Bitdefender Total Security review: Great, easy to use protection
Skip to say
Image: PCWorld / Foundry
At a Glimpse
Skilled’s Ranking
Pros
- Amazing antivirus and malware protection
- Sturdy online threat protection
- Customizable dashboard
Cons
- VPN restricted to 200MB per day, per utility
- Can have indispensable performance affect on some PCs
- Anti-theft tools aren’t efficient
Our Verdict
Bitdefender Entire Security packs wonderful antivirus defenses into a straightforward-to-use app, giving it a sturdy edge no topic a pair of parts falling flat. In instruct, its stable fee atmosphere is a diversified protection for tender online accounts — something that makes up for this suite’s lack of an integrated password supervisor.
Perfect Costs On the novel time: Bitdefender Entire Security
If you happen to pay for utility, the final thing you wish are limits. And but, Bitdefender Entire Security imposes a barely refined one on users: VPN use, step by step a section of mid-vary antivirus suites, is limited to a 200MB per-day limit per utility.
It’s an weird and wonderful ploy, provided that rival products and services provide fats, unrestricted VPN entry, and ceaselessly a password supervisor subscription, too. However Bitdefender’s ace within the outlet is its stellar protection, alongside with its simple-to-understand, but nonetheless customizable interface. While that you simply may well well also forgive Entire Security its occasional half of-baked parts, it presents amongst basically the most attention-grabbing protection against malware and online threats.
Additional reading: Explore our roundup of the most attention-grabbing antivirus utility for House windows PCs to be taught competing merchandise.
What does Bitdefender Entire Security encompass?
Bitdefender Entire Security presents enormous protection against online threats, starting up with antivirus, firewall, and ransomware. It additionally safeguards against network, internet, and email points esteem brute drive assaults, malicious links, and abominable attachments, to boot to displays your local inbox for assert mail within the occasion you employ Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird. It controls entry to your webcam and microphone to forestall some distance-off spying, too.
PCWorld / Bitdefender
For added security and privateness, Entire Security contains a stable browser, entry to its VPN service (albeit restricted), tracker blockading, parental controls, and a scanner that checks for machine vulnerabilities. It additionally has anti-theft utility tools to get better, lock down, or wipe an associated utility. Rounding out the suite are situation of utilities: a machine optimizer, file shredder for stable deletion, and utilization profiles.
You would set up Bitdefender on House windows, macOS, Android, and iOS gadgets, despite the truth that now not all parts are supported on all platforms.
How great does Bitdefender Entire Security fee?
The designate of Bitdefender Entire Security varies reckoning on the determination of gadgets covered — despite the truth that now not by great. You would resolve between a five-utility opinion and 10-utility opinion, which all allow you set up the utility on House windows, macOS, Android, and iOS gadgets.
5-utility opinion
- $70 for the foremost year
- $100 per year thereafter
10-utility opinion
- $73 for the foremost year
- $110 per year thereafter
Bitdefender enrolls users into auto-renewal by default, despite the truth that deductions are allowed as a lot as 30 days after the computerized renewal date. The firm additionally presents refunds within 30 days of the initial aquire of a subscription.
To attach extra money on Bitdefender, that you simply may well well also aquire a license thru shops esteem Newegg, B&H, and Amazon, normally at a big minimize designate. As an example, a 10-utility, one-year opinion modified into factual $50 on Newegg at the time of this text’s publishing.
Key parts of Bitdefender Entire Security
Set up and person interface
Getting started with Bitdefender Entire Security is easy and simple — the installation window even shows brief explanations of diversified parts as you wait. On the choice hand, be careful when constructing your Bitdefender story, as you’re most attention-grabbing requested to form for your password once. Even as you don’t use a password supervisor, that leaves you open to misremembering (or mistyping) it.
The Bitdefender app has a tidy, simple interface, with gigantic tiles for every characteristic. A protect icon within the upper-left corner serves as an arena indicator; it’ll turn purple when something requires attention. Along the left facet of the window is entry to the dashboard, parts sorted by category (Protection, Privacy, and Utilities), notifications, and settings. The app works at the side of the Bitdefender Central internet pages portal, where you’ll handle utility administration (which contains some distance-off commands that you simply may well well also send to associated gadgets, esteem malware scans) and parental controls.
PCWorld
Within the dashboard, you’ll rep six customizable shortcuts to diversified parts, alongside with urged circulation objects at the pinnacle. The defaults are Speedily Scan, Machine Scan, Vulnerability Scan, VPN, and Safepay, alongside with a easy tile.
