- PROS
Outstanding scores inward independent lab tests together with our spider web protection tests. Multi-layered ransomware protection. Password manager. Banking protection. Offers a virtual individual network, or VPN. Many security-centered bonus features.
- CONS
Unlimited VPN access requires dissever subscription. With antivirus disabled, ransomware-specific features missed ane uncommon sample.
- BOTTOM LINE
With outstanding antivirus examine results together with a collection of features that puts some security suites to shame, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is a top choice.
Award-winning Antivirus software Bitdefender Antivirus Plus has long boasted a characteristic laid that puts some security suites to shame, together with the latest iteration adds farther layers of security. Enhancements inward this edition include a novel user interface, an updated Autopilot that gives recommendations for production use, a network threat scan, an additional layer of ransomware protection, together with fifty-fifty a virtual individual network, or VPN. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus remains a top alternative when it comes to protecting your PC's security.
Some antivirus products, such as Cylance Smart Antivirus and F-Secure, stick strictly with the essential undertaking of an antivirus: removing existing malware infestations together with foiling novel attacks. Bitdefender, past times contrast, packs a huge collection of security-centered features, amongst them password management, enhanced security for online transactions, multi-layered ransomware protection, together with (new with this edition) fifty-fifty a VPN. To live certainly you lot realize how much you're getting, the installer runs a slideshow detailing the features spell doing its job.
At $39.99 per twelvemonth for ane license, Bitdefender's pricing is inward line with the competition. More than a dozen others become for roughly the same price, amongst them Kaspersky, Webroot, Trend Micro, together with ESET. F-Secure charges $39.99 too, but gives you lot iii licenses for that price. Three Bitdefender licenses volition run you lot $59.99 per year. McAfee AntiVirus Plus also costs $59.99 per year, but sets no bound on the number of Windows, macOS, Android, together with iOS devices you lot tin protect.
New User Interface
With the latest release, Bitdefender has a totally novel user interface. The chief window displays a security dashboard past times default, with a left-rail bill of fare that offers detailed access to features. Security recommendations occupy the top one-half of the balance of the window, with a collection of what the production calls Quick Actions below. By default, these are: start a quick scan, opened upwardly the VPN, install protection on some other device, together with plough on Safepay online protection. You tin create your ain choices from a listing of 8 possible quick actions, for a total of 5 visible at whatever time.
Clicking Protection, Privacy, or Utilities inward the left bill of fare brings upwardly detailed pages of features together with settings, though some of the features aren't available inward the basic antivirus. For example, on the Protection page the Firewall together with Antispam items require an upgrade, together with everything on the Utilities page requires Bitdefender's top-tier suite, Bitdefender Total Security$44.99 at Bitdefender.
For years now, Bitdefender's Autopilot style has quietly handled security issues without requiring user intervention. In the electrical current edition, Autopilot evolves into a to a greater extent than active role. The aim is to create certainly you lot larn the total produce goodness of this antivirus' many, many features. For example, during this review it suggested that nosotros plough on the Automatic Profiles feature, which adjusts the configuration depending on what you're doing. For example, the Movie profile suppresses interruptions, together with the Battery Mode profile limits background activity. Autopilot powerfulness also advise that you lot explore the Wallet password manager, or depository fiscal establishment check the privacy of your online accounts.
Glowing Lab Test Scores
We follow iv independent labs that position antivirus programs through rigorous testing together with regularly study their findings. The uncomplicated fact that a production appears inward the results shows that the lab feels it's meaning plenty to test, together with that the antivirus society is willing to pay to conduct hold its production position through the wringer. Some of the products nosotros review larn no examine results at all. About a quarter of them, Bitdefender included, participate with all iv labs.
Testers at AV-Comparatives run dozens of ongoing tests. Of those, I follow four, amongst them a surgical physical care for test, a real-world dynamic protection test, together with an evaluation of how thorough a cleanup undertaking each production does. Products that travel past times a examine have Standard certification; those that excel tin conduct hold Advanced or Advanced+ certification. Bitdefender managed Advanced+ inward all iv tests. AV-Comparatives named Bitdefender Product of the Year for 2017.
