BitDefender Internet Security 2012 Review

Internet Security 2012 suite is marked as BitDefender’s most popular product, and the list of features sure seems to back this up. The bundle is versatile and integrates not only defense against all types of malware, but also spam filtering, firewall protection, parental controls and firewall protection.


Priced at $49.95 (€30) 1 year/1 PC, the suite features an easier install procedure that requires little input from the user. You don’t have to go through complicated configuration wizards and the initial scan takes place before the actual installation of the product begins.

The method takes advantage of cloud-scanning technology included in the installer file, which also doubles as a downloader. The result is simultaneous verification of the system and downloading of the application files. You can see the progress for both activities and monitor the advancement of the installation.

If you have Opera, Thunderbird or Firefox running you’ll be prompted to close them for the entire procedure to complete. On clean systems no restart is required, but if malware is encountered you have to reboot the computer in order to clean up the threats.

The interface is extremely attractive and handling of all protection layers has been drastically simplified up to the point that even a beginner user can deal with most of the options.

With Auto Pilot turned on by default you won’t be bothered by any popups as the application automatically fixes critical issues for you. It may not take the best of decisions at all times, as we’ve seen during our tests, but it will definitely block anything acting suspicious on your system.

Should something not work right, you can correct the problem by simply finding it in the events list, in the main application window. From this panel you can allow the blocked actions for specific programs or restore false positive, if it’s the case, and in our case it was the case several times.

The suite comes with a versatile scan module, which offers all regular checks (quick scan, full scan, custom and vulnerability scan) and something on the side, called Rescue Mode. This is a powerful option as it can verify your system offline, before Windows kicks in, without the need to create a boot rescue disc.

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During our on-demand tests BitDefender showed similar detection rate as in the case of Kaspersky and Panda equivalents, but lower than what the double-engine powering Emsisoft Anti-Malware managed to uncover.

We used the larger sample base, which included 371 threats. After the scan and the cleaning routine, BitDefender left standing a number of 27 items. However, its work was not done, yet, because it reported threats it could not eliminate on the spot and required a system restart to carry out the job.

After the reboot the total amount of malware still available on our disks was 18, 9 less than what it had left initially. All this adds up to a pretty good detection rate, of 95.1%, second highest in our testing until now.

The firewall was not as great as the antivirus engine, but it did a good job when faced against our leak tests. It prevented modification of the physical memory and injecting malicious DLLs as well as modification of the default browser in order to connect to the Internet.

On the other hand, it failed to block injection attempts, which is not too bad since behavior-based detection would report the threats. More elaborate methods like modifying an operating system object in memory, however, could not be stopped.

Tweaking up this module is accessible to beginner users by setting different sprotection levels for the Intrusion Detection System, as well as experts through the advanced configuration panel.

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Users falling in the latter category are able to define rules for applications and restrict connections based on protocol, local and remote address, type of event or IP version. Network adapter rules can also be enforced.

Anti-spam module does not present a challenge as far as configuration is concerned, either. You have three sensitivity levels and on/off knobs for heuristic filtering, link filtering and blocking emails written in Asian and Cyrillic characters.

Spam filtering relies on detection in the cloud for speedy processing and low impact on performance. Our recommendation is to keep this setting enabled. Also, you can choose to submit spam samples to BitDefender cloud for a closer analysis and improved filtering in the future.

It integrates in Outlook, Windows Mail and Thunderbird, the result being a toolbar pinned in these applications’ interface. The toolbar allows you to mark messages as spam or legitimate email as well as create a list of spammers and friends.

During our tests on a batch of over 1000 emails we noticed that the filtering is accurate enough not to mistreat legitimate email. This does not mean you don’t have to deal with spam anymore, since it did let some of it into our inbox. However, this is better than having to fish them out of the trash folder.

The package comes with pretty good parental controls. The module is highly intuitive and does not require too much effort or time to configure. It comes with predefined profiles, each having restrictions imposed according to the age of the user.

You have the possibility to create your own list of websites that should be allowed or blocked as well as impose restrictions to application usage. Keyword control is also available in the module allowing you to block inappropriate words.

A very important part of this layer is the Categories section, where you can impose restrictions to websites with a certain specific: gambling, online shopping, social networks (Facebook and Twitter), news and even search engines (the popular ones as long as it is not an encrypted connection (https://, as well less popular ones such as Yandex).

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Internet access can also be subject to restrictions, so you can set up a schedule and impose time limits. Unfortunately, the interface may give you trouble with the selection of days and hours as deselecting the boxes is not done as smoothly as in other suites featuring this component.

Prevention leakage of personal information is included in the Privacy Control module of the suite. This includes protection against phishing, which is one of the best we’ve seen. Additionally, you can safeguard data such as email addresses, PINs, SSNs, passwords, phone numbers and anything else you wish; it will not be delivered outside your computer via HTTP, SMTP or IM traffic.

BitDefender toolbar is among the top features of this module, as it integrates in the browser and keeps an eye on the traffic and also lets you start a virtualized instance of the web browser. It is responsible to uncover phishing attempts, block pages that contain malware and offer warnings about shady results in the search engines.

We spotted it placed comfortably in all four major browsers, IE, Chrome, Firefox and Opera. However, in the case of the latter integration is not one of the best. It took several attempts to start a virtualized session of Opera, whereas with the other everything worked fine most times. You’ll notice you running the application in the sandbox because the app is enclosed in a black and white border.

Still on the downside, you may not see it tucked in the upper part of the screen on websites featuring dark colored bands like the navigation bar in Google.


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The Good

Great detection rate combined with a pretty good firewall and the possibility to sandbox your default browser make from this security a wise choice. Rescue Mode allows you to run scans before booting into Windows, without burning a bootable disc.

Also, it comes with Safego utility, which is designed to keep your Facebook social life safe from online threats. The intuitive interface makes every module easy to handle and configure.

When in Auto Pilot mode you will not be bothered by messages or alerts. All events are handled automatically based on the current settings and actions are recorded; you also have the possibility to correct misclassification of files and actions.

The Bad

BitDefender Toolbar gave us trouble with the latest Opera and failed to launch a sandboxed instance of the browser on multiple terms. Also, there is no virtualization for running suspicious programs.

Setting up web access schedule in Parental Control module could be done in an easier fashion.

The Truth

BitDefender Internet Security 2012 has everything a user needs to keep the computer safe from malware. It is designed with the home user in mind but does not neglect the needs of a savvy computer user, either.

In terms of features there is little it falls short of compared to other security suite on the market, but compensates through ease of use and the Auto Pilot which takes good decisions automatically.