Below Protection, you salvage entry to the antivirus scanner, vulnerability scanner (which checks for weaknesses for your apps and network), and settings for online and evolved threat protections, firewall, assert mail screening, and ransomware safeguards.
From Privacy, that you simply may well well also open up the Safepay digital atmosphere or VPN, jump into parental controls (that are handled thru the Bitdefender Central internet pages), set up the anti-tracker extension for supported browsers, and manage your webcam and microphone protection settings. You would additionally entry Bitdefender’s password supervisor, but it in fact’s a separate paid service and now not integrated with the Entire Security suite.
Interior Utilities, you’ll rep a link to Bitdefender’s anti-theft tools (managed thru the Bitdefender Central internet pages), the optimizer scanner that hunts for momentary and other disposable facts, exercise profiles (which allow you without problems trade Bitdefender’s habits to align with the map you’re the use of the computer — e.g., gaming vs. work), and a file shredder for securely deleting facts from demanding-disk drives (HDD).
PCWorld
Notifications present an explanation for a working log of Bitdefender’s findings as it displays your machine, organized by urgency level. These vary from the pop-up notifications Bitdefender shows within House windows, which seem at the backside dazzling of your cloak and ceaselessly promote other Bitdefender products and services. One such alert even went as some distance as to warn me a pair of LinkedIn facts leak from two years within the past, in repeat to counsel signing up for Bitdefender’s Digital Identification Protection service. Fortunately, that you simply may well well also turn off “particular presents” within the app settings.)
Total, Bitdefender errs on the facet of ease-of-use, giving users a moderate determination of settings for the app and per characteristic. The descriptions of parts are additionally generalized and now not very technical.
Virus, malware, and threat protection
Valid-time protection
Bitdefender stays on fixed alert for likely threats to your PC. On the computer itself, it scans opened or added facts, displays apps for suspicious exercise, and displays downloaded email for assert mail, sketchy links, and abominable attachments. It namely appears out for apps that strive to encrypt your facts, too — when now not initiated by you, such habits is seemingly ransomware attempting to have your facts hostage.
Meanwhile, everytime you’re browsing online, Bitdefender displays for malicious downloads, phishing and fraud attempts, encrypted websites with invalid or bogus certificates, and horrifying search results. It additionally blocks unauthorized incoming entry to your PC, unauthorized use of your webcam and microphone, and online internet trackers (ought to you set up the firm’s anti-monitoring browser extension). You would additionally pair this map with the firm’s free TrafficLight browser extension, which adds icons to search results marking them stable or abominable.
Scheduled and manual scans
In an weird and wonderful switch, Bitdefender does now not automatically invent standard scans. To hump a Speedily Scan and/or Machine Scan at a scheduled time, you’ve to edit these default scans — or as a replace produce a custom scan. The process is now not intuitive, both. It be crucial to open the edit cloak and click on the Next button old to the choice to Favor when to time table this job appears.
PCWorld
You would then resolve between four intervals — day-to-day, weekly, month-to-month, or at machine startup. Day-to-day lets you situation a time; Monthly lets you situation which day of the month and a time; and Weekly lets you opt out a day of the week and a time.
For manual scans, that you simply may well well also hump Speedily Scan, which specializes in severe facts and processes; Machine Scan, which combs thru your entire machine; or a custom scan you’ve created. Speedily Scan and Machine Scan can additionally be initiated thru the Bitdefender Central internet pages — despite the truth that you simply won’t gape indicators of exercise on the utility. For this reason, I most standard starting up my scans without lengthen on the PC I modified into the use of.
Operating Machine Scan would possibly well additionally be sluggish all thru its first hump, as Bitdefender takes stock of all the pieces for your PC, but it in fact speeds up afterward. (By default, the app scans most attention-grabbing new and modified facts.) You would additionally dazzling-click on particular person folders and facts, and then resolve Bitdefender > Scan with Bitdefender to test them out.
PCWorld
Bitdefender lets you adjust settings for scans — as an instance, that you simply may well well also resolve to have the utility always cloak all facts, even within the occasion that they haven’t been modified since your final scan. You don’t salvage a ton of tweaks, but it in fact’s extra than opponents esteem McAfee and Norton (which trot for an extremely-simplified vibe) provide.