Researchers at SE Labs locate together with capture real-world drive-by-download websites together with other unsafe sites. Using a replay system, they expose multiple products to just the same attack, rating their effectiveness. Bitdefender earned AAA certification, the best of 5 certification levels.
MRG-Effitas numbers banks amongst those who follow its tests, together with indeed, ane examine covers nix but banking Trojans. Another uses a sample laid designed to run the gamut of electrical current together with prevalent threat types. Both are rigorous; products that don't compass a near-perfect score only fail. Bitdefender passed both tests with the top possible score.
Reports from AV-Test Institute rate antivirus products on how good they handgrip the basic undertaking of malware protection, how modest an outcome they conduct hold on performance, together with how carefully they avoid mistaken positives (flagging valid programs or sites are dangerous). Products tin earn vi points inward each category. Bitdefender took the total vi for protection together with performance, but only 5 points inward the 3rd category, due to some mistaken positives.
Over the years, we've developed an algorithm for mapping the unlike lab scores onto a 10-point scale together with generating an aggregate score. Bitdefender stands at an impressive 9.8 points, beaten only by Kaspersky Anti-Virus with 9.9. Both products appear inward reports from all iv labs.
Impressive Malware Protection
Even though the labs heap praise on Bitdefender, nosotros silent demand our ain hands-on experience. Our malware protection test starts when nosotros opened upwardly the folder containing an eclectic collection of malware samples whose behaviour we've analyzed. At this point, Bitdefender displayed a notification, maxim "Disinfection inward progress…please hold off until complete."
This proved to live a long wait—more than 5 minutes. When the antivirus finished, it offered a link to display just what it accomplished. The real-time on-access protection organization eliminated just nether eighty pct of the samples on sight. We continued the examine past times launching those samples that survived the initial massacre.
Bitdefender caught most of the remaining samples at or shortly afterward launch. In ane case, it spent several minutes analyzing a threat that it characterized equally a possible PUA, or potentially unwanted application. When it reached a verdict together with quarantined the sample, it left behind a boatload of non-executable malware traces. Bitdefender detected 93 pct of the samples, the same equally Cylance and F-Secure Anti-Virus. As with Cylance together with F-Secure, the missed samples were PUAs, non virulently nasty malware.
Products tin earn an overall score of 10 points inward this test. Bitdefender would conduct hold had 9.3, the same equally Cylance together with F-Secure, but the many left-behind traces I mentioned dragged it downwards to 9.2.
This is only the 6th production we've exposed to the electrical current malware collection. Tested with our previous collection, Norton and Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus both achieved 100 pct detection together with scored a perfect 10.
Malware Protection Results Chart
Because gathering together with analyzing malware takes a meaning effort, nosotros usage the same sample laid for many months. To depository fiscal establishment check how good an antivirus handles the really latest attacks, nosotros usage a feed of malware-hosting URLs kindly supplied by MRG-Effitas. Typically these are no to a greater extent than than a 24-hour interval old. We launch each ane inward turn, discarding whatever URLs that are already defunct, together with tape whether the antivirus steered the browser away from the unsafe URL, eliminated the malicious download, or sat on its hands doing nothing.
Bitdefender's Online Threat Protection turned inward a phenomenal performance, blocking access to fully 96 pct of the malware-hosting URLs. The regular antivirus factor wiped out some other iii pct at the download phase, for a total of 99 pct protection, the best score amongst all recent products. Symantec Norton AntiVirus Basic and Trend Micro are unopen behind, however, with 98 pct together with 97 pct protection, respectively.
Phenomenal Phishing Protection
Malware attacks your computer, or your data, to create moolah for its creators. Phishing attacks become straight for the most vulnerable component—the user. If you lot encounter a faux PayPal site together with don't notice that the URL inward the address bar isn't right, you lot could air current upwardly handing your login credentials to the creeps who built the fake. These fraudulent sites don't in conclusion long; they chop-chop larn blacklisted together with taken down. But the phishers just create novel ones.
