Bitdefender Antivirus Review

Testing the Relationship: How Bitdefender Measures Up

Contrary to popular belief, Apple computers do get infected by malware. In fact, Mac systems are now almost as targeted as Windows PCs. And although Macs have built-in antivirus protections, having third-party software like Bitdefender can help further lockdown Macbooks and iMacs from digital threats.

As stated, we tested Bitdefender on our Macbook Pro. The first thing we liked about it was that it detected and removed both malware targeting macOS and Windows. Just because a piece of Windows malware isn’t affecting our Macbook doesn’t mean it’s safe to keep. It could creep up through our home network and infect our other devices, or it could attach itself to files we email to others.

Fortunately, Bitdefender scanned for any type of malware regardless of which device or system it was used on. It also scanned for different types of malware attacks, including computer viruses, zero-day attacks, and rollbacks. More details on that in a bit.

Bitdefender: App Design and Functionality

The Bitdefender app for Mac is relatively intuitive. Of course, the design has little to no impact on the effectiveness of the software, but a well-designed app inspires confidence. That’s exactly what Bitdefender did for us.

For starters, it was easy to install. After getting a license for the product, we went to our web dashboard, added our Macbook to the list of devices, and clicked the install button. After accepting a few terms and conditions and taking care of some system prompts, we found ourselves logging-in to our Bitdefender app dashboard. All in all, it took less than 10 minutes.

On the dashboard, there are buttons to do a quick scan or a system scan. There’s also a notifications tab where you can easily see all of the updates the software is doing so that they’re constantly up to date on the latest malwares that are out there. When we used it, the app performed these updates as much as four times in a day. That’s certainly more preferable to antivirus software with outdated virus definition databases.

The Bitdefender app is easily one of the best-designed antivirus software for Mac. It’s right up there with TotalAV, our favorite Mac antivirus, only with a simpler interface. That’s because Bitdefender uses a different app for the various digital tools it offers, whereas TotalAV uses an all-in-one app where you can access antivirus, VPN, and password protection features in one place.

Malware Scans: How They Work

Bitdefender offers both on-demand scans (meaning we can perform one whenever we’re feeling a bit anxious) and on-access (whenever the app is open, even in the background). Bitdefender continuously scans the device for any suspicious files that it compares against a list of daily updated security threats.

To further cater to our anxiety, Bitdefender allows users to run multiple scans at once. Even if a pull system scan is in progress, we could launch an on-demand scan for anything suspicious, like when we accidentally downloaded a file from a source we don’t completely trust.

We also loved the way Bitdefender constantly updated its intelligence on the latest malware. It updated automatically up to four times a day, thus upgrading its ability to detect the latest threats.

During our trial with Bitdefender, we first performed a quick scan, which just looks at the critical areas where malware can usually be found lurking. It was done in just 13 minutes, and we were able to continue using the computer the entire time without any interruption in our network speed.

After the quick scan, we settled in for a deeper cleaning: a full system scan. This did take about one hour and 40 minutes, but again, it never interfered with our regular usage. We were even able to do the whole scan without our laptop being plugged in, no problem; although because of the extra background process, our laptop performed a bit slower than normal.

Those scan times weren’t quick, but then again, we don’t want antivirus software that takes a quick look at our device and calls it a day. Bitdefender’s scan times were average, which is good. At least it didn’t take five hours like McAfee during our McAfee review. For your reference, here’s how Bitdefender’s scan duration compares to its competitors. Take it with a grain of salt, though, because we used different devices for each software.

Bitdefender Malware Detection

Neither of those scans with Bitdefender detected anything, and we were proud that our computer had been spared from malware. But we know that’s not quite useful for our readers, to whom we are eternally devoted. So, we downloaded (but didn’t open, we swear!) five different files containing everything from adware to spyware to even Trojan malware. We know viruses come in a variety of forms, so we wanted to use these files across all of the antivirus software that we tested to see how they performed.

For extra challenge, we hid these pieces of malware in hard-to-find places, such as up to three folders deep and compressed files. Then, we hit the full system scan option to see how many of them Bitdefender could find.

To our delight, Bitdefender detected all five viruses, which we were super impressed with since the average is closer to around 60 percent detection. For example, in our Norton review, Norton Internet Security missed two of the well-hidden viruses. In fact, of the roughly 40 top antivirus software that we’ve tested, only two detected 100 percent of the viruses, and Bitdefender was one of them.

Aside from our own extensive testing, we also looked at independent lab data from AV Test to see their results for Bitdefender. The difference between our test and their test is that they have a much larger sample size – in the hundreds of thousands, to be more precise!

And when it came to the detection of widespread malware popular in the past four months, Bitdefender could detect over 100 percent of it2, which, if we remember how school works, comes out to an A+. That means Bitdefender is already part of a pretty elite crew in our books, but if you’re interested in more general information about antivirus software, read our antivirus guide.

The Basics: Viruses, Ransomware, Malware, Oh My!

Now that we know Bitdefender can pass our test measures, let’s break down some of the more specific features that come with a Bitdefender antivirus package.

