The Best Free Antivirus Software app downloads for Mac: Avast Free Mac Security Combo Cleaner Avira Free Antivirus Sophos Home Bitdefender Antivirus C. For those looking for the best free antivirus for Mac, this is the best option. The free version offers antivirus protection, scheduled scans, home network scan and protection of web, mail and files. As for the paid version (49.99 per year), it has a Wi-Fi inspector and ransomware shield together with the features the free Avast version has.
Private | |
Industry | Computer software |
---|---|
Founded | November 6, 2001; 19 years ago |
Founder | Florin Talpeș |
Headquarters | Bucharest, Romania |
Area served | Worldwide |
Florin Talpeș (CEO) | |
Products | Cybersecurity software |
Services | Computer security |
Number of employees | 1600+ |
Website | www.bitdefender.com |
Bitdefender is a Romaniancybersecurity and anti-virus software company.[1] It was founded in 2001 by Florin Talpeș who is currently the chief executive officer.[2] Bitdefender develops and sells anti-virus software, internet security software, endpoint security software, and other cybersecurity products and services.
As of 2018, the software has about 500 million users worldwide.[3]
Bitdefender software was originally developed by SOFTWIN and sold as AVX (Antivirus Expert) from 1996 until 2001, when its name was changed. In 2007, SOFTWIN spun off Bitdefender.[4]
Bitdefender develops and markets anti-virus, internet security, endpoint security, and other cyber security products and services.
Bitdefender's Internet of things device protection solution is called Bitdefender BOX. The box is a router designed to protect smart home products and Internet of Things devices by blocking malicious internet traffic. It is available on both Windows and Mac.
Bitdefender offers a cloud-based security solution with anti-malware and anti-theft capabilities for Android and iOS users that is called Bitdefender Mobile Security.
For businesses, the company markets the Bitdefender GravityZone for Enterprise Security. It includes Self-configuring kits for deployment from desktop to datacenter to cloud, software that secures physical, virtual and cloud-based endpoints, and software that uses a Network of malware data to stay updated.[5] Its software product for small businesses looking for simple security called Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security.
Bitdefender Antispam NeuNet,[6] is an antispam filter trained by the Bitdefender Antispam Lab on a series of spam messages, so that it learns to recognize new spam by perceiving its similarities with the messages it has already examined.
In May 2006 Bitdefender developed a new technology, B-HAVE, to reduce dependency on virus signatures through proactive detection of unknown threats. This technology is based on a behavioral analysis in a virtualized environment.[7]
Bitdefender introduced Active Virus Control in August 2009. This technology continuously monitors each program (specific processes) running on the PC as it executes, and it notes any malware-like actions. Each action is scored and, when a given threshold is reached, the process is reported as harmful.
In its 2014 version, the company claimed to feature a new technology called 'Photon Technology', which it says visibly improves computer speed and performance by gradually adapting to each PC.[8]
Content filtering technologies have been developed to filter raw online content and are applicable and used in antispam, anti-phishing, web filtering, scanning of spam and social networks. They facilitate the creation of signatures to proactively detect never-before-seen malicious files.
The company claims that Bitdefender is using cloud-based machine learning to identify new malware, malicious URLs and other online threats by processing and analysing big data to obtain behavioral patterns and predict future advanced threats.
In 2015, Qihoo 360 acknowledged accusations by three antivirus testing companies of providing for their testing a version of its anti-virus equipped with a antivirus engine licensed from Bitdefender, while the consumer version used Qihoo's own QVM engine instead.[9][10] Currently,[when?] Qihoo's 360 product includes Bitdefender, Avira and Qihoo-developed engine.[11]
On 20 March 2010, computers running Bitdefender under 64-bit versions of Windows were affected by a malfunctioning update which classified every executable program as well as dll files as infected. These files were all marked as 'Trojan.FakeAlert.5' and were moved into quarantine. This action led to software and systems malfunctions that affected users around the world.[12] Bitdefender representatives announced the removal of the faulty update and a workaround for the users affected,[13] except for those using the 2008 version.[14]
Bitdefender is incompatible with Asus AiSuite2 and Asus AiSuite3, a motherboard optimization suite of software bundled with Asus motherboards which enables automatic overclocking, power tuning and fan control. Bitdefender claims that the incompatibility is due to 'NDIS Asus driver (WinpkFilter LightWeight Filter), which prevents the installation of some Bitdefender files'.[15][better source needed]