Bitdefender Free and Trafficlight ... is Trafficlight redundant?

[ChoiceVoice]

Do I need bitdefender traffic light if i'm running bitdefender free antivirus? I don't need two things doing the same things with the same tech. i know bitdefender free does HTTP scanning, scans downloads, and detects phishing sites, all which traffic light also does. traffic light also has some tracking protections i don't care about. traffic light also rates sites with a green checkmark. but is there something else traffic light offers that bitdefender free antivirus doesn not?

 

[kiric96]

not really if you have one bitdefender product there is no need for other one... traffic light is intended for non bitdefender users...

 

[jamescv7]

They have same functions so I will go for Bitdefender Free, you may use any alternative addons/extension like Web of Trust for your siteadvisor reference rating verdict.

 

[ChoiceVoice]

ya, but trafficlight seems to do a couple of other things which are not mentioned in bitdefender free (but info is hard to unravel). ex.

softapedia states trafficlight does the following:
(http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Security-Related/TrafficLight.shtml)

· Ad Filter - blocks those annoying pop-up ads.
· Link Filter - scans links from social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter.
· Malware Filter - blocks any malware you come in contact with while browsing the Internet.
· Advanced Phishing Filter - prevents you from accessing websites used for phishing attacks.
· Search Results Analyzer - provides advance warning of risky websites within your search results.
· URL Shortening - shrink and check links for viruses and spyware using saf.li.

i underlined the ones that i haven't seen described as a feature of bitdefender free. i think it still does "search results analyzer", but without the rating system, it just blocks malicious pages (so same effect). but bitdefender is usually a little ambiguous with what their free antivirus does (its not like avast and names a bunch of shields for marketing, it just integrates it all in and says nothing). i would say (from experience) it doesn't shorten urls, or block popups, or rate sites ... but i'm unsure of the link scanner/filter(?).

softapedia further states:

• TrafficLight intercepts and scans web traffic before it even reaches the browser, effectively blocking disguised or stealth attacks before it's too late.
• TrafficLight scans the pages you visit for malware and phishing attempts each and every time you access them to avoid the threat of legitimate but recently compromised websites.
• TrafficLight won't block an entire website if just some pages within are malicious. Only the potentially harmful elements are blocked, leaving you free to view the rest of the site if you so choose.

bitdefender free antivirus seems to only do the first 2 of these 3 under the heading of HTTP scanning:

HTTP scanning - "Protects you from scams such as credit card phishing attempts, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition scans all the links you access from your browser and blocks them when they prove to be unsafe."
(http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html)

i can't recall it selectively blocking elements within a web page, but maybe it hasn't needed to in my case?

 

[jamescv7]

Well if regarding for advertisement blockings use alternative which very known for effective blocking. (e.g Adblock Plus)

 

[ChoiceVoice]

ya, those are good alternatives (thanks). but is redundancy evident in these two products, and if so, is the differences worth the redundancy? it's likely these different components make up the larger paid version.

http://nosebotpress.blogspot.ca/2015/01/build-your-own-bitdefender-security.html

but i'd hate to download bitdefenders def'ns daily and separately for both their trafficlight and free antivirus (unless i make a worth security gain by doing so). and i must admit, part of my confusion stems from an what they mean by HTTP scanning.