Short trial of Bitdefender Internet Security 2015

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Raul90

Level 14
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Feb 5, 2012
658
After some convincing I gave myself I am back with Bitdefender to check/try out the 2015 version. Just a short "checking out" (I do not want to stay using it) based on the previous trial I did with the 2014 version(BD IS 2014 and BD AV Plus 2014). I have prepared two partitions. One with Bitdefender IS 2015 as the only real-time protection (formerly with Avira Free + Comodo Firewall ver8 with HIPS) and one with Bitdefender AV Plus 2015 + Outpost Firewall Pro ver9.1(formerly with Avira Free + Outpost Firewall Pro ver9.1). The second partition was prepared to check or show contrast as to how the second security combination will fair against just BD IS 2015. I will not delve on the AV as I am confident that BD is superb in this category. The BD Wallet and SafePay I do not use either. I have my own app I trust ;)

So these are some of my observations on BD IS 2015.

Seems sluggish (still).

There is still this sluggish delay feeling when opening programs and application. Even when just opening explorer.exe and the contents of that partition or folder is minimal it would go on reading it as if it was full t the brink or like an unrecognized usb stick being read slowly(or a dvd-disc slowly being read). Programs would pause for a moment while fully opening. Opening PDF files with PDF Xchange Viewer is also delayed. The file would open but it would show blank pages at start and after a few moments it will display the contents. Still observing here.

Blank blue screen-delay

I came to observe that I get a "blank blue screen-delay" and not the old "black-screen-delay" of BD IS 2014. The "blue-screen-delay" seems to surface from cold start. Have seen at least 4-6x at random "blank blue screen-delay" appearing just after the "Welcome" screen. Will try to catch and post an image next time. Still observing here.

Boot speed

Boot speed measurement of Glary Utilities compared to BD IS 2015's own StartUp Optimizer varies. The first measurement was:

Glary : 2:37min
BD IS 2015 StartUpOtimizer : 2:40min
This is Bitdefender Wallet Agent Enabled and running. See image below.

9grZkin.png


Disabled Bitdefender Wallet Agent and the readings went down but only a fraction(See Image below):

Glary : 1:29min
BD IS 2015 StartUpOptimizer : 2:11min


Tm3VHoO.png


In the StartUp Optimizer of BD IS the only option there is to "enable/delay/disable". Unlike in say, CCleaner, Autoruns or KillSwitch (and Glary) you have the option to delete the autorun. I would like to try that in BD but it wasn't available. Instead used Killswitch to delete it. I also used KillSwitch to delete the Bitdefender Wallet Agent.


zxkiE9l.png



lmr5NJF.png


The boot speed readings whether it be Glary or the built-in BD IS 2015 StartUp Optimizer is way off the previous boot speed this partition had when I was using Avira Free + Comodo Firewall ver8 at 38sec. That 38 sec was formerly at around 29sec up until the last update last Jan 22/2015. The image below is a screenshot of the boot speed prior uninstalling Avira Free, Comodo Firewall ver8 and Malwarebytes Antimalware Premium.


ebR8G7Z.png



In contrast with the second partition I prepared(same content with the exception of Outpost Firewall Pro) the boot speed is also at 38sec (Bitdefender AV Plus 2015 + Outpost Firewall Pro ver9.1). Bitdefender Wallet Agent is enabled as seen in Autoruns / KillSwitch_Autoruns Analyzer and Glary StartUp Manager. Please see image below.


6S3EtTR.png



vetnTLW.png



Firewall Network Activity Monitor GONE!

Was surprised to see that Firewall Network Activity Monitor GONE! Had to use Process Hacker and KillSwitch. There isn't any way I can see if BD firewall blocks or allows a connection for an application. I do not understand why it has been removed so I am left with Process Hacker and KillSwitch.

Firewall Stealth.

In the firewall adapter settings and I saw there that "Stealth is ON". So I went to GRC ShieldsUP and PCFlank to see. I got a "FAIL" and "open"result and this was on a dial-up connection. I was shocked. Never got that result when I am using Comodo, Online Armor or Outpost Firewall Pro.


sTpNaIk.png




FYtsBuB.png


In a similar partition where I have Bitdefender AV Plus 2015 + Outpost Firewall Pro ver9.1 the result is stealth/fail(PING/Solicited TCP Packets) for GRC ShieldsUp and "stealth" with PCFlank Advanced Port Scanner.


