If you are like me, you’d probably want to know if a program that can virtually access all data on the phone is running on it and with which server and companies it communicates.

Bitdefender Carrier IQ Finder is a new program for Android mobile phones by Bitdefender that can be used to find out if the technology is running on a phone.

Android users need to download the application from Android Market where it is available for free. The app has been designed to detect Carrier IQ on Android phones. It cannot remove the technology nor detect or remove malicious software from the phone.

Android users can point their browsers to the Bitdefender carrier IQ Finder market place listing to install the program directly from there. It is necessary to be logged in a Google account to install the app.

The app will search for traces of Carrier IQ on the phone on start up.

A red screen after the scan indicates that Carrier IQ has been found running on the system, a green screen that the technology has not been found on the smartphone.

What can you do if Carrier IQ has been found on your phone? It may be virtually impossible to remove the technology completely from the phone. You could contact your carrier for additional information about the technology. (via)

Bitdefender’s new tool Safego is a handy online tool for Twitter users who want to find out if they are following potentially dangerous users on Twitter.

You first need to authorize Bitdefender Safego via Twitter’s own authorization service, which means that you do not need to hand them out your username and passwords.

Once you did that you can sit back and relax a bit while Safego begins to scan all of your Twitter friends and their tweets. This can take quite a while depending on the number of friends on the social networking site. The online service uses Bitdefender’s anti-malware and anti-phishing engines to scan all urls posted by friends on Twitter.

All friends are sorted into the Safe and Suspicious groups on the Safego website. Please note that the online service does not do anything about “unsafe” or suspicious users on Twitters. It is still up to you to either unfollow them, warn them or do nothing about it.

Each friend listing links directly to that friend’s Twitter stream from where you can unfollow that user easily.

Bitdefender Safego will furthermore notify you via Twitter automatically when suspicious messages are posted by a friend. Options that are disabled by default are to scan your private messages, send you weekly reports and to automatically warn your friends if suspicious behavior was detected.

Last but not least it is possible to scan the public messages of any Twitter user, which can be a helpful thing to do before following that person.

Users who want to scan their Twitter account for safe and suspicious friends to add a little bit of extra security to it can do so right at the Bitdefender Safego website. (via)

When you look at the product comparison chart on the Bitdefender website, you will notice the following differences between the three security products:

• Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2012: Antivirus and Antispyware, Vulnerability Scanner, Social Networking Protection, Search Advisor, Personal Data Filter, Antiphishing and Scan Dispatcher
• Bitdefender Internet Security 2012: All of the above plus Antispam, Two-way Firewall and Parental Controls.
• Bitdefender Total Security 2012: All of the above plus File Shredder and Encryption. Tune-up and Online backup and file synchronization.

Bitdefender Total Security comes with all the security features one would expect from a top of the line product, as well as some features that have made their way in recent years into most security applications. This includes data backup, file synchronization or the system tune-up module.

Bitdefender Total Security 2012 Installation

Installation does not pose a problem to Windows users. It is pretty straightforward. Some files, signature updates for instance, are automatically downloaded during installation. Bitdefender asks the user to close all supported browser windows as it tries to install a root certificate. The software does not really explain why it is doing that, and users may be puzzled after installation when they notice that no extension or new feature seems to be installed in the browser. This may have something to do with the beta version of Firefox and the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer 9 installed on the test system but I’m not sure about that either. The installation dialog mentions only Firefox, Opera and Thunderbird.

Bitdefender Total Security 2012 requires no reboot after installation which is great. The program offers its full feature set immediately after the installation finishes.

The Total Security 2012 interface

The redesigned black interface looks professional. It displays critical issues and events at the top. The events are indicated with a red color to catch the user’s attention, and the various security modules below.

One element that I personally dislike is the horizontal scroll bar below the security modules. I accidentally stumbled upon it and discovered that it could be used to scroll to the left or right to display additional modules in the interface. It probably would be more intuitive if arrows would indicate the functionality.

Another option that is missing is the ability to display the interface in full screen which would be an excellent option to display more than just four of the modules on the screen at the same time.

