitdefender reviews, if you’re working, you can switch on Work Profile to reduce system slowdowns and enhance email protections. Or if you’re gaming, you can choose Game Mode, bitdefender reviews, which improves system performance and reduces notifications while you’re gaming. You can also adjust the settings within each profile to suit your preferences.

Here’s the full list of profiles to choose from:

• Work Profile — Enhances email protections and reduces system slowdowns.
• Movie Profile — Stops pop-up notifications and minimizes background processes.
• Game Profile — Optimizes system performance while you’re gaming.
• Public Wi-Fi Profile — Activiates protections to keep you safe on public Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Battery Mode Profile — Changes software settings to improve laptop battery life.

You can bitdefender reviews up Bitdefender so it changes your profile depending on the apps you’re using, but you can also switch between profiles manually.

I really like the Profiles feature — it’s easy to use and significantly improved my performance while using CPU-intensive programs like Adobe Illustrator for work. I also tested this feature while I watched Netflix on my laptop, and I didn’t experience any interruptions or system slowdowns.

While some antiviruses offer similar tools, bitdefender reviews, like Norton’s gaming mode (which also improves system performance while gaming), I’m a huge fan of the range of profile options offered by Bitdefender and how easy it is to adjust each profile.

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Identity Theft Protection

I think Bitdefender has one of the most useful identity theft protection packages on the market inbut they’re only available as standalone purchases. Bitdefender offers a multi-layered approach to digital identity protection, monitoring data breaches and dark web forums, bitdefender reviews, scanning social media for impersonator accounts, and even providing live credit reporting monitoring for US users.

I was really impressed that Bitdefender can track up to pieces of personally identifying information (PII), including addresses, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, and more.

The main Digital Identity Monitor page on Bitdefender’s online dashboard lists these tabs:

• Digital footprint.
• Data breaches.
• Impersonation check.
• Data brokers.
• Education.
• Event history.

I especially like that Bitdefender offers an option to remove your data from data broker lists (data brokers collect personal information on you and sell your file to advertisers and marketing teams) — Norton also offers this option with its identity theft protections. Bitdefender can remove your information from top data brokers like BeenVerified, White Pages, PrivateEye, and Spokeo.

For US users, bitdefender reviews, Bitdefender has also added a live credit report monitoring system with two tiers of protection. Like TotalAV and Norton, Bitdefender monitors the major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax) for any financial activity involving your information, bitdefender reviews. This can include loan applications, mortgages, rental agreements, and more.

Bitdefender’s identity theft protections are available as a standalone purchase.

Bitdefender’s Identity Theft Protection Standard monitors 1 of bitdefender reviews 3 credit bureaus and provides live alerts and assistance in the event of identity theft. But upgrading to the Identity Theft Protection Premium plan provides a $2M insurance policy, bitdefender reviews, tracks USPS change of address filings, bitdefender reviews, court proceedings, tracking across all 3 credit bureaus, and up to $50K in ransomware and malware insurance.

Overall, bitdefender reviews, Bitdefender’s identity theft protections are among the best on the market. They track as many as pieces of PII, provide live monitoring and assistance, bitdefender reviews, and add a comprehensive credit monitoring service for US users.

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Anti-Theft Protection

Bitdefender’s anti-theft feature performed really well during my testing — I’d say it’s actually one of the best anti-theft features on the market.

However, it’s currently only available for Windows and Android devices, and I’d like to see Bitdefender offer support for Mac and iOS too.Lookout offers good anti-theft features for iOS, but Apple’s built-in anti-theft features are currently the best option for MacBook users.

Bitdefender’s anti-theft dashboard is accessible via the Utilities tab on the Bitdefender desktop interface, bitdefender reviews, which will then take you to Bitdefender Central. From there, you can choose to locate your device, make your device sound an alert, lock your device, bitdefender reviews wipe all of the data on your device to stop it from being stolen.

I tested it on my Android smartphone, and it was surprisingly easy to set up. All I had to do was download the Bitdefender app, sign into my account, and activate the anti-theft features by pressing TURN ON when prompted.