VQf7AFX.png


kpm4Zha.png


znlRG7g.png


Firewall Deny Rule not working.

As with my trial of BD IS 2014 last year I checked to see if DENY rule in BD firewall is working. Settings are:

- Network Type: Any
- Protocol : Any
- Permission : DENY

Went ahead and launched "wpsupdate.exe"of Kingsoft Office Pro 2013 (via explorer.exe) and even-though the rule is DENY it still established a connection to home. See image below.


77C73yt.png


Launched "Star Defender.exe" a freeware game from MyPlaycity.com. It has a Preloader.exe where a DENY rule was placed. Connection was still established. See image below.


lDFiQfn.png


When I tried out BD IS 2014 last year I also used this very same game. The game Star Defender has an auxiliary application "game.exe" which also connects to home(MyPlayCity.com). I have placed the same DENY rule for it but when I launch Star Defender there is no "game.exe" trying to connect to the internet. Only Preloader.exe. Now I do not know if BD firewall "blocked" it or not because there is no network activity and logs to verify.

The trigger behavior (-- launch browser after game exit) this freeware game also cannot be blocked by BD firewall (same as that of BD IS 2014) as when I clicked "exit" on the game's gui, Firefox launched and connected to MyPlayCity.com. See image below.


EtQL6jL.png


Same thing with GOM Media Player. Connection was "still" established despite a DENY rule set. See image below.


jPpBrDx.png


Same behavior also with Daum PotPlayer. Connection was "still" established despite a DENY rule set. See image below.


NMCYDjG.png


So the same as with my BD IS 2014 trial last year, the firewall seems not to block "certain connections" on both protocol and network types. There is also no way of knowing IF BD Firewall is blocking or allowing a connection as there is no pop-up or notice that can be seen. No logs...No notice/pop-ups...I may be wrong but there really ain't anything....

In contrast with the other partition with BD AV Plus 2015 + Outpost Firewall Pro ver9.1.

All Block Rules were intercepted and blocked. See images below:

Outpost Event Viewer_System Guard showing Kingsoft's "wpsupdate.exe" blocked and StarDefender freeware game "Preloader.exe" blocked.

kpnHs94.png


Outpost Event Viewer_Anti-Leak Block of StarDefender freeware game's auxilliary application "game.exe" attempting to launch Firefox.exe after game "exit".

8qMj7k6.png


Outpost Event Viewer_System Guard showing block events of GOM Media Player and Daum PotPlayer attempting to bypass internet settings and connect to the internet.

GyQBLG8.png



BD Tray icon sometimes disappears.

This is an intermittent one. Sometimes it's there. Sometimes it's not. Maybe just a fluke like that of Emsisoft Antimalware sometimes reverting to "Only show notifications" from "Show icon and notifications".


Tz1DcfB.png



w8oQ8P1.png




AutoPilot Profiles Error

In BD Is 2015 the AutoPilot Profiles_Movies not working. AutoPilot selects "Game" instead of "Movies" although the "apps" (PotPlayer, GOM Player, WMP) are in the application list.


9Fny4FW.png



0qq6UEz.png



In contrast AutoPilot_Profile_Work is functioning correctly.


4JeazNv.png



tdvaNgv.png



AutoPilot_Profile_Game is also functioning correctly.


gXBeASb.png



6Jabcg4.png



In BD AV Plus 2015, the behavior is the same. I have set the same settings but AutoPilot still seletcs "Game" as Profile when playing movies with GOM Media Player, Daum PotPlayer and WMP. See images below.


