I'd like to pose questions to users of Bitdefender paid anti-virus

[conceptualclarity]

1. Does the paid version of Bitdefender AV remove programs without user discretion like the free version is well known to do?

2. How happy are you with the realtime protection of paid Bitdefender?

3. How happy are you with its proficiency in removing infections?

4. How much of a problem has it posed with false positive detections?

5. How much of an impact has it had on system performance? Does it go bezerk on CPU usage whenever you open your Downloads folder as Microsoft Security Essentials does?

6. How would you compare it to other anti-viruses you have had?

7. If you have had it, how would you describe your experience with the Bitdefender firewall?

8. How would you compare it to other firewalls you have had?

9. How do you rate Bitdefender's support?

 

[Venustus]

I wont answer the others because I dont want to stir the pot!
As for #9 >>it doesn't exist!

 

[Oxygen]

I'm only going to say one thing : "BitDefender is the most overrated antivirus ever"

 

[Littlebits]

I'm not a BitDefender user but I have had many customers that have used it in the past that I do repairs, upgrades and malware removal for. Most of my customers were not satisfied with BitDefender. The most obviously complaints are it lags the system and slows down the network traffic even though it only uses little CPU and RAM. Other complains is it has high false alert detections of many safe programs and removes them without notifications. Problems that I have dealt with is many of these BitDefender customers had just as many infections or more on their systems that needed to be removed than what users of other products had. BitDefender support is non-existent, when these users try to get help they are ignored or have to wait several weeks to get a reply with no helpful solutions. That is why they brought the system to me for help. Most of my customers that did use BitDefender, canceled their subscriptions and move to another product. I hope that answers your questions.

Enjoy!!

 

[kjdemuth]

I think on the whole the Bitdefender engine is a good one. Seeing that a good amount of 3rd party products use it to great effectiveness. Now BD products themselves are something left to be desired. Even though the recent offering has shown a decrease in CPU and mem usage, it still seems to lag the system down. I honestly wouldn't pay to use any BD product. Maybe if they refine their product a little more or take suggestions from it's users.

 

[Rahadian Putra]

I'm not BD's user, but my family does, and regarding my experience :

1. Not sure about this, never face problem like that
2. Quite good, it's a bit heavy though >.<
3. Not sure, never face any malwares or problems by any malwares while using BD
4. Few false positive, but keep in mind, when BD detect any FP's item it's hard to restore it
5. Sometime BD goes heavy, sometime not, sometime it's crash, no idea
6. The only problem for me is BD too heavy, (sometime it also make internet connection slow) well at least for me
7. Never use their FW
8. Same as above
9. Support?? I thought their customer support never exist like Venustus and Littlebits said above? Seriously from what I read they seems hard to listen to their customers, their lack of support is being complained, I guess their "customer support" button on BD's website is only a joke and just for eye candy purpose

 

[Deleted member 178]

BD? what is that ?

 

[Rahadian Putra]

@umbra
Dunno, perhaps it's another AV from the future that being stolen from Terminator's technology like Umbra Total Security, however this one is unstable, you are the lucky one

 

[conceptualclarity]

Thank you all very much.

"The most obviously complaints are it lags the system and slows down the network traffic even though it only uses little CPU and RAM."

I wonder why that is.

"Other complains is it has high false alert detections of many safe programs"

I really hate false positives. I have suffered a lot with them with my last two AVs, avast! and Webroot. Microsoft Security Essentials had a lot fewer, but it's not an effective defense, in my experience and according to the consensus of AV testing. So where can you get a good AV that's not batty with false positives?

"Other complains is it has high false alert detections of many safe programs and removes them without notifications.
"when BD detect any FP's item it's hard to restore it"

It sounds like you're saying Bitdefender paid is the same as Bitdefender free--removes so-called PUAs without user discretion. I'm someone who searches out and finds sometimes obscure software to serve good purposes, always scanning it with Virus Total, Jotti, and my own security programs before installing it. I don't appreciate the PUA label getting slapped on good software just because it's not well-known or because it takes screenshots, etc.

