2008-Feb-27 - BitDefender Internet Security 2008

BitDefender Internet Security 2008

BitDefender was an excellent performer among security suites, but it's best for experts who don't need guidance regarding security extras and pop-up alerts and who don't mind therough interface.

BitDefender Internet Security 2008 ($40 for one PC, $50 for three PCs) pairs shining success with disappointing failure. It outperformed every other suite in crucial malware detection tests, unmasked every rootkit sample.

But this stellar performance behind the scenes was seriously marred by an unpleasant user experience. From aggravations with the initial installation to difficulties with warning pop-ups, BitDefender Internet Security 2008flaws are hard to brush off.

BitDefender Internet Security 2008 did extremely well when subjected to AV-Test.org's 674,589 inactive malware samples, detecting 98 percent of them. It also did the best job of detecting new, unknown malware in heuristics tests, with a 29 percent catch rate using one-month-old signatures. And it also tied for first with Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 for the fastest response (0 to 2 hours) to malware outbreaks.

BitDefender Internet Security 2008 firewall successfully masked a protected PC against outside scans, but it displayed needless warnings when the Firefox Web browser tried to access the Internet. That program should be on any firewall's list of known (and approved) applications.

The suite offers a good array of secondary features, including antiphishing, parental controls, antispam, and data privacy. But these extras need polish. The browser-based antiphishing tool didn't block any sites until I enabled the feature's heuristic detection, which is off by default. When I enabled parental control for other users, I wasn't prompted to set a program password--but if you fail to do so and you set up your kids' accounts with administrator rights, they'll be able to turn off the parental controls.

BitDefender Internet Security 2008 warning pop-ups did a poor job of guiding us through the steps of removing a detected e-mail worm (Warezov). The pop-up alert had options for ignoring, quarantining, or deleting the file. But perhaps because ther malware was lurking inside a .zip file, the security suite's default option was to ignore the infection. Choosing to quarantine the archive failed, but rather than alerting me to the failure. the program just popped up the same window without the quarantine option. Choosing delete finally worked.

If BitDefender Internet Security 2008 interface and warnings were anywhere near as good as its virus detection engine, the suite would be easy to recommend. But its confusing pop-ups, program bugs, and high false positive rate make it best suited to a user who has strong technical skills and can at times make the right security choices without guidance from the software.

Other BitDefender Products:

BitDefender Mobile Security v2 , BitDefender Total Security 2008 , BitDefender Internet Security 2008 , BitDefender Antivirus 2008 , BitDefender Mobile Security v2

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