Bitdefender Internet Security 2013

By Neil J. Rubenking

Just how much security protection do users want? Security vendors have to juggle that question carefully. Bitdefender falls in the camp of those that put as much protection as possible in the entry-level antivirus and then add even more to the full security suite. With Bitdefender Internet Security 2013 you get everything but the kitchen sink.

Want the kitchen sink too? Bitdefender Total Security 2013 adds extras including online backup, PC tuneup, encryption, and anti-theft. Internet Security and Total Security are otherwise identical, so this review will draw in part on my earlier review of Total Security.

Like the entry-level antivirus and the mega-suite Total Security, Bitdefender Internet Security can run in autopilot mode. In this mode it makes nearly all security decisions on its own, without bombarding the user with popups. A handy desktop widget displays security status, pending notifications, and security activity.

Antivirus Power
The independent testing labs rate Bitdefender better than almost any other company. It rated ADVANCED+, the top rating, in all tests by AV-Comparatives and outscored nearly all others in real-world tests by AV-Test. For more about the independent labs, see How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests.

In my hands-on malware cleanup test, Bitdefender detected 87 percent of the threats. That's quite good, though Norton Internet Security (2013) and Kaspersky Internet Security (2013) detected 89 percent.

Norton and Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus 2013 tied for first place with 6.6 points, but Bitdefender's 6.4 points is still quite respectable. To understand where these scores come from, please read How We Test Malware Removal.

Bitdefender did block every threat it detected in my malware blocking test, but with 89 percent detection it lagged behind the very best products. Webroot owned the blocking test, detecting 100 percent of the threats and earning 9.9 of 10 possible points. When I tried to re-download the samples from my current collection, Bitdefender blocked 91 percent of them. That's better than most, though Norton and Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2013 achieved 100 percent blocking. The article How We Test Malware Blocking explains how I perform this test and score the results.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/jagGHDqZ0Ac/0,2817,2410717,00.asp

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