Any competent coder could position together a organization that steers users away from sites on a phishing blacklist, but that's non plenty inward itself. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 actually expert phishing protection organization analyzes pages for signs of fraud, together with blocks fifty-fifty those also novel to live blacklisted. Some products, such equally Norton, distinguish betwixt blacklisted sites together with those identified past times analysis. Bitdefender's Online Threat Protection tars them all with the same brush, together with it proved extremely effective inward our testing.
Phishing Protection Results Chart
Our antiphishing examine methodology is evolving. In the past, we've reported results equally the divergence betwixt the product's detection charge per unit of measurement together with that of Norton, equally good equally comparing with the detection charge per unit of measurement for the protection built into Chrome, Firefox, together with Internet Explorer. Recently nosotros dropped Norton from the mix, just comparing each product's detection with the browser built-ins. However, using the average of the browser ratings equally our metric actually skewed things. Check Point ZoneAlarm PRO Antivirus + Firewall$39.95 at Check Point Software picked upwardly a huge score, for the most component because the browsers had a really bad day. We croak on to study the browser comparisons—a production that can't trounce what's built inward is pretty poor—but we're at nowadays using each product's actual detection charge per unit of measurement equally the chief metric.
On that basis, Bitdefender wins the patch yet again. It detected together with foiled 99 pct of the verified phishing sites. ZoneAlarm is silent inward the running, with 98 pct protection; Trend Micro also blocked 98 pct of the frauds.
Network Threat Prevention
New inward this edition, the Network Threat Protection factor industrial plant with Online Threat Protection to divulge together with fend off attacks on security vulnerabilities inward the operating organization together with pop applications. This sort of protection is to a greater extent than commonly associated with a firewall, but it tin stand upwardly alone.
Trying to regard this characteristic inward action, nosotros bombarded the examine organization with 30-odd exploits generated past times the CORE Impact penetration tool. This collection includes exploits aimed at Windows, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, Java, together with several Adobe products. Bitdefender flagged 44 pct of the assault pages equally dangerous, roofing all the categories except Adobe. Note that equally the examine organization is fully patched, none of the exploits had a risk to subvert its security.
Norton is the large winner inward this test. Its exploit-specific protection factor blocked every unmarried ane of the sample attacks. In a few cases, identified the assault past times their official CVE numbers. Exploit protection isn't a heart together with soul antivirus component, though, specially if you lot hold your operating organization together with applications upwardly to date.
See How We Test Security Software
Search Results Markup
You don't fifty-fifty conduct hold to see a site to larn protection from Bitdefender's TrafficLight analysis. TrafficLight marks search results equally security or unsafe using the expected light-green together with cherry icons. But it doesn't halt there.
If you lot encounter a cherry warning icon, you lot tin click it for total details. The resulting page breaks downwards just why the site was flagged, identifying to a greater extent than than a dozen varieties of unsafe together with fraudulent sites. Phishing together with malware are at the top of the list, naturally. Among the other fraud types flagged past times TrafficLight are piracy sites, occupation scams, together with click-fraud sites.
In testing, nosotros institute that this characteristic didn't piece of work inward Chrome. Our Bitdefender contact explained that the production doesn't yet back upwardly the experimental QUIC protocol, together with offered instructions to disable QUIC at the chrome://flags page.
Multi-Layered Ransomware Protection
No antivirus is perfect. They'll all occasionally immature lady a brand-new attack. Oh, sure, inside a few days most volition broadcast an update that cleans things up, but inward instance of a ransomware attack, it's also tardily to salvage your files. Bitdefender has been on the cutting border of ransomware protection, together with the latest edition adds to a greater extent than layers.
Ransomware industrial plant past times encrypting of import files together with demanding that you lot pay for the decryption key. It typically looks inward folders such equally Documents, Pictures, together with Videos. Bitdefender's Safe Files characteristic only prevents all unauthorized modification of files inward these locations, for all users. If you lot conduct hold an odd folder scheme, you lot tin add together other protected folders. On detecting an unknown programme attempting to modify a protected file, Safe Files suspends the programme together with asks whether to allow the change. If you've just installed a novel picture editor, you lot tin only grade it equally trusted. But if the warning comes equally a surprise, allow Safe Files hold the programme away from your files.