I first tested the location tracking feature. It was able to locate my device with pinpoint accuracy via the anti-theft dashboard — a dot appeared on the map showing that my phone was located at my exact location on my street. I was able to do the same via the Android app, as well as adjust all other anti-theft settings.

I also tested the alert feature, which sounded an incredibly loud and distressing scream noise, and the remote lock function, which locked my device and required me to input the lock code created during setup to access my device. However, while the lock code was useful on my HP laptop (which doesn’t have a passcode), when I tested the lock feature on my Android, it only required me to input my device’s PIN code.

Overall, I’m very impressed by Bitdefender’s anti-theft tools. They’re very easy to set up, they can accurately detect lost devices, and the added extras such as remote device locking and data wiping help to improve user security. I would like to see Bitdefender bitdefender reviews its anti-theft features beyond Windows and Android devices (support for Mac and iOS would be great), but I think most users would find the anti-theft features incredibly useful.

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Additional Features

Bitdefender is one of the most feature-rich internet security suites on the market inand the features I previously described are just a small part of its entire offering.

Bitdefender also has:

• Firewall — Adjusts network settings based on whether you’re connecting to a dynamic network, a home/office network, or a public network. There’s also a “Stealth mode” that bitdefender reviews your device bitdefender reviews protection — Analyzes Wi-Fi networks and routers for potential threats.
• Anti-tracking protection — Prevents web trackers from collecting your data for advertising and other purposes.
• File shredder — Permanently deletes files or folders.

The anti-tracking protection is a nice addition, as it enhances your online privacy. But I think the most useful extra feature is the file shredder. I have thousands of files on my system that I no longer need, but some of them contain sensitive information. Using Bitdefender’s file shredder, I’m able to permanently delete them, making it impossible for hackers to recover them using file recovery software (deleting them normally would make sensitive files easy to recover with the right technology).

Overall, Bitdefender has a truly impressive range of features — if you’re looking for an antivirus that has almost all of the internet security tools you can think of, Bitdefender reviews won’t disappoint you!

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Bitdefender Plans and Pricing

Bitdefender offers several payment plans that cover 1– devices, but only Total Security and Premium Security work across all operating systems (Windows, Mac, bitdefender reviews, Android, iOS). However, Bitdefender’s business package, GravityZone Premium, also supports Linux systems.

Most of the plans include a limited VPN (Premium Security is the only plan that comes with the unlimited VPN), but Bitdefender’s premium VPN is also available at checkout, and it costs less than most competing standalone VPNs.

Bitdefender offers both a free Windows plan and a free Mac plan, though both are very limited compared to the premium versions. That said, all of Bitdefender’s plans are affordable and include a risk-free money-back guarantee for 30 days.

Here’s a quick overview of all of Bitdefender’s plans:

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Bitdefender Free Antivirus for Windows — Basic Free Plan for Windows

Bitdefender offers a free Windows-only antivirus plan, but it’s very limited compared to the premium version. It still includes Bitdefender’s advanced anti-malware engine and online threat protection, but not much else.

The anti-malware engine and online protections run exactly the same as the premium versions of Bitdefender, but it doesn’t include Rescue Environment, bitdefender reviews, which enables you to remove advanced malware, like rootkits.

To access all extra security features, such as network threat prevention, Ransomware Remediation (restore files corrupted by ransomware), Safepay, and the VPN, bitdefender reviews, you’ll need to upgrade to one of Bitdefender’s premium plans.

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Bitdefender Virus Scanner for Mac — Basic Free Plan for Mac

Bitdefender offers a free version of its software for macOS, but it’s very basic — it’s only an on-demand virus scanner that lets you scan your Mac for viruses and malware.

Bitdefender’s free Mac version uses the same advanced anti-malware engine as the premium version — which earned Bitdefender a spot on our best free Mac antiviruses of But bitdefender reviews doesn’t have real-time protection, meaning it’s only good for removing existing malware, and not for protecting against future infections.

