Everybody wants protection against malware attack, identity theft, and online fraud, but nobody likes a security suite that's always in your face. In its default AutoPilot mode, Bitdefender Internet Security 2015 ($59.95 per year, or $79.95 for three licenses) hums along in the background, taking care of business without asking your advice or peppering you with notifications. It's an effective suite, with many useful bonus features.
The product's user interface is identical to that of Bitdefender's standalone antivirus, except that suite-specific components are now enabled. Even in the suite, features like antitheft, file encryption, and online backup remain disabled. To get those, you need Bitdefender's top-level mega-suite (Bitdefender Total Security 2015). A review of that is in the works.
Shared Antivirus Protection
Naturally, Bitdefender Internet Security 2015 includes all the features of Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2015. To get the full rundown on those features, you'll want to read that review. I'll just summarize here.
Bitdefender Internet Security 2015 Lab Tests Chart
Bitdefender doesn't participate in testing with quite as many independent labs as Kaspersky does, but the most innovative labs do include it. Like Kaspersky, Bitdefender gets excellent ratings from the labs.
See How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests
I just recently finished upgrading the virtual machines I use for malware testing from Windows XP to Windows 8.1, so Bitdefender and Kaspersky Internet Security (2015) are the only products tested using my latest malware collection. Bitdefender earned 8.4 out of 10 possible points, Kaspersky got 7.9. Some products tested using my previous collection did much better. When the labs heap love on a product the way they do with Bitdefender, I give those tests more weight.
Bitdefender Internet Security 2015 Malware Blocking Chart
My highly focused malicious URL blocking test checks how the antivirus responds when I attempt to download from extremely new malware-hosting URLs. Bitdefender doesn't seem to focus on this layer of protection. It only blocked 18 percent of the malicious URLs, well below the current average of 33 percent.
See How We Test Malware Blocking
Other Shared Features
Bitdefender packs quite a few features into the standalone antivirus that other vendors might reserve for a full security suite. These include Wallet, a basic password manager, and SafePay, a hardened browsing environment for your sensitive online transactions. While the implementation is different, SafePay's purpose is similar to the Safe Money feature in Kaspersky.
Bitdefender Internet Security 2015 Antiphishing Chart
Phishing websites try to steal your login credentials by imitating bank sites and other secure sites. I use the very latest suspected phishing URLs in each test, and I report on how well the product did in comparison to Norton. Bitdefender's detection rate is the highest of all, 5 percentage points better than Norton's and also better than the built-in phishing detection in popular browsers.
See How We Test Antiphishing
Other shared features include a bootable, non-Windows Rescue Mode, a vulnerability scan, and a browser plug-in that flags dangerous links in search results and social media. You also get a file shredder, a subscription for basic credit monitoring, and a component that will prevent transmission of user-defined personal data. In addition, Bitdefender offers a collection of tools to wipe out useless data and traces of your computer and browser history. Yes, all these features come with the standalone antivirus.
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