Bitdefender

Bitdefender

Type	Private
Industry	Computer security Internet security
Founded	2001
Founder	Florin Talpeș
Headquarters	Bucharest, Romania
Area served	Computer security
Key people	Florin Talpeş (CEO)
Products	Bitdefender Internet Security 2017, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2016, Bitdefender Internet Security 2016, Bitdefender Total Security 2016, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition 2016, Bitdefender Family Pack 2016, Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac, Bitdefender Antivirus Free for Android, Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android, Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security, Bitdefender GravityZone Advanced Business Security, Bitdefender GravityZone Enterprise Security
Services	Computer security
Revenue	276.89 million lei (2014) (US$ 74.7 million)
Subsidiaries	US, UK, Germany, Spain
Website	www.bitdefender.com

Bitdefender is a Romanian internet security software company, represented through subsidiaries and partners in over 100 countries.^[1] The company has been developing online protection since 2001. In September 2014, the company claimed to have its technologies installed in around 500 million home and corporate devices across the globe.^[2]

The Bitdefender products include anti-virus and anti-spyware capabilities against internet security threats such as viruses, Trojans, rootkits, rogues, "aggressive adware," spam and others, and that their applications include web protection, cloud antispam, firewall, a vulnerability scanner, parental controls, file encryption, device anti-theft and backup for corporate and home users. In 2016, the company claimed that its products now include profiles for performance optimization, a secure browser for online transactions, and a virtual wallet option to save passwords.

History

Bitdefender replaced SOFTWIN's earlier AVX^[3] (AntiVirus eXpert) product range. Between 1996 and 2001 AVX became a product available worldwide that offered intelligent updating without user intervention and integrated an internal browser which scanned and monitored all downloaded files. AVX pioneered behavior-based application blocking technology and was also the first antivirus product to include personal firewall features. With the sixth generation of AVX, the product became the first antivirus package to include an application firewall as well as behavior-based blocking. The Bitdefender group spun off from SOFTWIN in 2007.

Bitdefender products

Bitdefender makes antivirus products for home users as well as businesses. Home editions support Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Android and iOS. Bitdefender competes in the antivirus industry against Avira, BullGuard, F-Secure, FRISK, Kaspersky, McAfee, Panda Security, Sophos, Symantec and Trend Micro among others.

Bitdefender Total Security Multi-Device

Bitdefender Total Security Multi-Device is a security suite for Windows, Mac and Android devices that is claimed to protect the devices through machine-learning technologies to improve malware detection and enhance proactive security. The company claims that the technology is based on processing the newest malware information available to predict and block future outbreaks as fast as possible.

Bitdefender Family Pack

Bitdefender Family Pack is designed for families, offering privacy protection through parental control, device anti-theft, safer online banking and shopping, password management tools and other features.

Home Editions

For Windows-based computers, the products Bitdefender Total Security, Bitdefender Internet Security, and Bitdefender Antivirus Plus are designed to protect end-users through anti-phishing and antispam modules, firewall and anti-virus protection, plus other features.

For Android users, the company offers a cloud-based security solution with anti-malware and anti-theft capabilities called Bitdefender Mobile Security.

Bitdefender BOX

Bitdefender BOX is the only hardware device from Bitdefender’s portfolio designed to protect smart home networks and inter-connected Internet of Things devices.

Business Solutions

Bitdefender GravityZone is an enterprise security solution for medium to very large organizations. It is available in three commercial offers: GravityZone Business Security, GravityZone Advanced Business Security and GravityZone Enterprise Security, which include security for endpoints, virtualized environments, exchange servers and mobile terminals. Bitdefender endpoint protection was included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant,^[4] a focused analysis on market insights by reputable American advisory firm Gartner.

List of products

Bitdefender technologies

Bitdefender Antispam NeuNet

Bitdefender Antispam NeuNet,^[8] short for Neural Network is an antispam filter pre-trained by the Bitdefender Antispam Lab on a series of spam messages, so that it learns to recognize new spam by perceiving its similarities with the messages it has already examined.

B-HAVE

In May 2006 Bitdefender introduced a new technology, B-HAVE, to reduce dependency on virus signatures through proactive detection of unknown threats. This technology is based on behavioral analysis in a virtualized environment.