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Bitdefender Antivirus Bitdefender reviews — Basic Paid Plan (Windows Only)

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus includes real-time malware defense and web protection, as well as:

• Multi-layer ransomware protection.
• Secure browser for online finances.
• Password manager.
• Wi-Fi protection.
• VPN ( MB daily data).
• Anti-tracking protection.
• User profiles (including gaming mode).
• File shredder.

bitdefender reviews width="" height="">For 19 years, Bitdefender has occupied a leading position within the antivirus industry, bitdefender reviews. It was founded in Romania inand quickly rose to prominence thanks to a high-quality antivirus product, and the range of bonuses it includes with the software.

Despite being decades younger than competitors like McAfee and Norton, Bitdefender boasts similarly impressive statistics, claiming to protect over million systems worldwide in over countries.

Another selling point of Bitdefender is its workforce, 1, bitdefender reviews, strong with over half of these being engineering or research staff. This perhaps explains its constant innovation in antivirus and computer protection, and why it is reportedly used in over 38% of global cybersecurity solutions.

However, industry prestige is not the central concern for the average consumer. The important question is, bitdefender reviews, as always: How well does it protect my system for its price?

There’s a lot of close competition in this sector, and I am interested in seeing how well the offering from Bitdefender fares.

I aim to find out several things about Bitdefender here, including:

• How much do the programs affect computer performance?
• How effective are Stellar Toolkit for Data Recovery Licenses key products in bitdefender reviews malware when compared to other industry leaders?
• Can it be easily installed and used?
• How much does Bitdefender cost?

I considered all of bitdefender reviews factors, and more besides, when looking at Bitdefender reviews to find out if it is worth the cost of entry.

Before we get into the main review, here’s a short summary of the pros and cons I found when investigating the antivirus software.

Summary

Pros:

• Very low system impact when running intensive scans
• Consistent high efficacy at blocking malware when compared to other software
• Large range of extra tools and functions, including a useful VPN with a few of the higher-end suites

Cons:

• More expensive than other industry peers
• Extra functionalities not as effective as other standalone products
• Additional features have some recent security concerns

What versions of the software are available?

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus

Antivirus Plus is the bitdefender reviews of the AV packages Bitdefender offers on this list. It is their lightweight antivirus solution, offering a basic level of protection for your PC.

It includes the real-time virus and malware protection that this review tests out later on, and offers some functionality to keep you safe while shopping and browsing. Like the Internet Security option also on this list, AV Plus includes access to the MB data-capped Bitdefender Basic VPN.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus only works for Windows OS and does not include a device optimiser or parental controls.

Bitdefender Internet Security

This Bitdefender suite focuses on threats to your device from the internet, bitdefender reviews, including webcam and microphone protection and a firewall that filters network traffic in bitdefender reviews feature list.

It does not offer the same level of protection as more expensive Bitdefender products, and notably does not include features like a device optimizer or any support for macOS bitdefender reviews iOS &#; only working on Windows computers.

It does add parental controls that let you monitor and SemanticMerge Registration key your kids’ online activities.

Bitdefender Total Security

Total Security is the most expensive of bitdefender reviews three flagship AV solutions that Bitdefender reviews promotes on its website.

Again, this includes their Basic VPN as standard, which covers all the devices you have included in your subscription.

It also offers full, advanced parental controls and a device optimizer. It packs a fuller set of AV features as a well, being a much more well-rounded suite for protection against a wider array of malware threats.

It includes real-time data protection, multilayered ransomware protection, and options to secure your bitdefender reviews documents and files. Total Security includes Windows, Mac and iOS compatibility.  Read our full review of Bitdefender Total Security. 

Bitdefender Premium Security

Bitdefender Bitdefender reviews Security packs an extensive suite of features compared to other multi-device antivirus software bundles, including an unlimited traffic premium VPN, real-time behavioral monitoring of apps, performance optimization, and Bitdefender SafeFiles among many others. It also comes with priority support.

Like Total Security, Premium Security is compatible with Windows, Mac and iOS systems.

Multi-device support

One of the excellent elements of Bitdefender’s array of products is how easy they make it for consumers to customize how many devices they want their security solution to cover.

For their Antivirus Plus and Internet Security plans, Bitdefender offers different subscription rates for one, three, and five devices.

Total Security can bitdefender reviews customized to support either 5 or 10 devices. Premium Security covers 10 devices as standard and does not go lower.

