2012 Antivirus Software Ratings

BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012

BitDefender does it again this year with another excellent antivirus software. BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012 continues to be a top-notch contender with great antivirus protection and an improved user interface.

How well does BitDefender Antivirus stack up against the competition?

When tested by the top testing labs around the world, including ours, BitDefender scored excellent in real-time antivirus protection, virus removal, and resource usage.

As we always do, we hit BitDefender hard: viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, keyloggers, and it did well, catching well over 99% of the threats we put it up against.

During our resource testing, BitDefender did well with light scanning and light idle usage. There was no significant system drain.

The new user interface is clean and easy to navigate. You can find any option or setting you need.

BitDefender's customer service remains its biggest weakness again this year. As with previous versions, there's no phone or chat support, which is a real shame given the quality of the software itself; however, their help articles and video tutorials are good, so they should be enough for most people.

Overall, BitDefender remains one of our top choices this year because of their light resource usage, easy to use interface, and most importantly, strong virus, spyware, and malware protection.

	Next: Virus & Spyware Protection

BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012 Features

• Real-time Antivirus
  
  Monitors your computer for known and unknown virus attacks and infections.
• Antiphishing
  
  Blocks dangerous and risky sites that try to steal your bank account or credit card numbers.
• Sandbox Browsing
  
  Helps block web browser threats by isolating your browser in a secure environment.
• Low Resource Scanning
  
  Runs virus scans only when your computer is idle to reduce system resource drain.
• Autopilot
  
  Creates a hassle-free experience by making automatic decisions for you on important matters.
• Social Network Protection
  
  Scans and monitors your Facebook and Twitter pages for potentially dangerous links. Monitors your privacy settings for maximum protection.
• Vulnerability Scanner
  
  Makes sure your computer is current with important updates and patches.
• Search Protection
  
  Warns you about hazardous websites within your Bing and Google search results.
• Personal Data Security
  
  Blocks hackers from stealing your personal information, such as your social security number, directly from your computer.
• Chat Encryption
  
  Helps keep your Yahoo Messenger IM conversations safe and private.
• Safe Rescue Mode
  
  Reboots your computer in a safe environment in case of deep virus infections.