Vulnerability scanner
Moreover to scanning for viruses, malware, ransomware, and online threats, Bitdefender can test your PC’s app, machine facts, and network settings for exploitable weaknesses. (Attackers use these openings to compromise your utility and/or facts.) Chanced on beneath Protection > Vulnerability, the utility hunts for ragged House windows person passwords, severe House windows updates now not but installed, adjustments to House windows and network settings that would let malicious habits crawl past, outdated apps, Wi-Fi network and router settings that shall be strengthened, and additional.
Take care of the antivirus scans, that you simply may well well also remotely provoke a vulnerability scan thru the Bitdefender Central internet pages.
PCWorld
Firewall
Bitdefender takes over firewall obligations fully for House windows — and despite the truth that most of us are most attention-grabbing off leaving it alone with default settings, that you simply may well well also customise how stringent the guidelines are and whether or now not these tips trade according to the form of connection you’re on. Bitdefender sends users a notification at any time when a potentially malicious app tries to entry the internet. I didn’t watch any overzealousness on Bitdefender’s section while the use of my test PC, and the settings are correctly streamlined without being too simplified.
Scam protection
Bitdefender now not too prolonged within the past released a free service called Scamio, an AI-pushed chatbot designed to assist test the legitimacy of email, text messages, quick messages, links, and QR codes. To salvage started, you’ve to trot to scamio.bitdefender.com (login required) or Meta’s Messenger app. Then you definately’ll add a screenshot, copy/paste into the chat, or merely picture the anxiousness to the bot.
As a extremely same old 2d opinion, Scamio isn’t horrifying, despite the truth that its diagnosis can seize longer than anticipated. I liked that it would without problems extract links from screenshot — a significant safer map, since attempting to copy/paste can lead to an unintentional click. It additionally appears to err on the facet of warning, pushing apart my strive at sweet nothings as a doable scam.
PCWorld
That mentioned, in repeat for you fingers-off assist for text messages, you ought to additionally set up Bitdefender for your cell mobile phone. So prolonged as you’re chuffed with the permissions it requests (which trot stunning deep), this can automatically cloak your chat messages and notifications for likely scams.
VPN
Bitdefender Entire Security consists of entry to its VPN for multiple gadgets, but there’s one enormous win — every portion of gear is disbursed a paltry 200MB of bandwidth per day. (You would burn thru that by browsing factual a pair of websites.) You’re most attention-grabbing allowed to connect to the nearest server, too.
PCWorld
In Bitdefender’s desire is a swish, without problems navigated interface — I in particular esteem how crucial facts and stats are laid out clearly. However with free, official VPN products and services offering great extra bandwidth and letting you opt out a save when connecting, paying for Bitdefender Top price VPN to salvage limitless bandwidth and entry to servers in all 55 supported worldwide locations factual doesn’t feel worth it. No longer when the fee is $40 for the foremost year and $70 per year thereafter.
Parental controls
Bitdefender Entire Security consists of parental controls, that are managed thru the Bitdefender Central internet pages. On PC, that you simply may well well also limit cloak time, apps historical, and websites visited. Android and iOS gadgets additionally allow guardians to understand save and mobile phone contacts.
To begin on a PC, you’ll first set up Bitdefender on it. For mobile gadgets, you’ll must set up the devoted Bitdefender Parental Administration app. Then on Bitdefender Central, you’ll produce a profile for your tiny one and save the computer, mobile phone, or tablet to the profile.
PCWorld
From there, that you simply may well well also add closing dates and produce schedules for blocked use, to boot to manage which purposes and websites would possibly well additionally be accessed. For apps, that you simply may well well also most attention-grabbing limit apps your tiny one has already historical. On the choice hand, for websites, that you simply may well well also block or allow by categories, that are predetermined by Bitdefender. By default, younger of us can check with websites within factual 13 of the 43 presets, equivalent to “search engines,” “webmail,” “computer systems and utility,” and “hasten.” News is forbidden, which set PCWorld.com on the ban checklist. (Wager we’re now not ample about computer systems and utility.)
As your tiny one spends time on their utility, you’ll gape their utilization statistics seem within the dashboard’s charts. The dashboard additionally shows save monitoring, which works barely correctly — the mobile phone historical for attempting out seemed with shut accuracy to the physical save. (The urged addresses weren’t factual, nonetheless.) Phone contacts cloak here as correctly, and automatically replace at any time when a brand new contact is added.