• Phishing: Try to convince us that phishing isn’t the most embarrassing way to get infected with malware. You can’t! Luckily, Bitdefender uses a feature they call a “Web Shield” that protects against phishing and access to malware and other dangerous sites, safeguarding all network activities.
• Behavior Monitor: No, this isn’t a new socialization program for disciplining Brooklyn toddlers! It’s a Bitdefender-specific program that stops ransomware from encrypting any files. It can run at the same time as the Ransomware Remediation feature, which helpfully backs up any targeted files that Bitdefender thinks are suspicious.
• Bitdefender Autopilot: This is a highly personalized service that Bitdefender offers, working to a user’s specific security needs, which we really appreciate. Autopilot is designed to act as a “Security Advisor”. It gives deeper insights into our security posture, recommending security actions in the context of our system needs and usage patterns. We love a software that listens to our needs!
• Behavior-based Detection: The more we think about it, the more that all these personalized, individual antivirus features sound like parenting techniques. But no, behavior-based detection is actually a very cool tool: for anything that comes into the computer, it evaluates the object’s behavior, or in some cases its potential behavior, for suspicious activities.
• Firewall: Bitdefender didn’t always have a firewall, but we’re so pleased they do now via their Total Security Plan. Firewalls provide protection from outside cyber attackers by shielding a computer or network from malicious or unnecessary network traffic. They can also prevent malicious software from accessing a computer or network via the internet.
• Apps: We downloaded Bitdefender’s Mac app, of course, but they also have apps for Windows, iOS and Android devices. The app in the Apple Store has a much worse rating than in the Google Play store—2.6 compared to 4.7. We found the Mac app to be fairly intuitive, but we haven’t yet tried the iOS app to see if perhaps that’s where the problems lie.

Privacy, Please!

We always like to highlight a software’s privacy policy, as it’s such a critical part of understanding how well we’re going to be protected. Bitdefender’s policy notes that they collect user information provided in a few main ways:

• Directly provided by a user or a Bitdefender Partner
• Indirectly provided by its products or other sources, such as:
  • Technical data sent by the Bitdefender products and installed by users
  • Publicly available information from data leaks

Bitdefender claims that they only share information with specific contracted partners in providing the antivirus software, and that those partners are under strict agreements to also not share our information. That being said, there was a data breach in 2015 that exposed some users’ usernames and passwords. It only affected about 250 customers—less than one percent of Bitdefender’s users—and the company was able to resolve the issue with the affected server. They quickly let customers know about the breach and to change their passwords. So, not great, but at least they responded actively.

There’s one more thing, though. In addition to the 2015 breach, Bitdefender had an even more recent offense. In 2019, there was a security flaw in their free version for Windows, allowing attackers to fully take over a Windows machine. This didn’t affect Apple products in any way, but it’s important to note when looking at a company’s successes and failures in privacy protection. Keeping up with your digital security is no joke!

The Deal: Costs and Subscription Info

First off, if you’re looking for a free version of an antivirus software, you’re in luck. Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac does have a free version, which comes with many of the best features that the paid options offer. The free version has antivirus scanning, real-time protection, web protection, and anti-phishing and fraud protection.

That’s already more than what most free antivirus software offers. For example, the Kaspersky free antivirus, which we briefly looked at in our Kaspersky review, distinctly lacks real-time protection and offers only manual scans. It’s great at detecting malware, but you’d have to put in some work and remember to scan your device for the protection to kick in.

Of course, there’s no such thing as a free software lunch. We needed to splurge for a paid version in order to get extra features like ransomware protection, a password manager, and the Safe Pay feature. For the paid versions, there are a few tiers, where users pay for a full year of protection upfront.

These tiers don’t only differentiate the strength of protection that users will receive. All three plans are similar, but definitely with a few more features in Total Security and the Family Pack. We each have roommates, so we went with the Total Security package so we could make sure that everyone in the household was covered. The tiers also differentiate how many different devices we could have on the plan at the same time. To learn more about the specifics of Bitdefender’s offerings, check out our Bitdefender costs and subscriptions breakdown.

Call Customer Support, Maybe?

You know we have high standards for customer service. It’s frankly just annoying when software companies only have one or even two ways to get in contact with them if we have a question. So we were pretty pleased to see that Bitdefender has a ton of ways we can reach out to them: online help center, email, call, live chat, or their expert community (like a combination of Reddit and news, but about Bitdefender). When we had a question, we tried an old fashioned phone call because sometimes it’s cute to be retro, and we were talking to a real live human astonishingly quickly.

Summary: How Bitdefender Fares Overall

When testing antivirus software, we look at a few key areas to judge whether or not it’s good, reliable, and practical to buy. And here’s how Bitdefender did overall, based on all the information from above. It’s also a nice way to summarize our experience.

• App and ease of use: Bitdefender was certainly easy to use, at least on Mac, and the controls were intuitive. The Autopilot feature contributed greatly, as it took a lot of the anxiety off our minds while keeping us in control of our digital security.
• Malware protection: This is where Bitdefender really shined, acing both our and AV-Test’s malware detection test.
• Features: Bitdefender isn’t the most feature-rich antivirus software we’ve tested, but the quality of its features are top-notch. There’s too many to mention here, but the firewall, behavior-based detection, and Web Shield are top of the list.
• Pricing: Bitdefender can be affordable, but if you want its strongest protections, you’re going to need to shell out more money.
• Privacy: For the most part, Bitdefender protects the data it collects, but it doesn’t have a squeaky clean history when it comes to breaches.

So what’s the bottom line?