Is Bitdefender antivirus effective against malware?

Eicar sample tests

The central question to any antivirus review is which software will protect my PC best against threats to my cybersecurity?

Threats include viruses, malware, worms and trojans, and you want a program that can quickly and effectively halt any of these attacks.

To test Bitdefender’s AV programs, I will first examine how they perform against several anti-malware test files. These samples come from the European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research. There are four of these sample files, designed to simulate various malware scenarios.

We are looking to see if the programs detect and block the samples, and how they do that. They will also be put up against some live malware bitdefender reviews, including adware and trojan attacks.

Bitdefender successfully detected and deleted all the files in real-time &#; as the marketing of their multi-layered protection promises. It performed well, also quickly blocking and deleting the live samples (adware and trojan) in real-time. It also blocked the download pages for the EICAR sample files wholesale, displaying this message:

Next, to test the scanning features of the programs, I ran a quick-scan to try and see how Bitdefender performed.

The quick-scans are shorter than the full scan, and have less depth and breadth. They function by doing scans of areas of the device that are bitdefender reviews likely to be infected than others, rather than the whole system. Bitdefender’s software did not detect any of the samples while scanning on the quick mode.

How effective are its scans?

In this section, I will briefly look at how long Bitdefender’s full scans take, and how much of a system they examine in that time.

A full scan is an intensive, active process run by an AV suite to scour your computer to find any suspicious programs or files. The quick scan alternative simply investigates common areas of malware infection and scans those, whereas the full scan, as the name might suggest, delivers a deeper probe into your machine to check for issues.

Bitdefender’s message prompt after having completed a full scan.

Bitdefender’s full scan is a relatively quick one compared to other competitors.

In bitdefender reviews scant minutes, it delves much deeper than other consumer-grade AV software. The following table shows how the others fared:

Bitdefender’s scan is not the quickest software, but it has by far the most depth, investigating over 4, items on the machine.

Its closest contender is Russian provider Kaspersky, bitdefender reviews, clocking in at items scanned. However, Bitdefender is able to complete its scan in under half the time, and deliver double the level of depth.

AV-Comparatives tests

Next, I turned to some industry standard independent benchmark investigations of the products. AV-Comparatives is a leader in these tests. It has two testing styles of particular note.

Their Malware Protection Test examines how the programs deal with virus samples plugged in from USBs and network drivers. The Real World Protection Test examines how the programs cope with online threats, bitdefender reviews, testing the effectiveness of the entire suite, not just the antivirus tools.

Against the Malware Test, Bitdefender scored %, placing it in the upper scoring cluster among those tested. The malware only compromised a system on one occasion compared to the cases it blocked.

When put to the Feb Real World Protection Test, Bitdefender scored a % success rate, identifying and blocking cases, clocking in at a lower number of compromised bitdefender reviews as a result relative to other competitors such as McAfee or AVG.

Overall, AV-Comparatives considers Bitdefender in the top tier of the products it tested, awarding it three stars in both the Malware Protection and Real World tests.

What other special features does Bitdefender offer?

Bitdefender Safepay

According to the Bitdefender Support Centre page on the topic, “Bitdefender Safepay is a protected browser, a sealed environment that is designed to keep your online banking, e-shopping and any other type of online transaction private and secure”.

It essentially acts as a dedicated web browser, like a special bitdefender reviews of Chrome or Firefox that is designed specifically by Bitdefender to be extra safe when attempting to manage your finances online.

The tool offers the following features that a normal browser doesn’t offer for online banking:

• Blocking access to your desktop and any attempt to take snapshots of your screen.
• Protecting passwords while browsing online with Password Manager.
• Independence from your other browsers.
• A virtual keyboard which, when used, renders it impossible for hackers to track your keystrokes
• Hotspot protection, activated when your computer is connected to unsecured Wi-fi networks.

It is worth noting a very recent security bitdefender reviews that emerged with Bitdefender’s Safepay &#; since fixed, but nevertheless worth discussion.

One of the central functions of Safepay is its use as a “Man-in-the-Middle” tool to inspect potentially suspicious HTTP and HTTPS connections before you access them &#; in theory making your browsing, especially with online banking, much more secure.

