Software

Anti-virus software

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Review summary

Full review

In the security software market, Bitdefender continues to establish a name for itself. The reputation of this computer security software-based company has slowing increased as its launched more security products on to the market, picking up plenty of prestigious industry awards along the way. This latest version for anti-virus sees a slick new interface design, ransomware protection, and effective hassle-free silent security.

Setup

Installing Bitdefender AntiVirus Plus is pretty straight forward. During installation, Bitdefender scans system files for malware. You are usually good to go straight away, but if it's possible like our tests that and it may request a reboot to remove deep malware.

Protection

Bitdefender AntiVirus Plus is designed to first to protect your computer against virus threats. Built on top of that is protection from spyware, rootkits, worms and keyloggers - so its a pretty comprehensive anti-malware solution. It will also protect you from phishing scams, identity theft, and social networking threats. Threats are now protected across different mediums including internet, search engines, email, and instant messaging programs.

Search engines - Recent versions of Bitdefender AntiVirus Plus have seen the use of a search adviser tool, that alerts you to potentially dangerous websites that appear in search engine results.

Banking - SafePay is a virtualized browser that isolates the browser from the operating system. Keeping them both separate provides another layer of protection by making sure web-based threats can't get through.

Ransomware - Bitdefender were one of the first security vendors to introduce ransomware protection into its security suites.

Email - Bitdefender scans e-mail on both the POP3 and SMTP protocols and it also integrates with Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird.

Effectiveness

All the major anti-virus testing labs have included Bitdefender in their tests and looking at the statistics the results are impressive.

AV-Comparatives awarded Bitdefender ADVANCED+, the highest rating it can receive in September 2022 for its "Malware Protection Test".

AV-TEST perform one of the most comprehensive set of malware tests. In it's Windows 10 platform test in October 2022 - Bitdefender earned 17.5 from a maximum possible 18 points receiving the "Top Product" badge.

Scans & updates

AntiVirus Plus offers quick, system and managed scans. On our test computer, a quick scan took around 45 seconds. While the system scan averaged 1 hour, 40 minutes. These are roughly the same times as last year's version.

During the scan process Bitdefender will automatically quarantine any viruses it picks up. However, not all viruses can be removed from your computer without a reboot. Bitdefender will alert you if a reboot is required after a scan process has been complete.

Within the advance settings there are plenty of scan options - you can choose whether you scan files, applications, network shares even boot sectors. You can also select whether you want to scan email, IM, and HTTP traffic.

Bitdefender also offers a vulnerabilities scan which checks for out of date applications and other security issues.

Features

Gamer mode - If you like to play games on your computer you can set the anti-virus to play in gamer mode. This means that the Bitdefender won't interrupt you during a game. Gamer mode is also useful if you're in full screen, making a presentation or watching a movie.

Rescue mode - Allows you to scan all partitions outside your operating system. This means that if you're unable to boot your computer, you still use Rescue Mode to check your system.

File shredder - The file shredder is effective although somewhat pretty basic. For example, there are no shredding algorithm options available although effective. We could find any traces of files remaining on our computer during our tests.

Ease of use

Bitdefender has a bit of a habit of overhauling their user interface each year they release a product, but this year they have given it a slight tweak. The colors are a lot darker and flatter keeping on trend with the latest Microsoft look. There is a new left-hand navigation that allows you to access the modules quickly. It's a nice addition, but one I forgot was even there.

One of the most helpful features within the software is autopilot mode. This allows you to let Bitdefender run silently in the background without any alerts or messages. It makes its own security-based decisions. Of course, you can turn off autopilot if you want to get further into the settings. But in our opinion, it's a great approach to software - keeping things simple, but with the option of further configuration if needed.

Overall

I have always been a huge fan of Bitdefender AntiVirus and the 2023 version has not failed to impress. It scores really well in the independent lab tests while the company's focus on silent security is definitely a positive for those looking for hassle-free anti-virus protection.

Bitdefender AntiVirus Plus is an impressive anti-virus software that offers additional privacy protection features. It's noteworthy that most security vendors only include privacy protection in their more expensive internet security suites.

Overall, Bitdefender AntiVirus Plus is an excellent option for anyone in the market for reliable and cost-effective anti-virus software.

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