Bitdefender, over the last few years, has been one of the most highly regarded antivirus products, and for good reason. A relatively new company, compared to others in the antivirus space, Bitdefender have quickly established themselves as one of the leading brands with over half a billion installs / active users to date. There are 17 products to choose from, a number of which are for personal use (the type are concerned about and will be reviewing!). You can protect your PC, Mac and Android with BitDefender. Consistently performing better than the industry average, Bitdefender antivirus products have grown to become one of the most well respected brands in the industry. But how do they match up in 2021? Are they still one of the top choices?
You can find many different examples of organizations and reports commending Bitdefender on their product’s reliability and efficiency, supported further by their impressive collection of awards based on the software’s ability to pick up malware and ignore harmless software. The reliability of the antivirus should be no concern at all when considering Bitdefender. It’s also very easy to use. The user interface is very simple and easy to understand, within a few seconds you are aware of your current level of protection and what is turned on / off in terms of features. Also, you can start a scan immediately. The only potential level of confusion is the 3 different types of scan, but a little product research can dissipate this.
Detects and removes malicous software on your computer like viruses, adware or spyware.
Spyware secretly monitors what you do on your computer. Its aim is usually to capture passwords, banking credentials and credit card details.
Detect which websites are safe and can be trusted. Block malware websites and downloads.
Block 'spoof' websites designed to steal your personal information, normally after clicking a fake email.
Real-Time protection runs in the background and monitors your system continuously, blocking malware before it gets on your hard-drive.
Adware is malicous software that automatically displays or downloads advertising material such as banners or pop-ups.
Browse anonymously and securly online. Encrypt your connection to the Internet to block hackers from intercepting your data.
Set your own scheduled for system antivirus scans including what locations to scan.
Bitdefender’s antivirus software is packed full of useful features, from Social Network Protection to Sensitive Antifraud tools. The most interesting feature is called ‘Rescue Mode’ it makes a lot of sense to have in an antivirus and, surprisingly, we’ve not seen it on any other product of it’s kind. The premise is simple: in the occasion your antivirus is infected with a Rootkit (a type of malware which cannot necessarily be removed from within the Windows operating system), the computer is automatically rebooted and safeguarded. Rootkits are some of the most dangerous pieces of malware and they are devilishly hard to conquer from an Antivirus point of view. Bitdefender have nailed it by including ‘Rescue Mode’ on their software. Another smart tool is the ‘Bank Online Without Worries’ feature, which prefills credit card information forms online to help protect you from hackers intercepting this info via snooping or keylogging.
Remote managment of Windows firewall or built-in advanced firewall tools.
24/7 phone support for billing and technical questions.
Customer service includes live chat for a quick respsonse to any issues.
Bitdefender have some great support avenues you can use if you are stuck. They are easy to access and offer quality support, whether you choose email, community support, chat or phone. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all plain sailing with Bitdefender’s support. When we tried to use the chat support there weren’t any agents available, it was suggested that we email instead! In the case that a vital piece of software to you has been flagged as malware, you would need an answer quicker than 2 days time. We tried to reach Bitdefender’s chat support 4 times over a 20 minute period, we were unsuccessful every time! It would be naive to assume that this is representative of their chat support all the time, but it certainly doesn’t leave us with much confidence in their ability to help customers.