FdJpjop.png



0KJpFXC.png



xdMWI7q.png


Now I am still observing as to both behaviors (BDIS 2015 partition an BDAV Plus 2015 + Outpost Firewall Pro ver9.1 partition) but it seems and feel that the most promising of the two is the second one with BDAV Plus 2015 + Outpost Firewall Pro ver9.1 combination mainly because of Outpost's capability to block what I want to be block and the like. The second partition is also lighter/fast to use in comparison to the BDIS 2015 partition wherein I always have to wait a couple of seconds for programs, applications to open properly. Of course the performance of version 2015 will vary depending on the system used and user (his/her) settings and what he wants BD to do to for him/her. On other system BDIS 2015 or BD AV Plus 2015 performs great or vice versa. As mentioned I am still observing both.

I will supply some info later this week.

:)
 
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Dani Santos

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Hmmmmm
Conclusion : Windows 7 is buggy. Upgrade to Windows 8.1
saying that is the same as saying windows xp is buggy upgrade to windows vista. Windows 8 has 1000x more bugs than windows 7
 
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Raul90

Level 14
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Feb 5, 2012
658
Hmmmmm
Conclusion : Windows 7 is buggy. Upgrade to Windows 8.1

I do have a Windows 8 laptop but I am using Emsisoft IS with it. Have not intention to try BD IS / BD AV on it. Just convinced myself(well why not!) to try on the very same desktop but now with contrast combination so it would be faster(I guess) to gauge if there are differences on both and from the 2014 version. Actually there are some like the BDAV Plus 2015 + Outpost Pro combi--I thought it would be as heavy as the BDIS 2015 but lo and behold it was not!. In the version 2014 trial I used Comodo Firewall ver7 + BD AV Plus 2014 and it was heavy that time. Now I do not know if that observation will be the same if I switch from Outpost to Comodo on the second partition...but am not keen on doing that. My aim is to use the two partition as trial only for about two weeks or so. That part I still need to convince myself if I'll make time for it.
 

Raul90

Level 14
Thread author
Feb 5, 2012
658
Why don't you write av reviews? This is pretty good and educational
Thanks Dani :) I sometimes am tempted but when I try there is always additional work at the factory (I am in semiconductor manufacturing so production issues are always there). Had time to do this because there are no overtime work in the time being :) I will try to contribute when I can :)

When I am quite through with this I will be posting an excerpt in the BD forums so it would be fair observation. I did post a first topic about the stealth issue but have no follow-up on it yet. I just wanted to make a semi-complete observation for MT prior making one for the BD forums.
 
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Dani Santos

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Thanks Dani :) I sometimes am tempted but when I try there is always additional work at the factory (I am in semiconductor manufacturing so production issues are always there). Had time to do this because there are no overtime work in the time being :) I will try to contribute when I can :)
Thats nice to hear, I mean that has a hobby when you have free time :)
 
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tonibalas

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Your reviews are very informative and i would like to see this reviews also for other AV's.
Keep up the good work and thanks for the great review.
 
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Raul90

Level 14
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Feb 5, 2012
658
Your reviews are very informative and i would like to see this reviews also for other AV's.
Keep up the good work and thanks for the great review.

Thanks there. I am planning one for Emsisoft IS versus Emsisoft Antimalware + Emsisoft Online Armor Premium just to show some differences or maybe EAM + Online Armor Premium vs Avira + Comodo but not in the near months. I'll post when I started on it.
 
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tonibalas

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This is great can't wait to read your reviews;):)
 

kiric96

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Jul 10, 2014
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I got a "FAIL"

it is obviously that bitdefender firewall and the program itself was not working the way it has to (bitdefender has a great firewall and anti leak IDS) however i see that for some reason this was not working properly... NEVER ever... any firewall will fail these test.. in the case of bitdefender it uses the " stealth all port settings" low settings will leave one or 2 ports open... for the bitdefender tray icon it means that something was interfering with bitdefender gui... when the icon is gone, the gui also and the widget... in simple terms you were testing a damaged BID installation

for the boot up time well at least in my case it doesnt take ages... am using a celeron based pc, it is true that it may give a little impact to the PC oeverall performance but compared with 2014 edition i think that they improved a lot...

other than that good review bro...
 

