BitDefender IS 2016

[LabZero]

Hello guys, I decided to do a small review of BD IS 2016 on my LabZero War PC, hope you like it and sorry for mistakes

 

[JM Safe]

Thanks for this review, well done and well explained, Congrats @Klipsh

 

[SloppyMcFloppy]

372MB RAM usage, yike that is way too much for a single antivirus engine.

 

[ha14]

Well Bitdefender cannot be a bad product, not to be able use virtualbox (maybe you need adding VirtualBox to exclusions) or perhaps in Bios if it is enabled.

 

[SloppyMcFloppy]

Well Bitdefender cannot be a bad product, not to be able use virtualbox (maybe you need adding VirtualBox to exclusions) or perhaps in Bios if it is enabled.

I never use Bitdefender so i can't tell if it bad product or not, but based on users that already used Bitdefender they said it buggy and make their internet surfing speed decreased so...........

 

[Kate_L]

3 / 5 it's fair. It's not the best, it's a good product. Also, thanks for the review.

 

[hjlbx]

@Klipsh - not trying to hijack your thread... just adding some observations.

Some reported bugs are not bugs, but instead intended behaviors based upon settings; user doesn't know how BIS works\behaves when configured\default settings are changed.

BIS 2016 has improved:

• Browsing with SSL scanning enabled is faster.
• Integration into system appears much less buggy.
• SafePay works well. I personally think it is nice...

It has features that will appeal to some users:

• Battery Mode adjusts application and system settings to conserve battery power... so some laptop users will find this feature worthwhile.
• Auto Pilot makes all security decisions for user... anyone who does not want interaction with security soft will like it.
• Profiles adjust application and system settings to reduce system impact.
• System scan is run at a low priority so as not to affect other applications... so it might take longer than typical system scan.

What some users might not like:

• Auto Pilot allows all application connections to the internet and Intrusion Detection System monitors those connects. If suspicious or malicious behavior is detected, BIS will auto-deny\block connection. In testing against malwares, it does work...
• Detailed technical infos are difficult to find.
• RAM usage ranges from 180 to 350 MB... dependent upon settings and activity. This really is no problem if sufficient system memory.
• Minimal granular control over application and firewall (BIS uses Windows Firewall).

For optimum aggressive configuration, adjust the following settings:

NOTE: Bitdefender products are really intended for user's that desire full automation.

• Use Auto-Pilot**
• Set Antivirus scan to Medium
• Set Virus Control to Aggressive
• Set Intrusion Detection System to Aggressive

** IF you want alerts, then disable Profiles and then enable Paranoid Mode. Paranoid mode is just "interactive" = alerts mode.

then leave it alone...

I combine BIS 2016 with Sandboxie and NoVirusThanks Exe Radar Pro for more complete protection.

 

[XhenEd]

I'm itching to try BIS 2016.
Will this work in a VM since the VM won't work if it's installed in the host?

 

[hjlbx]

I'm itching to try BIS 2016.
Will this work in a VM since the VM won't work if it's installed in the host?

Installing BIS requires system reboot...

 

[SloppyMcFloppy]

I'm itching to try BIS 2016.
Will this work in a VM since the VM won't work if it's installed in the host?

Would be awesome if you can make a video of it.

 

[XhenEd]

Would be awesome if you can make a video of it.

Sadly, I don't have the skill and knowledge about creating a video. I have never done that yet.

 

[XhenEd]

Installing BIS requires system reboot...

But it will work in a VM, right?

 

[hjlbx]

But it will work in a VM, right?

I don't know since I don't use a VM. If you can reboot the VM and it saves all running processes and data then perhaps it will work...

I'd post message via your profile since someone who uses a VM will likely respond.

 

[Cats-4_Owners-2]

I enjoyed your unbiased informative review @Klipsh, and the lively discussions have me feeling... well, feeling intrigued over a Brand name Internet Suite I have not felt this interested in for a long long... time. Well done!
...with honorable mention to hjlbx too!

But it will work in a VM, right?

My thinking is "Yes", @XhenEd. Since we can reboot our VMs, BitDefender should work inside of one. That is my hypothesis!