The security notifications on the other hand are top notch. A number in the main interface indicates the number of notifications. A click loads the overview page where all security modules and their notifications are listed. Here it is possible to get detailed information about an event. An example event would be a detected malicious file on the system. The report not only lists the file location, but also the action taken, the date the action was performed and information about the virus that was discovered.

An option to access the quarantine right from that menu is missing however.

What I really like is the ability to click on a module in the main interface to load its settings straight away, or to use the menu buttons to run scans, manage spam or update the software right from the main interface. This speeds up the configuration of the program considerably.

One interesting option that needs to be mentioned is the ability to re-order the modules. This way, you could drag and drop the four modules that you use most often to the frontpage, and move those that you do not use regularly to the back.

Update for instance is not really necessary on the frontpage as Bitdefender is configured to update the program automatically.

Functionality

At first glance, users find all the security they need. It is however the little things that make a difference. The antivirus module for instance will not only scan for known malware, but also for critical system vulnerabilities with suggestions to update the system immediately to protect it from exploits.

Bitdefender Total Security 2012 checks for issues, Windows updates, application updates and weak passwords automatically which in itself is incredibly useful.

Users who are not that experienced when it comes to security related issues can enable Auto Pilot mode which is a silent mode. The program will basically make all decisions based on the current rule set and internal information. Automatic actions can always be displayed in the event log.

The configuration screen is mainly switch based, which means that users can press a button to enable or disable a particular feature or module. Some modules however link to advanced options. It is for instance possible to configure advanced rules in the advanced firewall settings, or file and process exclusions in the antivirus settings.

Advanced users find all the tools and configuration menus they need. Inexperienced users might dislike the fact that they need to activate the help overlays with a click on the help icon first, and that help is not available for all options in the program.

Besides the auto pilot mode, Bitdefender Total Security comes with two additional modes. First a game mode which surpresses all notifications on the screen to avoid interruptions while gaming, and a laptop mode which seems to help save battery power.

Interested users can download a trial version from the Bitdefender website.

Bitdefender Total Security 2012 Tests

I thought it would be handy to link and display test results from other magazines, websites and organizations. Lets start with a BitDefender Total Security 2012 Prevention Test I found on YouTube.

A PC Magazine test came to the following conlusion:

• Pros: Excellent lab test results. Best antiphishing. Facebook protection. Silent, intelligent firewall. Antispam blocked no valid mail. Decent parental controls. Online backup. File encryption and shredding. System tune-up.
• Cons: Low to average scores in PCMag malware blocking and removal tests. Some awkward elements in parental control system. Antispam let a quarter of undeniable spam into the Inbox.

Total Security 2012 Verdict

Bitdefender’s Total Security 2012 has a lot going for it. It comes with an impressive set of features and uses an intelligent interface that is both suitable for inexperienced and advanced users. A few things could be better, like the previously mentioned link to the quarantine from the event log or a full screen mode that is missing.

Giveaway

We have 12 licenses for Bitdefender Total Security 2012 that we would like to give away. Let us know what you think of Bitdefender, or their software, for a chance to win one of the licenses. The giveaway will run for seven days, and I will announce the winners here in this post.

Update: The winners of a Bitdefender Total Security 2012 license are: Nathan, Azmi, Aleksandar, Try, Rodken, Swapnil, Zac, Rahul Jain, Anson, SRally, malkhaz and Rover 3500

That’s convenient if you know which malware has made its way on your computer, not so much if you do not know the name or characteristics. The BitDefender Removal Tool has been designed for exactly that reason. It basically combines the top 100 removal tools in one interface. It is by no means an alternative for regular antivirus protection, but a good option if you know that your computer is infected and that your default antivirus solution cannot disinfect the computer.

The Removal Tool is a portable security program for the Windows operating system that has been streamlined for ease of use. There is only one option available in the interface, and that is to start a system scan.

BitDefender’s Removal Tool will start to scan the system for traces of the top 100 viruses, worms, trojans and other malicious software. The scan itself takes some time and it is usually a good option to start it at a time where the PC is idle otherwise.

Malware that is found by the scan is displayed in the interface. BitDefender announced plans to update the Removal Tool monthly to take into account new malware that has made it into the top 100 list of malware of the previous month. For now, only June’s version of the Removal Tool is available. It remains to be seen if the July version will be released anytime soon.