The Advanced Threat Defense characteristic supplements regular antivirus scanning with behavior-based detection, including detection of ransomware behavior. Network Threat Prevention blocks the exploit avenues that some ransomware attacks rely on.
New inward the electrical current edition is Ransomware Remediation. At the outset hint of a possible ransomware attack, it backs upwardly of import files, restoring them afterward Bitdefender neutralizes the attack. This characteristic comes disabled out of the box. My society contact tells me that ane time it's been roughly for a while, they'll modify the default to enabled. I turned it on for testing purposes.
We've tested Safe Files before, but nosotros repeated the examine just to live thorough. When nosotros tried editing text files inward the Documents folder with a hand-coded (and thus unknown to Bitdefender) text editor, it caught the endeavour together with offered to halt it. It also caught a simple-minded faux ransomware program, fifty-fifty when that programme launched at boot time.
The Bitdefender Shield real-time protection components wiped out all our actual ransomware samples on sight. To fifty-fifty larn a glimpse of the other protective layers, nosotros had to plough off Shield. These samples are already acquaint on the examine system, so the network layer didn't larn a risk to act. Some of the samples triggered Safe Files, followed past times Advanced Threat Defense. Advanced Threat Defense lonely caught others. We never did create out to trigger Ransomware Remediation, but then, that layer is the in conclusion resort.
Bitdefender blocked all our file-encryptor ransomware samples fifty-fifty with real-time protection turned off, together with indeed, these are past times far the most mutual type. There is, however, some other type of ransomware that encrypts the whole disk. We only conduct hold ane sample of this type, the notorious Petya ransomware. Sad to say, Bitdefender whiffed against Petya. The assault ran to completion, rendering the virtual machine examine organization unusable until nosotros reverted it to a create clean snapshot. To live fair, this could only come about because nosotros disabled the real-time antivirus.
We also tried running KnowBe4's RanSim ransomware simulator. Safe Files blocked its access repeatedly, but this activity interfered with the simulation, to the indicate that it just didn't work. In a existent ransomware situation, I wouldn't complain most protection that renders ransomware ineffective.
Ransomware protection is showing upwardly inward to a greater extent than together with to a greater extent than antivirus products, but most don't become equally far equally Bitdefender. Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security is amongst the few others with a multi-layer approach. It blocks unauthorized changes to protected files, detects ransomware behavior, together with restores whatever files that got encrypted earlier the behavior-based detection kicked in. Webroot uses behavior-based detection, together with its journal-and-rollback organization for handling behaviour of unknown files tin fifty-fifty opposite the effects of ransomware.
A Wallet for Your Passwords
Password administration is a characteristic to a greater extent than commonly institute inward security suites than inward standalone antivirus products (though Avast includes password administration fifty-fifty inward Avast Free Antivirus). Bitdefender's Wallet characteristic stores passwords, personal information, together with credit card details for usage on websites, together with also saves passwords for applications together with Wi-Fi networks.
Wallet has changed really lilliputian since Bitdefender's previous edition. It silent requires a strong master copy password, dissever from your Bitdefender Central password (be wary of its force rating; it calls "Password1!" a strong password). It silent allows creation of multiple wallets (password databases), together with lets you lot pick out whether to sync betwixt devices or hold passwords local-only. And it silent automatically captures login credentials equally you lot type them together with replays them equally needed.
In testing, it managed measure password entry forms but couldn't handgrip some two-page login systems. Wallet doesn't shop equally much personal information for spider web forms equally some dedicated password managers, but it correctly filled all the fields that it does store.
When you're signing upwardly for a novel account, you lot tin usage Wallet's password generator, which defaults to creating 15-character passwords made of letters together with numbers. That's a expert default length, but I advise enabling the usage of special characters, for fifty-fifty stronger passwords.
Wallet completely handles the basics of password management, but doesn't become much beyond that. If you lot desire high-end features similar automatic password changing, two-factor authentication, secure sharing of credentials, or handling of password inheritance, you lot should consider a standalone password manager utility.