Additional parts
Anti-Theft
Bitdefender Entire Security’s anti-theft tools are amazing in principle, letting you remotely stumble on, lock, or wipe your utility. For a smartphone, that you simply may well well also additionally remotely trigger an fear and/or send a push notification with a message to whomever has it.
However in practice, I came upon this characteristic to fall flat. As an example, my test notebook computer’s save wasn’t precisely factual — now not refined, since it modified into based completely mostly off of the IP handle. Meanwhile, my smartphone’s whereabouts never showed up. Locking the gadgets additionally didn’t work in particular correctly, both. If the person keeping your mobile phone is aware of your PIN, you’re out of success. The PIN you situation by potential of Bitdefender Central doesn’t override that.
PCWorld
Potentially the most attention-grabbing section that worked as marketed modified into the some distance-off alert sound, alongside with the frenzy notification. That most attention-grabbing helps with smartphones, despite the truth that, and you’ll must belief that that you simply may well well also annoy someone into doing the dazzling thing.
Browser extensions
Bitdefender has two browser extensions worth calling out, despite the truth that neither are locked to the Entire Security suite. The Anti-Tracker extension is automatically installed alongside with the Bitdefender app, where that you simply may well well also additionally manage its installation within the occasion you set up one other browser for your PC in a while. (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Data superhighway Explorer are supported — despite the truth that within the occasion you’re on an working machine that would possibly well nonetheless hump Data superhighway Explorer, it’s time to upgrade). It retains trackers from amassing facts on you, and lets you have an eye on this form of facts for websites you check with.
Bitdefender TrafficLight checks websites for phishing attempts and malware, blocks potentially abominable parts on websites, and adds visible cues to search results labeling them as stable or abominable. On hand as a Chrome and Firefox extension, this add-on isn’t significant, but its search-end result visible warnings would possibly well additionally be precious.
File Shredder
Bitdefender’s stable delete characteristic lets you completely put off facts out of your PC — offered they’re kept on a demanding-disk drive (HDD). Entire Security’s File Shredder characteristic makes use of the Division of Protection 5520.22-M three-pass technique to “shred” your facts, which works on HDDs but isn’t as efficient on solid-assert drives (SSDs). In fact, this map of deleting facts can shorten the lifetime of an SSD.
With most laptops now the use of SSDs, this characteristic will most attention-grabbing be precious within the occasion you’ve an external HDD you retailer tender paperwork on. However Bitdefender is a associated as rival antivirus utility in this regard.
OneClick Optimizer
This utility hunts for House windows facts, registry objects, and internet facts it would nuke — all within the name of tuning up your PC. However while OneClick Optimizer can hasty wipe away reputedly pointless facts, it shares tiny ingredient about what will get tossed. That’s a big notify for anything else associated to your registry — a situation where even seasoned PC users tread cautiously. (And in same old, you ought to always know what you’re deleting.)
If OneClick Optimizer listed what it will get rid of, in all chance I’d have ended up less cautious of it. However it in fact most attention-grabbing names three categories (Instrument Locations, Shared DLLs, and Wait on facts) and what number of “points” came upon in every.
PCWorld
Given how imprecise the utility is total, I nonetheless counsel House windows’ constructed-in Disk Cleanup app and purging browsing facts within the app itself. This map leaves the registry alone and lets you’ve great extra have watch over, while most attention-grabbing being a tiny extra cumbersome.
Safepay
Safepay is a sandboxed browser — that is, a stable atmosphere for gaining access to tender websites, saved ruin away all the pieces else working in House windows. Bitdefender promotes this characteristic as intended for financial institution websites, and within the occasion you navigate to a identified banking assert, you’ll gape a pop-up asking in repeat so that you simply can load it in Safepay.
Interior this isolated desktop is a browser with a identical feel as Chrome, but some distance extra bare-bones. You salvage no extensions and few settings. On the choice hand, it presents a digital keyboard, which is a piece cumbersome but precious for these fascinated by keyloggers.
You would use Safepay with most websites, despite the truth that movies don’t play. Furthermore, Bitdefender doesn’t react to all same old financial or tender websites — as an instance, I didn’t gape the pop up for irs.gov nor less same old banks within the U.S. You’ll must open Safepay and navigate there your self.
PCWorld
Buyer make stronger
Can also fair nonetheless you ever need help with Bitdefender, the app consists of a assist internet page, which that you simply may well well also entry by clicking the lifestyles-preserver icon within the upper top-dazzling of the window. It presents assert links to Bitdefender’s make stronger internet pages (which contains video tutorials), community forums, and even a fats person handbook. You would additionally contact the firm by email, chat, or mobile phone.
