2012 Antivirus Software Reviews

BitDefender Internet Security 2012

Our initial impression BitDefender was mixed. It works well and is easy to use, but its dark interface is unusual and may take some getting used to.

Once we'd used it, we found it was actually easier to use than last year's version, which took us to the more important task of seeing how effective it was against viruses.

In our tests, BitDefender was consistent and effective both in detecting and removing each type of virus we tested.

Resource usage was very good with the only real drawback being it's size: BitDefender needs 800MB+ of disk space.

Customer service continues to be a weak spot for BitDefender, but their self-help options and email support should suffice for most people.

Overall, BitDefender remains one of our top choices yet again this year. It's effective, easy to use, and stable. And as it has shown over the years we've been testing it, it also has one of the best records for overall PC protection.
BitDefender Internet Security 2012 continues to receive excellent scores from all of the top testing labs in the world, including us.

BitDefender 2012 has been certified by:

• AV-Comparatives
• AV-Test
• ICSA Labs
• Virus Bulletin
• West Coast Labs

What do the test results mean?

It means that when put to real-world tests, BitDefender passed with flying colors against all manner of viruses and other malware.

Our own testing confirmed what the other labs saw: BitDefender virus and malware protection is among the best out there.
Resource usage was on the low end with only brief peaks into the "average" range. Although its CPU use was a bit higher (2-3% on average across our test systems), it's still very light and certainly very acceptable.

During manual scans, BitDefender used quite a bit of memory, 91% of RAM on average and 69% of the CPU when running a full system scan. Higher than we'd like, but the systems were still usable even during a scan especially since most peaks were brief.

Overall, BitDefender Internet Security was generally a light-running Internet security suite.
Last year, BitDefender introduced with a 3-level user interface (UI): Basic, Intermediate, and Advance. That interface is gone. Today, they've simplified the UI and made it easier to use.

The main screen has a simple scrollbar of tools: Antivirus, Firewall, Antispam, etc. Switches turn each section on or off, or you can just push the button see more options.

Adjusting settings within each section is easy to do via a familiar feeling left handed navigation.

What's not to like? The interface is best described as "dark" and might take a bit of getting used to. It did for us, but it grows on you quickly and is certainly easy to use.
Tech support remains a weak spot with BitDefender, but it's actually still better than most competitors.

There's a "Help and Support" link located in the user interface, which we're always glad to see. This launches another window that gives you three options to browse their help files, browse documentation, or contact support.

When clicking the "Contact Support" link, a diagnostics tool launches that gathers important information about your system so BitDefender can better assist you.

Once data is gathered, the tool sends the data to BitDefender, and notifies you that a rep will contact you shortly. The thing is: you don't know when and contact is only done via email.

Alternately, if it's urgent you always can go to their website for support, though things aren't as clean and easy as they could--or should--be.

Yes, there are good help articles, documentation, video tutorials, and forums, but you may still need to spend some time digging for your answer.
BitDefender automatically checks for updates by default. It checks for updates when you start your computer, then hourly thereafter. If update are available, they download and install automatically.

If you'd like, you can be prompted before downloading or prompted before installing. This feature is unique to BitDefender, and while most people won't need it, we're glad to see it's there.

BitDefender gets a high score in this department because the automatic updates happen quickly and are effective, and also because it gives you options for notification if you'd like. We wish all software offered this.
There are a few nice bonus features included this year with BitDefender Internet Security. The SafeGo and Privacy Protection are especially helpful.

BitDefender's Parental Controls are basic, but thorough enough for most parents. While we believe that a full, stand-alone parental control software is necessary for maximum parental control, this addition to BitDefender Internet Security is adequate.

These parental controls give you control over web access, application access, instant messaging access, and scheduling.

You can select which age group your child is in, then BitDefender will pre-select which categories of sites to block. Of course, you can manually override any of these selections, and/or add your own URLs and applications to block.

Reports and remote parental control are also available.

The downside is that you can only create settings for one child. So, if you have a young child and a teenager, you'll have to find a balance for both in the settings.

SafeGo is a new feature we're really excited about. This keeps your Facebook profile virus and spam-free. It's a simple app that scans your Facebook pages for links that may be scams or viruses.

All too often we see more and more hackers posing as your friends and posting dangerous links on your Facebook page. SafeGo lets you know you're safe to browse.

Even if you only use Facebook once in awhile, you need this app. It just makes sense (and it won't slow down your Facebook experience at all).

This is a handy feature that helps protect your personal data from being harvested from you computer. In conjunction with the antiphishing toolbar, you can create rules to further protect your personal data by encrypting your social security number, credit card numbers, even emails and addresses.

Yahoo Messenger is also protected against file transfer threats as well as malicious links that may come through your instant messaging chat windows.

Since we began testing antivirus software, BitDefender has always placed in the top three spots. And with good reason: it isn't just a long list of features no one will use.

BitDefender Internet Security combines good performance, useful features, and an easy-to-use interface in one package.

BitDefender was consistent in its performance, no matter if it was a virus, trojan, worm, spyware, or some other malicious software. It was effective both in preventing infections and in removing infections that had already happened.

It even removed a number of pesky threats some competitors missed, even if multiple reboots were sometimes needed.

It does have its weak spots though. Namely: its parental controls, while a nice bonus, aren't perfect. Nor is tech support. With neither direct phone nor chat support options available, tech support just isn't what it should be. That said, they do have excellent online help docs and very good email support, among the best we've experienced in fact.

So, if phone tech support isn't a requirement, BitDefender is a great choice. It's a solid and effective Internet security suite