Bitdefender Ransomware Protection review
Although ransomware isn’t as prominent now than it was a few years back, it still poses a serious threat to your most valuable files. It’s important to protect your system.
In addition to its blockbuster Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, Bitdefender used to offer a free standalone anti-ransomware tool, but it was quite limited and was recently discontinued by the company. Bitdefender stated that “Given that ransomware updates at an amazing speed with an apparent intent to circumvent detections and vaccines,” Bitdefender retired the Ransomware Vaccine. Multi-layered security solutions like Bitdefender Total Security are the only known defenses against ransomware.
The firm offers multi-layered ransomware protection for all of its windows and Mac software. We’ll be reviewing how it performs.
We’ll be testing said ransomware protection system with a copy of Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019. Although it may seem expensive, the cost of $20 per year covers extensive malware protection and can be used on up to three devices.
You can extend your subscription to get even more value. For example, a 10-device, 3-year license costs only PS124.99 ($164) per year.
Antivirus Plus 2019 protects by blocking malicious URLs and detecting malware samples via their file signature.
The Safe Files feature prevents trusted applications (and you can add additional folders as needed) from accessing files in your Documents and Pictures folders.
Network threat prevention is a way to stop ransomware (or any other type of attack) from being launched.
The behavior monitoring layer monitors suspicious activity and stops or kills any new and undiscovered ransomware as quickly as possible. This is a good thing, but it comes with a problem. Ransomware may be able to encrypt hundreds or even thousands of files if it can’t shut down for even a few minutes.
Ransomware remediation is a new feature in the 2019 edition. This improves your protection. This protects files that could be at risk in real-time and then restores them after the ransomware is killed.
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Installation
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019 comes with a 30-day free trial. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019 is available as a 30-day free trial. However, you will need to sign up for an account with Bitdefender before you can download it. Many companies require similar information. You don’t even have to give your email address.
Antivirus Plus downloads all the necessary components and sets itself up quickly. A background scan makes sure your system is safe from malware.
The program was easy to use and we were impressed immediately by its layout. Quick scans can be initiated with one click. Other tools are organized in sensible categories (Protection and Privacy). Although there is a lot of functionality, you won’t find anything complicated unless you look for it. Even then, tooltips, as well as a decent local help system, are available to assist you in finding your way.
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019 will automatically detect suspicious behavior and block ransomware, but the Ransomware Remediation feature has been disabled by default. The module could block innocent apps that engage in ransomware-like behaviors.
Ransomware Remediation can be turned on with just one click, thankfully. Bitdefender doesn’t offer any other ransomware-related settings, but it does offer an Exceptions List, where you can add safe applications that Antivirus Plus may block from altering files.
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Protection
Although antivirus companies often make huge claims about the accuracy and reliability of their products, it can be difficult to discern between marketing hype and reality. We set out to test a product’s capabilities by running our own tests.
We started by comparing Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019 to real-world ransomware, in the form of a Crysis version. The program was flawless and kicked in before the malware could touch one of our files.
Crysis is well-known and should be easily detected by any antivirus program. We created our own ransomware simulator to make things more complicated. This code is brand new and unlike anything, Bitdefender has ever seen.
Our test malware was launched and we watched it run for several seconds. It made heavy use of our hard drive. Did Bitdefender get defeated? Nope. Bitdefender finally deleted our simulator program and alerted us that there had been an attack.
Bitdefender confirmed that all of our original files had been restored after we checked our test data. This is great but there was one problem. The ransomware encrypted versions were left unencrypted. This is useful if Bitdefender can’t restore the original content. Otherwise, it leaves you with some cleanup to do. Bitdefender could have problems restoring your originals if there isn’t enough space.
Our test malware wasn’t being removed. This initially looked like a problem. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019, which claimed to have blocked the malware, failed to run it again. It only managed to encrypt two files, but those were immediately restored.
We completed our tests by looking at the AVComparatives Real-World Protection Test Summary for February 2018 to June 2018. Although it doesn’t cover ransomware, this summary is a good indicator of Bitdefender’s capabilities. The package did very well in blocking 99.8% of threats during five tests. It also came third out of 18 field tests, just behind Trend Micro and F-Secure.
Bitdefender can protect you from any digital threat, no matter how severe.
Final verdict
Although Bitdefender is not as easy to use or configurable as other anti-ransomware software, it’s still very accurate and does a good job protecting your files.