As the tool creates a unique browser instance to access websites, bitdefender reviews, it also has its own customized version of an “unusual activity” warning page common bitdefender reviews browsers like Chrome. The page is pictured below.

The “suspicious page” prompt in Bitdefender Safepay’s browser.

However, Wladimir Palant, security blogger and original developer of Adblock Plus, noticed a central cybersecurity flaw in this page.

The URL address that this temporary webpage uses always stayed the same. According to Palant in his report:

&#;The URL in the browser’s address bar doesn’t change. So as far as the browser is concerned, this error page originated at the web server and there is no reason why other web pages from the same server shouldn’t be able to access it. Whatever security tokens are contained within it, websites can read them out – an issue we’ve seen in Kaspersky products before”.

What this meant is that potentially malicious websites could exploit some unused code in Safepay’s virtual browsing environment to download a copy of the SSL error page, giving them access to all the code in the page.

This would allow malicious websites to do a number of things, among the most worrying being able to compromise all other banking sites that the browser “isolates” for the user.

Even more concerning is the potential for an bitdefender reviews to be able to inject their own code into the browser. This would allow an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary commands and code on the Safepay user’s machine using the hijacked browser.

Palant’s report goes into more detail about this, but the central takeaways are that bitdefender reviews this concern was resolved by Bitdefender, there are always large risks involved when allowing third parties to meddle with encrypted connections like those involved in online banking.

This issue was not unique to Bitdefender, with online banking tools offered by Kaspersky and Hitmanpro 3.8.11 crack also having had very similar security problems. Palant’s report encourages users to never unconditionally trust claims to unilaterally improve one’s cybersecurity with apps like Safepay, bitdefender reviews when it comes to the protection of incredibly vital information like bank details.

Bitdefender Premium VPN

A VPN, bitdefender reviews, or Virtual Private Network, is a tool that encrypts all of the data going in and out of your machine. This helps you stay private online, and also makes it much harder for your data to be stolen or tracked by attackers.

Bitdefender’s VPN comes in several different forms, allowing a level of flexibility despite being an add-on as part of a larger suite.

Bitdefender sells this feature as “a service that grants you complete online anonymity by encrypting all incoming and outgoing traffic on your PC, Mac or mobile devices.”

Their basic VPN is included in its Total Security package, but this version of the tool is limited in various aspects.

Compared to quality standalone VPN bitdefender reviews, it can only provide up to MB of encrypted traffic per day, contains less extensive location coverage, and cannot be used to unlock media from all over the world (for example, streaming sites like Prime Video or Netflix).

The central caveat is that in order to use Bitdefender’s Premium VPN, you are required bitdefender reviews own one of Bitdefender reviews large gallery of products. It is sold through Bitdefender’s online store as an add-on for other suites.

Bitdefender Premium VPN is offered either yearly as a $ add on, or billed monthly at $ The yearly subscription price would save you 40% over the course of the year, but is of course a less flexible plan for the service.

VPNs are generally fairly expensive, with industry leaders like ExpressVPN charging $ a month for their services (discounted to $ for the first 15th months if you sign up to be billed yearly).

So Bitdefender clocks in at a much lower price-point if you are already subscribed to one of their antivirus suites. But how does the tool compare?

Their Premium ESET Smart Security 13.2.18.0 Crack is useful in that it can be used on many devices bitdefender reviews are included in your Bitdefender security solution (which bitdefender reviews be up to ten devices) &#; this stands competitively against other VPNs that tend to offer around 5 simultaneous connections as standard.

It also offers unlimited bandwidth, bitdefender reviews, another positive, alongside AES encryption, torrenting support and the option on Windows to automatically activate when an unsecured WiFi network

However, despite these positives, the VPN feature of Bitdefender’s suite of features does not appear to stack up competitively against higher-end VPN products.

It does not support split bitdefender reviews, and the streaming services it is able to access is severely limited when compared to other products like Nord or ExpressVPN. It also does not include options to specify trusted WiFi networks, and has a lack of flexibility with regards to changing VPN protocols.