BitDefender’s Removal Tool is available for 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. Both versions are portable and can be executed directly from any location.

If there is something to criticize it is the slow scanning speed of the system and the missing update option to update the program locally when a new version is pushed out by BitDefender.

Autorun attacks, like that by the Stuxnet worm, have become a common attack form. That common, that Microsoft has started to patch the autorun functionality in Windows.

Panda Security released USB Vaccine a while ago which offered to vaccinate a computer or USB drive to protect the computer from autorun based attacks.

Bitdefender, another popular security developer, has now released a similar program called Bitdefender Immunizer.

The program offers the same functionality as Panda USB Vaccine. Users can either immunize the computer as a whole, or immunize a connected removable drive.

The product page describes what happens if you immunize an USB drive:

The Immunize option allows you to immunize your USB storage device or SD card against infections with autorun-based malware. Even if your storage device has been plugged into an infected computer, the piece of malware will be unable to create its autorun.inf file, thus annihilating any chance of auto-launching itself.

This basically blocks the creation of autorun.inf files on immunized USB devices.

The computer immunization has the following effect:

The Immunize Computer slider allows you to toggle the autorun feature On or Off for any removable media (except for CD/DVD-ROM devices). If you accidentally plug in an infected USB drive that has not been immunized, the computer will not auto-execute the piece of malware located on the USB storage device.

The security patch linked above seems to have the same effect as the Immunize Computer option.

It has to be noted that immunizing removable devices or computers does not protect the system if the user executes malicious software on the device or computer manually. It only protects against autorun-based attack forms that require no user interaction.

Interested users can download USB Immunizer from the Bitdefender Labs website.

Update: Bastik has posted his findings in the comments, they are important and need to be mentioned in the article. Thanks Bastik for the helpful insight.

The tool does not offer to remove the protection from drives that it has immunized. To unprotect a drive you need to display hidden files in Windows and hidden system files. This can be done via Tools > Folder Options > View in Windows Explorer. You then need to delete the folder autorun.ini on the drive.

The tool displays an email prompt on exit with no apparent option to close it. Just click the ok button without entering an email address to close the program for good.

Stuxnet exploits a vulnerability in Windows that allows the spreading of the worm without file execution. A successful exploitation of the system installs two rootkits and a backdoor on the system.

Some antivirus solutions are not able to detect Stuxnet, or variants of the worm. Users who want to make sure that their system is not infected by the worm, and users who have recover an infected system, may want to download BitDefender’s Stuxnet Removal tool.

The free program detects and removes all known Stuxnet variants.

BitDefender has added generic detection covering all variants of Stuxnet as of July 19, thus protecting its customers since day zero. Computer users that are not running a BitDefender security solution can now eliminate Stuxnet from the infected systems by running the attached removal tool. The tool can be run on both 32- and 64-bit installations and will eliminate both the rootkit drivers and the worm.

The portable program will perform an automatic scan on startup, and offers manual scanning options in the program options as well.

A system infected by Stuxnet will be restored by removing the two rootkits after the scan, and the worm after a necessary restart of the computer system.

The Stuxnet Removal Tool is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. It can be downloaded directly from Malware City, BitDefender’s community site. (via JKWebTalks)

If you are running last year’s version, say Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, you are bound to use it even after the 2011 product has been released by Kaspersky. At least that’s what many users believe. The update in the software confirms their views, as it will only update the 2010 version of the product, and not the update to the 2011 version.

What many users don’t know is that it is quite possible to update from last year’s security software to this year’s release, without additional costs. The only requirement is a valid license of the security software.

Lets exemplify the process: To update Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 to Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 a user would do the following.

• Download the latest product version of the security software from the Kaspersky website
• Install the product after the download, without uninstalling Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 first.
• Reboot the PC to complete the installation.

Kaspersky automatically detects that last year’s version was installed, and will take over the license. Licenses usually run for 365 days, and the user can use the new version of the software for the remaining period without additional costs.

The same updating option is provided by software from other security software companies. It is for instance possible to update Norton Antivirus 2010 to 2011 this way, or Bitdefender 2010 to 2011.