Safepay for Online Safety
The Online security is of import fifty-fifty when you're just watching truthful cat videos or fainting goats, but it's absolutely critical whatever fourth dimension you lot log inward to a fiscal website. Bitdefender's Safepay automatically kicks inward when it detects that you're most to connect with a banking site or other sensitive site, offering a secure connection. You tin tell it to ever usage Safepay on the site inward question, or never usage it for a particular page. Kaspersky's Bank Mode industrial plant inward much the same way, though it doesn't opened upwardly a dissever desktop.
Safepay is a desktop all its own, with a hardened browser built in. Processes running inward the Safepay desktop conduct hold no connectedness with the regular desktop. The Safepay browser supports Wallet, naturally, together with you lot tin install Flash if required, but supports no other extensions.
The Safepay browser's physical care for isolation should protect against whatever software keylogger or other keystroke-stealing spyware. Going beyond that, a virtual keyboard serves to defeat fifty-fifty hardware keyloggers. It also prevents programs from snapping screenshots to capture sensitive information.
We tested Safepay past times trying to log into a dozen fiscal sites, some big, some small. Surprisingly, Bitdefender did non offering Safepay for bankofamerica.com or americanexpress.com. It also refused to opened upwardly wellsfargo.com, citing an untrusted certificate. Our society contacts explained that certainly sites conduct hold exhibited compatibility problems inward the past, so they don't force users to Safepay on those sites. You're silent costless to opened upwardly the Safepay browser together with navigate to the site directly.
Bitdefender VPN
Bitdefender's many layers of antivirus, web, together with network protection hold your devices together with their information safe. However, when you lot connect to the cyberspace your information inward transit is potentially at risk. To ensure privacy for your data, you lot demand a VPN (virtual individual network). When you lot connect using a VPN, nobody, non fifty-fifty the possessor of the shady Wi-Fi network you're using, tin access your network traffic.
Bitdefender VPN isn't available equally a standalone product. Even the feature-complete Premium edition requires that you're already running a Bitdefender antivirus or security suite. This VPN is a re-branded version of the AnchorFree Hotspot Shield Elite VPN service. Bitdefender uses AnchorFree's servers together with services, but your information is secure with Bitdefender. AnchorFree cannot regard your online activities together with only receives a Bitdefender identifier.
The VPN service volition piece of work out of the box, but only inward a limited style until you lot pay for a Premium subscription. The costless version of Bitdefender's VPN restricts your usage to 200MB per day. That's to a greater extent than generous than TunnelBear VPN's costless version, which offers only 500MB per month. The costless version also limits which VPN servers you lot tin access. When nosotros tested the costless version, it connected to a server inward Utah. We also institute that the VPN said nosotros had used upwardly our information allocation only moments afterward switching on the VPN for the outset time. That's a flake troubling.
If you lot create upwardly one's heed to upgrade to the Premium edition of the Bitdefender VPN, you lot larn access to all available VPN servers, with no information cap. An annual subscription costs $49.99 per year, currently discounted to $39.99, or you lot tin pay $6.99 per month. That's a remarkably depression monthly cost, comparable to really affordable Private Internet Access VPN, which costs $6.95 per month. It's also notably less expensive than Hotspot Shield itself, which costs $12.99 per month.
For $6.99, you lot tin usage the Bitdefender VPN on 5 devices simultaneously, which is the manufacture average. You tin upgrade that to 10 simultaneous connections past times upgrading your protection to a 10-license subscription for Bitdefender Total Security. Doing so doesn't modify the cost of the Premium VPN.
The Bitdefender VPN is really simple: a slender grayness rectangle with a large, bluish push to connect the VPN. You modify the VPN server from the pull-down menu, although you lot tin only select the province to which you lot volition connect. Other services, like NordVPN, volition allow you lot select the specific server inward a given country, together with fifty-fifty tell you lot what sort of charge that server is experiencing. Bitdefender is to a greater extent than of a set-it-and-forget-it affair. That said, it has only a few options: configuring the VPN to connect automatically on unsafe (read: unsecured) Wi-Fi networks together with having it connect automatically on startup.