 

[TapaDonut]

Based on my experience(I have 3 laptops, one of them I installed Bitdefender IS 2016 because I have only 1 user license for kaspersky), I can say that BIS 2016 is light on my system, it consumes around 100-200mb of ram. IDK, you guys experience 200-300mb ram. The downside of it though is their battery mode, when I use my laptop for heavy processes, my usual programs starts to lag because it throttles my system.

 

[hjlbx]

Based on my experience(I have 3 laptops, one of them I installed Bitdefender IS 2016 because I have only 1 user license for kaspersky), I can say that BIS 2016 is light on my system, it consumes around 100-200mb of ram. IDK, you guys experience 200-300mb ram. The downside of it though is their battery mode, when I use my laptop for heavy processes, my usual programs starts to lag because it throttles my system.

You can disable battery mode... that does not fix issue ?

 

[jamescv7]

Protection is not really a problem for Bitdefender, some of components are totally invisible and just work on the background like Photon Technology and emulation of the program to isolate and analyse the source code for possible malicious.

Meanwhile Auto-Pilot is somewhat to be monitor by user as going to the logs for the operation isn't a practical by most novice users.

 

[hjlbx]

For those interest, how Bitdefender modules work:

http://download.bitdefender.com/resources/files/Main/file/active_virus_control_wp.pdf

 

[hjlbx]

• Password Manager (Wallet) only auto-fills single-page user name and password login; if you're expecting LastPass type auto-login you will be sorely disappointed.
• Password Manager (Wallet) plug-in does not function when run inside Sandboxie.
• Anti-Spam does not protect online e-mail applications and Windows Mail; it only protects e-mail clients like Outlook, etc. If you don't use a dedicated e-mail client, then disable Anti-Spam module.
• If you get an Active Threat Control alert, that alert is generated by the Active Virus Control module.
• In both Auto-Pilot and Paranoid modes, some Allow\Block and Add to Exclusions actions are made via the Events log.
• The permanent way to Unblock items or stop on-going Monitoring is to add files\folders and URLs to exclusions (WARNING !! - Before adding anything to exclusions, you really, really need to take all the extra steps to make sure the file(s)\URL(s) are legitimate and safe !); if BIS continues to Block after adding, then submit a Support Ticket.
• Search Advisor will often hang for pages.
• Search Advisor only works with Google and Bing search engines.
• SSL Scanning installs a certificate. It causes no problems with Internet Explorer. However, with Firefox you will get certificate warnings when visiting a lot of web-pages. Fix the problem by creating a certificate exception in Firefox if you know the website is safe. I think it's an annoyance...
• Full system scan will utilize up to 100 % CPU during it's scan cycle; schedule only during idle times or use on-demand.
• Quick scan (application scan) takes only 4 to 30 secs dependent upon drive type (HDD or SDD) and number of applications installed\running.
• Last technical infos I could find from 2010 states on 64-bit systems, BIS does not monitor 32-bit processes. If that is still the case, then it represents a potential security risk.
• Files signed with a valid digital certificate are Allowed by default; that's a really bad idea so I suggest all protection settings adjusted to Aggressive. Digitally signed PUPs are allowed by default - that's a problem - same as Kaspersky, Norton, etc until the PUP is rated as malicious.
• When using Paranoid Mode, Intrusion Detection System set to Aggressive will revert to Medium upon system reboot; Aggressive creates too many pop-ups.
• Auto-Pilot will block items. To Unblock them access the Events Log, select on an item and if there is an option to do so, select Allow. (I would much prefer a pop-up for all blocks...)
• Rescue Mode does not function on W8.1 due to OS - and not Bitdefender; user is directed to download Bitdefender Rescue Disk (free).
• Password Manager (Wallet) is not functioning in Firefox (maybe build... I use Nightly\Development version).

 

[XhenEd]

Now, the question really is: is Bitdefender really good in detecting zero-day malware regardless of the bugs?

Also, Bitdefender's B.R.A.I.N. only works best with Autopilot.


Edit: I just remember about script protection since @hjlbx has mentioned it in ESET vs. Emsisoft thread. Does Bitdefender have this protection?