Updates and maintenance
You would trade replace frequency in same old app settings.
By default, updates hump automatically within the background once per hour. You would stretch this frequency to once every 24 hours (with adjustments readily accessible in hourly increments). If for some reason you’re on a restricted internet connect, that you simply may well well also turn off computerized updates, but your PC shall be better stable within the occasion you enable it on.
Bitdefender additionally lets you hump updates within the foreground, so that you simply gape after they happen. On the choice hand, it does now not let users invent manual checks for updates.
Efficiency
Bitdefender takes top marks in self sustaining tests conducted by security be taught institutes. In AV-Take a look at’s protection tests for September and October 2023 (basically the most standard as of this text’s publishing), Bitdefender caught 100% of the zero-day attack and malware threats.
Meanwhile in AV-Comparatives’ real-world protection test for July thru October 2023, Bitdefender detected ninety nine.6 p.c of the 512 test cases, with three untrue positives. (A untrue sure is when the antivirus utility blocks a official fetch or internet pages.)
PCWorld
In an identical fashion, Bitdefender ranked correctly in AV-Comparatives’ September 2023 malware protection test. Of the 16 antivirus purposes examined, Bitdefender scored a 98.2 p.c online detection price, ninety nine.98 p.c online protection price, and 98.2 offline detection price, with four untrue positives. Even ought to you don’t have an brisk internet connection, you’re correctly-stable. Handiest two other antivirus purposes had in an identical fashion excessive marks across the board.
In AV-Comparatives’ November 2023 Evolved Risk Protection Take a look at, Bitdefender detected 14 of the 15 threats, putting it within the lead earlier than the six other companies that participated within the evaluation. This test checks to know how correctly an antivirus suite handles extra refined, centered threats esteem malicious scripts and fileless assaults.
PCWorld
When indolent within the background, Bitdefender typically has a gentle affect on machine performance. Its enact modified into minimal when our test notebook computer encoded a gargantuan video correct into a smaller 1080p30 file (our Handbrake benchmark), and all thru PCMark 10’s simulation of video conferencing, internet browsing, and bettering in open-offer image and doc purposes. On the choice hand, Bitdefender’s affect crept up when doc bettering in Microsoft Office apps esteem Be aware, Excel, and PowerPoint, with UL Procyon test scores falling by about 9.5 p.c.
When working a heavy scan, Bitdefender can severely affect performance on mid-vary and funds PCs — even when situation to “low” affect in its settings. Blasting a continuous fats scan while working every benchmark dropped PCMark 10 scores by nearly 20 p.c and UL Procyon results by a big 35 p.c. Handbrake encodes had been less affected, with a 10 p.c magnify in time wished.
On the choice hand, while these performance decreases sound provoking, they’re a mirrored image of the toughest strain for your PC. I compelled Bitdefender to scan the facts as within the occasion that they’d never been checked old to, in repeat to know how demanding it would hit our test notebook computer. However by default, the app most attention-grabbing scans new and modified facts (as same old amongst antivirus utility this exhibit day), which reduces the notify wished to test over your PC. For quite a lot of individuals, your abilities seemingly shall be closer to the indolent performance (as outlined above), except you normally work with gargantuan batches of unusual or altered facts.
Is Bitdefender Entire Security worth it?
Bitdefender Entire Security presents top-notch protection in a straightforward-to-use app. Its main weaknesses are the constraints of a pair of parts, esteem VPN entry and Anti-Theft tools, and the questionable usefulness of its OneClick Optimizer utility. However despite the truth that rivals esteem Norton give extra bang for the buck, this antivirus utility delivers on what matters most, which is keeping your PC (and other gadgets) stable. Valid don’t pay for the 5-utility license ought to that you simply may well well also salvage the ten-utility one for quite a lot of efficient a pair of greenbacks extra.
Perfect Costs On the novel time: Bitdefender Entire Security
Author: Alaina Yee, Senior Editor
Alaina Yee is PCWorld’s resident lop worth hunter—when she’s now not overlaying utility, PC building, and additional, she’s scouring for basically the most attention-grabbing tech deals. Beforehand her work has seemed in PC Gamer, IGN, Maximum PC, and Loyal Xbox Journal. Yow will stumble on her on Twitter at @morphingball.