 

[Rahadian Putra]

Yep you right
About which Av's that's not batty with false positives, I can't say, since everyone has their different needs and configurations. maybe you can try any Av's, and see which one is suite you more, and since most of them has Trial version, you don't need to worry about wasting money, time for downloading/installing/reconfigure anything it's the only thing we waste, but that's worth it I guess

 

[ifacedown]

Thank you all very much.

"The most obviously complaints are it lags the system and slows down the network traffic even though it only uses little CPU and RAM."

I wonder why that is.

"Other complains is it has high false alert detections of many safe programs"

I really hate false positives. I have suffered a lot with them with my last two AVs, avast! and Webroot. Microsoft Security Essentials had a lot fewer, but it's not an effective defense, in my experience and according to the consensus of AV testing. So where can you get a good AV that's not batty with false positives?

"Other complains is it has high false alert detections of many safe programs and removes them without notifications.
"when BD detect any FP's item it's hard to restore it"

It sounds like you're saying Bitdefender paid is the same as Bitdefender free--removes so-called PUAs without user discretion. I'm someone who searches out and finds sometimes obscure software to serve good purposes, always scanning it with Virus Total, Jotti, and my own security programs before installing it. I don't appreciate the PUA label getting slapped on good software just because it's not well-known or because it takes screenshots, etc.

Hi, BD's engine itself is great (but very heavy and large), as used by other vendors like Emsisoft. But the BD AV itself is almost as disastrous as the malwares (sometimes true, sometimes could be an exaggeration).

You said of other alternatives. I would suggest ESET - almost as light as Webroot but not as fast, very few False Positive (in my 1 yr of usage NONE), very efficient in detection, little signature updates (updates 3-5 times a day), very good in PUP detection (maybe the best). I am talking about NOD32 AV, never used ESET Smart Security. However, I cannot say anything about its 0-day protection, some video reviews say that it is weak in 0-day malwares. Also, its HIPS is very young, if you want to benefit from its HIPS use the interactive mode. Better yet, if you want strong HIPS and good 0-day protection, use ESET NOD32 with PrivateFirewall. Private Firewall is light, fast, and strong (FREE).

Hope you will consider my suggestions.

 

[conceptualclarity]

Thank you, ifacedown, for that valuable information.

"very good in PUP detection (maybe the best)"

I'm very leery of AVs' zeal for PUP detection. Sometimes I get a truly good program, like File File Viewer, by going through a gauntlet of adware options I must carefully uncheck. Browser hijackings have happened to me, but the ratio of false positives to genuine PUPs needing of hostile attention seems like about 40:1. If there is viewer discretion that lets me stop the AV from killing the program I chose to get, that is good. It sounds like you don't get that with Bitdefender paid. Do you get it with ESET?

 

[ifacedown]

Thank you, ifacedown, for that valuable information.

"very good in PUP detection (maybe the best)"

I'm very leery of AVs' zeal for PUP detection. Sometimes I get a truly good program, like File File Viewer, by going through a gauntlet of adware options I must carefully uncheck. Browser hijackings have happened to me, but the ratio of false positives to genuine PUPs needing of hostile attention seems like about 40:1. If there is viewer discretion that lets me stop the AV from killing the program I chose to get, that is good. It sounds like you don't get that with Bitdefender paid. Do you get it with ESET?

Hello

Thanks for liking my post and for appreciating my info.

Let me tell you how ESET gets rid of PUP the clever way:

If I try to download something, even if it is not yet being downloaded, ESET at once detects the PUP and gives me the option to disconnect the connect. It will tell you the exact PUP in the file. If I choose to disconnect, then the download will not happen.

But, if I choose to continue the download, it will download, and I could run the installer. However, as the main program is being installed, ESET will alert me about the PUP. I can reject the PUP installation but still install the main program.

Isn't that amazing?

 

[Deleted member 2913]

Never used Bd paid.

Currently running Bd free & tested quite a few times.
Now it quarantines & doesn't delete. Only when you do a right click scan on compressed files it deletes the file on detection.
No FPs here yet.
Light & effective on both offline/online in my tests.
Occasional logs button prob but always solved by system restart or exiting & starting Bd.
Contacted support 2 times about Bd free & both times got the reply within 2-3 days.

So my experience is positive with Bd free. Dont know about paid.

