AntiVirus Software Reviews

 

Softwin's BitDefender Professional protects against viruses, spyware, and instant messaging threats, as well as offering firewall rules to block undesirable traffic and a privacy gateway to keep your identity and preferences private while surfing the Internet.

 

BitDefender is an antivirus software suite developed by Bucharest-based software company SOFTWIN. It was launched in November 2001, and is currently in its tenth version. BitDefender replaced SOFTWIN's earlier AVX (AntiVirus eXpress) product range. The BitDefender range includes antivirus products for home users, businesses, enterprise users and Internet service providers. Home editions support Microsoft Windows, Symbian OS and Windows Mobile; business and enterprise editions support Microsoft Windows, Linux and FreeBSD. The current version of the security suite includes antivirus, anti-spyware, firewall, e-mail spam filtering and parental control components. A free basic online scan is offered via the BitDefender website.

 

Reviews for BitDefender have been largely positive, and the home version of the suite was given the PC Answers editor's choice award in a comparative review in May 2007. As of June 2007, BitDefender has passed Virus Bulletin's VB100 independent tests 14 times out of 18 since first tested in 2002. It has also achieved an advanced certification from AV Comparatives for on-demand scanning, and standard level certification for catching unknown viruses, though was criticised for its slower scanning speed and higher instances of false positives. BitDefender is considered the number one antivirus software and internet security software (double gold) at TopTenReviews. It also the least expensive option from the top three antivirus solutions, as ranked by PC World.

 

Older versions of BitDefender are made available for free download when newer versions are released. The first version which was made freely available was version 8. As of November 2007, version 10 of BitDefender is freely available for download. Unlike the commercial version, the free version only offers an on-demand virus scan, and doesn't provide real time scanning, and therefore is not suitable for machines with continuous connection to the internet.