Overall, whilst the simplicity and availability of Bitdefender’s VPN is useful when included in packages such as the basic version in Total Security or the premium version in Premium Security, it does not stack up in a meaningful way against industry mainstay VPNs.

In short &#; if you are looking for the basic functionalities a VPN provides, Bitdefender does offer these at a discounted rate, but its lack of features leaves it somewhat lacking.

How much will it impact your machine’s performance?

Impact on PC performance

To assess how much the antivirus affected PC performance, bitdefender reviews, I ran each scan and recorded how long they took. For the full scan, I noted the duration and how many discrete items were scanned in that time. For the quick scan, I also recorded how much of the CPU it utilized during the scan.

Quick Scan

Bitdefender’s quick scan performance usage is slightly more taxing than some of its peers, but takes a relatively shorter amount of time to process. What this means is that while a heavier performance impact may be initially felt, users will experience this impact a shorter time.

Full Scan

There’s a lot to note within the full scan results. As previously discussed in this review, Bitdefender took minutes to complete its full scan, delving through 4, items.

I also recorded data to examine the impact that a full scan had on PC performance. The results are included in the following table.

The control CPU and Memory Utilization show us the percentage of computer resources used before we initiated the scan as an active process, bitdefender reviews. As we can see here, the Bitdefender full scan impacted this performance with a 24% increase in CPU utilization and a 7% increase in Memory utilization. Here’s how this performance impact compares with other market leaders in the AV industry.

As we can see, Bitdefender has much less of a performance impact than some of its peers on CPU bitdefender reviews and sits on the lower end of memory utilization alongside peers like Kaspersky.

What this means is that Bitdefender has less of an impact on system performance and functionality relative to competitors when the user is doing other total av antivirus serial key on their computer while scanning.

This, when considered with the high rating from independent AV comparison websites and the depth of its scans, put Bitdefender in an excellent position as an effective premium antivirus solution.

Is the interface easy to use?

Bitdefender may not have the prettiest interface, but it is still clear and concise. The most commonly used tools in the suite are easily available, with an icon to access video tutorial content about the usage of the app at the top right.

The overview of the suite’s functionalities appears along the left-hand side. They also helpfully include a banner of suggestions to manage your potential cybersecurity risks.

Bitdefender’s customer support

Bitdefender’s support is accessible from a drop-down menu on its website. The support page never more than two clicks away.

It offers comprehensive contact options, including email, phone lines, a live chat service and access to the Bitdefender community forums. They also offer a set of FAQs alongside videos to cover similar topics.

The company offers specific support pages for each of their different products, available on the top of the support homepage.

Compatibility

*Requires Service Pack 1

Bitdefender Pricing

Bitdefender Internet Security

Bitdefender Internet Security retails for $ a year for up to five devices. As of the time of writing, bitdefender reviews, the bitdefender reviews price of this program is discounted on Bitdefender’s website to $ a year.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus retails for bitdefender reviews a year for protection across three devices. As of the time of writing, the first-year price of this program is discounted on Bitdefender’s website to $ a year.

Bitdefender Total Security

Bitdefender Total Security costs $ a year to bitdefender reviews up to five devices. As of the time of writing, the first-year price of this program comes with a $ discount at $

Bitdefender Premium Security

At the time of writing, the first year of Bitdefender’s Premium Security costs $ at a $90 discount. Normally, it would cost consumers $ per year with multi-device coverage of 10 systems. The suite’s larger price tag is due to the inclusion of a litany of features like the unlimited encrypted VPN (mentioned earlier in this review) as standard.

Verdict

In this review, I have given an overview of all the consumer-grade products offered by Bitdefender, and some of the extra features they provide.

When all of the aspects are considered, my recommendation would be Bitdefender’s Total Security. Some of the extra features that come as part of the higher end packs like Premium Security have been shown to be somewhat lacking in security capabilities, and the lower tier of AV packages do not include some of the more powerful antivirus tools. The significantly higher retail price of Premium Security also cannot be ignored, and it lacks the flexibility in coverage plans that Total Security provides.

Overall Bitdefender Total Security strikes a good balance for consumers, a lower price-point complemented with a range of potent malware protection tools that impress industry comparison reviews and perform well against active security tests.

See also:

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