Other VPN services, like TorGuard VPN, conduct hold a host of add-on options, similar dedicated IP address together with access to a 10GB network. NordVPN together with ProtonVPN allow you lot connect to the Tor anonymization network through their clients. Several VPN services also offering servers designed for specific activities, similar P2P file sharing or Netflix streaming. The Bitdefender VPN doesn't conduct hold these, although it allows file sharing on the networks used past times the Bitdefender VPN.
On the patch of study of Netflix, nosotros institute that nosotros could non connect to the pop video streaming service spell the Bitdefender VPN was active. That's non surprising, since nosotros couldn't access when using Hotspot Shield, either. Netflix is really active most blocking VPNs, but VPNs are active inward trying to hold their customers streaming happily. It's a flake of a cat-and-mouse game. When nosotros in conclusion tested the services, NordVPN, TunnelBear, CyberGhost VPN, KeepSolid VPN Unlimited, together with TorGuard VPN were the top-rated services that successfully worked with Netflix.
None of the documentation nosotros institute on the Bitdefender VPN outlined how many servers are available, but we've been told it's the same equally those available with the first-party Hotspot Shield client. Hotspot Shield has 2,500 servers inward 25 countries. That's a strong showing, beating out much of the VPN modest fry. It's just shy of the heavy hitters, which conduct hold 3,000 servers or more. These include NordVPN, Private Internet Access, together with TorGuard VPN. Note that if you lot usage the costless version, twenty pct of the servers are virtual servers. The paid version uses only dedicated, physical servers.
A large number of servers is useful, since it agency fewer people volition live allocated per server. Fewer people inward a server mostly agency amend performance, equally you lot won't conduct hold to portion equally many slices of the bandwidth pie.
Server locations also matter, partly because to a greater extent than locations agency to a greater extent than options for spoofing your ain location, but mostly because a closer server volition commonly yield amend speed together with volition definitely conduct hold lower latency. NordVPN, for example, is available inward 59 countries, together with TorGuard covers 55 countries.
You won't divulge an alternative to modify the protocol used past times the Bitdefender VPN client to create its encrypted tunnel. That's because Bitdefender ever uses the OpenVPN protocol. That's good. We prefer OpenVPN, which has the wages of existence open-source together with picked over for potential vulnerabilities.
To larn a sense of how a VPN affects speed together with latency, nosotros at PCMag run a serial of tests using the Ookla's internet speed examine tool to divulge a pct modify betwixt when the VPN is active together with when it is not. (Note that Ookla is owned past times Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.) Do read most how nosotros examine VPNs if you're curious most what all goes into this process. The brusk version is that this is a snapshot for comparing purposes, together with non meant to live the in conclusion discussion on surgical physical care for for a given service. Your mileage may vary.
A careful reader volition notice that the results from the Bitdefender VPN together with the Hotspot Shield client are markedly different. Both tests used the same figurer (a Lenovo ThinkPad T460s laptop running Windows 10) together with the same network configuration. It's possible that network conditions were just really unfavorable during our initial Hotspot Shield testing. As nosotros understand, Bitdefender clients produce non have preferential handling on Hotspot servers. We used the Premium VPN, because our tests require the powerfulness to select specific server locations.
In the outset circular of tests, nosotros allow the VPN pick out the best server. The client wisely chose a server inward New York. We institute that the Bitdefender VPN had lilliputian impact on latency, increasing it past times just 35.7 percent. That's inward stark contrast to the outset political party Hotspot Shield client, which increased latency past times 3,145 percent. The best score inward these tests, however, goes to TorGuard, which decreased latency past times 6.7 percent.
We consider the download examine to live the most important, together with the Bitdefender VPN performed quite well. It reduced download speeds past times only 6.2 percent. Again, that's significantly amend than Hotspot Shield, which slowed downloads past times 73.5 percent. TorGuard, again, has the best score inward this test. It lowered download speeds past times only 3.7 percent.