To determine whether a program is malicious or not, this technology makes use of a virtual PC in which files are executed and analyzed. The virtual PC includes a set of virtual hardware devices, mimicking the configuration of a typical PC. B-HAVE checks for characteristics known to be associated with malware. A program may be deemed to be malicious if it attempts to modify certain files, read from or write to a sensitive area of the memory or create a file that is a product of a known virus. When attempting to use a non-trusted program, B-HAVE delays the launching until the program’s behavior and characteristics are analyzed and catalogued in the virtual environment. If no malicious actions are detected, B-HAVE starts the program normally; if a suspect conduct is present, B-HAVE automatically quarantines or deletes the application.^[9]

Active Virus Control

Bitdefender introduced Active Virus Control in August 2009.

This technology continuously monitors each program (specific processes) running on the PC as it executes, and it notes any malware-like actions. Each action is scored and, when a given threshold is reached, the process is reported as harmful. Unlike heuristic technologies that check executable files when they are accessed or started, Active Virus Control monitors everything applications do as long as they are active. Because of this approach, Active Virus Control is a third layer of defense.

PHOTON Technology

In its 2014 version, the company said that Bitdefender featured a so-called "PHOTON Technology", which it says visibly improves computer speed and performance by gradually adapting to each PC.

Content filtering technologies

Content filtering technologies have been developed to filter raw online content and are applicable and used in antispam, anti-phishing, web filtering, scanning of spam and social networks. They facilitate creation of signatures to proactively detect never-before-seen malicious files.

Machine Learning

The company claims that Bitdefender is using cloud-based Machine Learning to identify new malware, malicious URLs and other online threats by processing and analyzing big data to obtain behavioral patterns and predict future advanced threats.

Independent tests

As of June 2007, Bitdefender had passed Virus Bulletin's VB100 independent tests 14 times out of 18 since first tested in 2002,^[10] including the 12 most recent tests.^[11] It also achieved an advanced certification from AV Comparatives for on-demand scanning,^[12] and standard level certification for catching unknown viruses, though it was criticised for its slower scanning speed and higher instances of false positives.^[13]

In another test conducted by AV Comparatives in August 2009^[14] to determine the antivirus software with high detection rates and the lowest false positives rating, Bitdefender received an Advanced+ Certification. In a test conducted by PCMag, BitDefender 2010, "detected 97 percent of all the threats and completely blocked installation for most of them".^[15]

Product reviews

In reviews for Bitdefender, the home version of the suite was given the PC Answers editor's choice award in a comparative review in May 2007.^[16] It is also the least expensive of the top three antivirus solutions, as ranked by PC World. TopTenREVIEWS gave Bitdefender Antivirus Plus a 9.8 rating out of 10, and said "Bitdefender combines superb protection, ample features, and comprehensive support at a price that’s lower than other high-ranked programs."^[17]

Criticism

Support

In May 2009, support was being criticized as being unresponsive.^[18] BitDefender responded by saying they were aware of the problems, and that they would take steps to solve it. They attributed the problem to an unexpectedly high surge in customers due to a positive review.^[18] Currently, the company's website claims that support is available 24/7 on telephone, e-mail, Livechat, and an online knowledge base.^[19]

Trojan.FakeAlert.5

On March 20, 2010, computers running Bitdefender under 64-bit versions of Windows were affected by a malfunctioning update which classified every executable program as well as dll files as infected. These files were all marked as 'Trojan.FakeAlert.5' and were moved into quarantine. This action led to software and systems malfunctions that affected users around the world.^[20] Bitdefender representatives announced the removal of the faulty update and a workaround for the users affected,^[21] except for those using the 2008 version.^[22]

Comodo firewall incompatibility

As of version 2012 of Bitdefender, Comodo Firewall and Bitdefender cannot co-exist. There is however, a workaround which can be found elsewhere on the internet and on the Bitdefender forums.^[23] There are alternatives, such as TinyWall,^[24] which are compatible with Bitdefender Antivirus (Bitdefender Internet Security and Total Security have a built-in firewall—it is recommended to only have one firewall installed; multiple firewalls may crash/slow-down the system).

ASUS AiSuite incompatibility

Bitdefender is incompatible with ASUS AiSuite2 and ASUS AiSuite3, a motherboard optimization suite of software bundled with ASUS motherboards which enables automatic overclocking, power tuning and fan control. Bitdefender claims that the incompatibility is due to "NDIS ASUS driver (WinpkFilter LightWeight Filter), which prevents the installation of some Bitdefender files".^[25]

See also

• Internet security
• Comparison of antivirus software
• Comparison of firewalls
• Comparison of computer viruses
• Multiscanning

References

External links

• Official website
• Official website (Romanian)
• List of global sites