Raul90

Level 14
Thread author
Feb 5, 2012
658
@gricardo21,

I had that inkling because that was a factor pointed out when I tried out BDIS 2014 thus I was careful on the installation. Actually this was a second installation after I got that GRC Fail. I deleted the partition and recovered the system image I did prior BDIS 2015 install and started fresh. There wasn't any issue when I installed BDIS 2015. I uninstalled all security softwares I had prior installing BD. Made sure that there was no remnants(used the respective uninstall tools and RevoPro). Performed a disc clean-up and defrag the drive. After that I installed BDIS. The same was for the second partition with BD AV Plus 2015 + Outpost Pro ver9.1.

When I had an issue withe the DENY rule, I also reset the firewall rules and started fresh again. That was also pointed out during my trial with BDIS 2014 so I did it so as to be sure. It's the same even-though I did start fresh and repeated making all the rules again. Personally the stealth (stealth or not to stealth is not an issue because I rarely use dial-up. My NAT router firewall will be a first line before my software firewall:)). Just went on dial-up to check this version.

... NEVER ever... any firewall will fail these test..
Maybe not "never ever". Have seen some that did fail. Back when I was still learning about firewalls I would frequent Wilderssecurity and there are some posts there about Privatefirewall, KIS firewall and even Comodo which failed stealth tests. I have used Privatefirewall, KIS firewall, Comodo, Outpost, OA, ZoneAlarm, Avast IS's, Avira IS's, Eset ESS's but have not an issue as what I experienced now with BSIS 2015 though..frankly I was shocked and confused thus I deleted the partition and started fresh. :(




Unfortunate but am not inclined to repeat again the "--recover-uninstall-clean-install-reset rules-start fresh-make rules again--" I may not have the time to go the full length of like last year's trial. This one is just a short trial :)

Anyway, maybe when I convinced myself to do it all over again I'll just post it again here :)

Tried again some of the deny rule earlier before I went to work and it's the same.

PotPlayer and GOM Player still connects despite the DENY rule set.
5WUyoEc.png



Kingsoft's "updateself.exe" still connects despite the DENY rule set.
RAEe9XR.png



9S9lASX.png



PotPlayer still connects despite DENY rule set.
SYFMHHF.png



Kingsoft's "wpsupdate.exe" still connects despite DENY Rule set.
yFE1PCg.png
 
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kiric96

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@gricardo21,

I had that inkling because that was a factor pointed out when I tried out BDIS 2014 thus I was careful on the installation. Actually this was a second installation after I got that GRC Fail. I deleted the partition and recovered the system image I did prior BDIS 2015 install and started fresh. There wasn't any issue when I installed BDIS 2015. I uninstalled all security softwares I had prior installing BD. Made sure that there was no remnants(used the respective uninstall tools and RevoPro). Performed a disc clean-up and defrag the drive. After that I installed BDIS. The same was for the second partition with BD AV Plus 2015 + Outpost Pro ver9.1.

When I had an issue withe the DENY rule, I also reset the firewall rules and started fresh again. That was also pointed out during my trial with BDIS 2014 so I did it so as to be sure. It's the same even-though I did start fresh and repeated making all the rules again. Personally the stealth (stealth or not to stealth is not an issue because I rarely use dial-up. My NAT router firewall will be a first line before my software firewall:)). Just went on dial-up to check this version.


Maybe not "never ever". Have seen some that did fail. Back when I was still learning about firewalls I would frequent Wilderssecurity and there are some posts there about Privatefirewall, KIS firewall and even Comodo which failed stealth tests. I have used Privatefirewall, KIS firewall, Comodo, Outpost, OA, ZoneAlarm, Avast IS's, Avira IS's, Eset ESS's but have not an issue as what I experienced now with BSIS 2015 though..frankly I was shocked and confused thus I deleted the partition and started fresh. :(




Unfortunate but am not inclined to repeat again the "--recover-uninstall-clean-install-reset rules-start fresh-make rules again--" I may not have the time to go the full length of like last year's trial. This one is just a short trial :)

Anyway, maybe when I convinced myself to do it all over again I'll just post it again here :)

Tried again some of the deny rule earlier before I went to work and it's the same.