In the upload speed tests, the Bitdefender VPN was inward with the balance of the pack. It reduced upload speeds past times just 3.7 percent, which is nipping at the heels of the best performer inward this category. That honour goes to IPVanish VPN, which reduced upload speeds past times 2.9 percent. The Hotspot Shield client, however, reduced upload speeds past times 58.6 percent.
In the 2d round, nosotros examine the VPN's powerfulness to component over corking distances. To produce that, nosotros usage an Ookla examine server inward Anchorage, Alaska, together with a VPN server inward Australia. The Bitdefender VPN increased latency past times 310.1 percent, which is most average for this examine together with understandable given the distances involved. Hotspot Shield, however, increased latency past times over 400 pct when nosotros tested it. TunnelBear had the best results inward this test, increasing latency past times only 270.3 percent.
In the international download tests, nosotros institute that the Bitdefender VPN reduced download speeds past times 71.9 percent. In an odd reversal, that's a significantly larger impact than when nosotros tested AnchorFree Hotspot Shield. That service has the best score inward these tests, reducing download speeds past times 39.9 percent.
The international upload tests are ever a flake odd, equally the speeds of every service tend to cluster inward the high 90s. Bitdefender was no different; it reduced upload speeds past times 98.1 percent. Hotspot Shield reduced upload speeds past times 98.4 percent, together with the best score came from Private Internet Access, which reduced upload speeds past times 97.3 percent.
We zinged Hotspot Shield for its high price, together with for some troubling privacy policies. Bitdefender VPN costs significantly less, on par with the to the lowest degree expensive competition, together with it solves the privacy job past times strictly limiting what information it passes to the Hotspot Shield servers.
Even More Features
The listing of features packed into this antivirus just goes on together with on. We've mentioned keeping your operating organization applications upwardly to engagement with all security patches. The vulnerability scan characteristic automatically runs inward the background together with warns you lot most missing patches. It also flags weak Windows occupation concern human relationship passwords, together with warns when you're connected to an insecure Wi-Fi network, advising you lot connect through the VPN. We did striking an oddity inward testing. Windows Update itself reports the examine organization upwardly to date, but the Vulnerability scan reported 142 "Critical Windows Updates." After nosotros allow it install those updates, a subsequent scan showed fifty-fifty to a greater extent than pending. Our Bitdefender contact confirmed that this is a bug, with a prepare due soon.
One corking way to protect your most sensitive documents is to encrypt them. After encryption, its essential to securely delete the unsecured original, to avoid fifty-fifty forensic recovery. You demand a Bitdefender suite to larn file encryption, but the secure deletion File Shredder is acquaint fifty-fifty inward the antivirus. Use it when you lot actually demand to eliminate a sensitive file so that nobody, non fifty-fifty the NSA, tin recover it.
Sometimes you lot run across malware so ornery together with persistent that fifty-fifty Bitdefender can't take away it. The typical solution inward a instance similar this is to burn downwards a bootable rescue disc, ane that runs a non-Windows operating system. Bitdefender does amend with its Rescue Mode. You don't conduct hold to burn downwards a disc; you lot just select Rescue Mode together with reboot. Windows malware can't defend itself when Windows isn't running.
A Top Choice for Security
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus offers first-class malware protection, equally shown past times its first-class scores from many independent testing labs. Our ain tests demonstrate it to live specially effective against web-based threats, including malware-hosting sites together with phishing pages. On top of that, it piles on plenty features that it could almost qualify equally a security suite, together with the electrical current edition adds silent to a greater extent than security-specific features. It's really an first-class choice, together with an Editors' Choice.
In the packed patch of antivirus utilities, we've named several other Editors' Choice products. The labs dearest Kaspersky Anti-Virus just equally much equally they produce Bitdefender. McAfee AntiVirus Plus doesn't score equally high, but it offers unlimited protection for your Windows, macOS, Android, together with iOS devices. While non quite equally feature-rich equally Bitdefender, Symantec Norton AntiVirus Basic goes significantly beyond basic antivirus protection; it's specially effective against exploit attacks. And tiny Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus uses a journal-and-rollback organization that should undo the effects of whatever malware that gets past times its initial detection, fifty-fifty ransomware.
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