 

[Raul90]

..From Bitdefender Antivirus Plus User Guide

15.1.3. Configuring the real time protection settings page 67-68

Bitdefender will take the recommended actions depending on the type of
detected file:

● Infected files. Files detected as infected match a malware signature in the
Bitdefender Malware Signature Database. Bitdefender will automatically
attempt to remove the malware code from the infected file and reconstruct
the original file. This operation is referred to as disinfection.

Files that cannot be disinfected are moved to quarantine in order to contain
the infection. Quarantined files cannot be executed or opened; therefore, the
risk of getting infected disappears. For more information, please refer to
“Managing quarantined files” (p. 80).
Important
For particular types of malware, disinfection is not possible because the
detected file is entirely malicious. In such cases, the infected file is deleted
from the disk.

● Suspicious files. Files are detected as suspicious by the heuristic analysis.
Suspicious files cannot be disinfected, because no disinfection routine is
available. They will be moved to quarantine to prevent a potential infection.
By default, quarantined files are automatically sent to Bitdefender Labs in
order to be analyzed by the Bitdefender malware researchers. If malware
presence is confirmed, a signature is released to allow removing the malware.

● Archives containing infected files.
▶ Archives that contain only infected files are deleted automatically.
▶ If an archive contains both infected and clean files, Bitdefender will attempt
to delete the infected files provided it can reconstruct the archive with the
clean files. If archive reconstruction is not possible, you will be informed
that no action can be taken so as to avoid losing clean files.

Move files to quarantine
Moves detected files to quarantine. Quarantined files cannot be executed or
opened; therefore, the risk of getting infected disappears. For more information,
please refer to “Managing quarantined files” (p. 80).
Deny access
In case an infected file is detected, the access to this will be denied.

...page 77
If Autopilot is off: ......In most cases, Bitdefender automatically removes detected malware or isolates infected files into quarantine. If there are unresolved threats after the scan, you
will be prompted to choose the actions to be taken on them.

-- Take note of the wording "Bitdefender will attempt to delete the infected files..." so it seems that the default setting is "delete" silently when it detects an infection and not quarantine first or throw a pop-up first. IF files classified as "infection" (but are not --FP) and you are in default, BitDefender will delete it.

Maybe someone whose using BitDefender can post an image of the scan options settings (action on detection) here.

Some inputs about BitDefender support:

Support Email is: customerservice@bitdefender.com

There is this customary "Due to the current load it can take up to 48 hours to receive a reply from us. In the meantime you can try to search for a solution to your situation on our NEW and improved online knowledge base at http://www.bitdefender.com/help" after that NO RESPONSE is given

There was an "Unofficial Bitdefender Products support Thread" at Wilders but it last post was December 26th, 2012. To quote the OP there, http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=338450

Hi guys
since the official Bitdefender forums are on "Perpetually Silent" mode and the threads there rarely get answered,
i think it would be a good idea for us BD users to set up an unofficial BD Support Thread

On refund issues,

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=359227&highlight=Bitdefender

Total system slowdown,

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=361061&highlight=Bitdefender

Or you can go and post in the BitDefender forums,




LOL!

 

[Raul90]

If I try to download something, even if it is not yet being downloaded, ESET at once detects the PUP and gives me the option to disconnect the connect. It will tell you the exact PUP in the file. If I choose to disconnect, then the download will not happen.

Avast(free/paid)/Kasperksy and Avira Premium (last time I used it)does this also.

See,

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=73000.0

 

[Purshu_Pro]

Just taught of giving some suggestions, well all are given , nothing left for me.

 

[SifhX]

I will answer for what I know

2. Not enough options (eg. disable wallet)

5. Heavy impact, slow boot

6. I prefer Emsisoft Antimalware, same engine but lighter

 

[Mateotis]

If you are so adamant about PUPs, get Unchecky! It'll help you out tremendously.

 

[MrExplorer]

Bitdefender is AV which i would suggest you to install if you want to slow down your PC & Internet.


if you want a good AV with Good Detection, Lightness, Nice UI, Awesome Web-Protection, Least False Positives, Awesome PUP detection.
Than use ESET Smart Security or ESET NOD32.