PotPlayer and GOM Player still connects despite the DENY rule set.
5WUyoEc.png



Kingsoft's "updateself.exe" still connects despite the DENY rule set.
RAEe9XR.png



9S9lASX.png



PotPlayer still connects despite DENY rule set.
SYFMHHF.png



Kingsoft's "wpsupdate.exe" still connects despite DENY Rule set.
yFE1PCg.png

may be your bitdefender download is damaged... it is a surprise for me... well being honest i cant really tell what happened here, but i can swear you that bitdefender doesnt fail like "this" . i was a bitdefender user long time ago so i may say that in this point bitdefender is a great firewall and anti IDS.


Maybe not "never ever".

most of the time when a firewall fails is basically because there is a problem in somepart of the (firewall system) i.e.g driver problem that is not correctly filtering the traffic or is not even "awake" but i can tell you that when a firewall fails a simple test.. it could be that a setting is not well implemented or a problem is taking efffect within the product. remember that bitdefender itself has some incompatibility problem.. so it could be that... dont know... but it is weird... i will do it myself (if i have time) and then will tell you my findings..regards
 
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Raul90

Level 14
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Feb 5, 2012
658
I just went ahead and repeated the installation on a recovered clean system (formerly with Comodo firewall + Avira Free) to check (again) if the BD firewall rule set as "DENY" will still allow connection. Got also a fresh download earlier today(no work --took the day off as it was friggin cold and slippery).

Download link used:
http://download.bitdefender.com/windows/desktop/i_security/2015/en-us/bitdefender_is_18_64b.exe (371541kb)

Rules were made from scratch(again). Tested again if BD firewall will still allow connections to be established despite DENY rule set. Please see images below.

Kingsoft wpsupdate.exe still connecting to 54.69.147.146
2LUytik.png


Kingsoft updateself.exe still connecting to 216.55.166.16
sHeIKop.png


Preloader.exe still connecting to 174.36.232.162
XvhZq0U.png


Gom Media Player connecting to 205.251.212.199
PotPlayer connecting to 110.45.215.113

uOt3pMb.png


Well as mentioned BD may be performing different on this desktop as compared to others but I just wanted to see how the 2015 version is, when applied with almost the same conditions/equipment, methodology. Also as mentioned it's just a short trial. With the other firewalls I've used this ain't an issue and Comodo, Outpost, Online Armor(to name a few) will block it instantly like that of what was shown with the BD AV 2015 + Outpost Firewall Pro. Never really had an issue with these .exe that I want blocked except with BD firewall(maybe if I use EXE Radar with BD IS I can block it effectively --but that will not be BD). There were improvements but it ain't convinced me still to hang-on to it much longer.

Will now return to my regular set-up on this partition. :)
 

Raul90

Level 14
Thread author
Feb 5, 2012
658
Since I will be trying out ERP I decided to install it alongside BD IS 2015. Installed ERP beta (using beginner at installation prompt) set Kingsoft's wpsupdate.exe and updateself.exe as blacklist. See images below.

ERP block events for blacklist "wpsupdate.exe" and "updateself.exe". Very nice. No fuss block and deny setup.

fZBHioS.png


updateself.exe blocked by ERP
ImqYQFq.png



wpsupdate.exe blocked by ERP
hToqd9u.png


Preloader.exe blocked by ERP
tWKZ9k0.png



Blocked event of Preloader.exe by ERP
IXHp8PX.png


No fuss block and deny setup. No re-installation required. VERY NICE!

I may be fiddling with ERP this week but not restricted to BD IS 2015.
 
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randj89

Level 4
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May 7, 2014
172
I tried bit defender IS 2015 and as soon as I installed I proceeded to uninstall. I have an ssd and I couldn't believe how long it took for the system to boot using windows 8.1 it usually take less than 5 seconds for everything to load and I have a lot of programs running on boot... With bit defender it took 1:25 it was painful to wait that long....
 

jasonX

Level 9
Apr 13, 2012
421
Well maybe if there was a way in Bitdefender to "block" a file from executing that Kingsoft update will not run. ....?) I do not remember one in BD when I attempted to use it...(waste of time for me)... (Is there no events screenshot where you can check if the connection was allowed or bypassed...?)

That NoVirus EXE Radar Pro looks great.
 
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