Below are download links of the latest versions of popular security suites and programs:

• Bitdefender: Antivirus Pro 2011, Internet Security 2011, TOTAL Security 2011
• Kaspersky: Kaspersky PURE, Kaspersky Internet Security, Kaspersky Anti-Virus
• Symantec: # Norton 360, Norton Internet Security 2011, Norton AntiVirus 2011
• Eset: ESET Smart Security 4, ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4
• Avast: avast! Pro Antivirus 5.0, avast! Internet Security 5.0
• AVG: AVG Internet Security 2011, AVG Anti-Virus 2011
• Avira: Avira AntiVir Premium, Avira Premium Security Suite, Avira AntiVir Professional
• Panda: Panda Global Protection 2011, Panda Internet Security 2011, Panda Antivirus Pro 2011

Please note that we have not tested updating all software programs listed above. It is however very likely that updates to newer versions are supported by all of them, considering that this increases the likelihood of the customer staying with the company for another year, once the license runs out. If you are not sure, contact your company to get an official response before updating the software.

Update: Users who want to be on the safe side need to uninstall the installed product first, reboot the PC and install the new version on the next startup.

Total Security 2011 is the top of the line product that includes all features that the two other available products, Antivirus Pro and Internet Security offer, plus some that are exclusively available in Total Security.

The installer has been revamped, it now gives the user better control over the installation, which has been divided into visualized steps. This improves the user experience a lot.

bitdefender installation

BitDefender scans the system during installation, to eliminate any threats before the actual installation of the security software starts.

bitdefender installation 2011

The choice given during installation is excellent. It is for instance possible to keep or uninstall other security programs, select one out of three different layouts (for different experience levels) or turn off specific features during installation. Turning off features immediately again improves the usability. It is for instance possible to keep the Windows Firewall, and disable the firewall in BitDefender.

These settings can be controlled in the program options as well afer the installation, in case they need to be activated or deactivated at a later time.

Two video tutorials are offered on the first run, that offer an introduction to new users and users of last year’s product.

BitDefender Product Comparison

BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011: Antivirus, Antiphishing, Antispyware, Search Advisor, Quick Scan, Home Network Protection, Chat Encryption, Smart Scan, Smart Schedule

BitDefender Internet Security 2011: Includes all Antivirus Pro features and, Parental Controls, Internet firewall, Antispam,

BitDefender Total Security 2011: Includes all Antivirus Pro and Internet Security features and, Online Backup, File Encryption, File Shredder, Tune.Up, Performance Optimizer.

Some features requires explanation:

• Quick Scan: Uncover malicious activity using in-the-cloud technology. This uses cloud based scanning technologies to scan files.
• Home Network Protection: Manage the security of your entire network from a single location. Automatically detect other computers that have BitDefender installed and adds them to the administrator network.
• Search Advisor: Warn about unsafe pages displayed in search results, available for Internet Explorer and Firefox.
• Online Backup: 2 GB of back up on a secure, remote server. Automatically back-up files and folders
• Chat Encryption: Keep your conversations private on Yahoo! and Windows Live (MSN)
• Optimized scanning technology skips safe files for better scan speed and lower system load. Prevent slowdown by adjusting settings to match available memory and CPU type.
• Smart Schedule: Maintain maximum performance with system load analysis so on-demand scanning tasks are suspended, to free-up resources for other processes, such as a media player or games

BitDefender Total Security 2011 Review

BitDefender Total Security 2011 looks slightly different depending on the interface selected during installation. It is possible to switch the interface in the main window, in case it displays to many, or to little information in its current state. Inexperienced computer users will see an interface with less settings and switches, while experts have access to all features and options directly in main window.

basic view

The dashboards of the basic and intermediate view can be customized, to include the modules most important to the user of the computer. This review was mainly written with expert mode activated.

bitdefender total security 2011

A click on a module in the left sidebar, say antivirus for example, displays the controls of that module in the main window. This usually includes a protection level slider, direct access to scans and other features. Tabs often divide the functionality on multiple pages to eliminate scrolling.

One aspect that comes a bit short are links to help files that explain the settings of the current page. Pages do contain descriptions (by hovering over an item, and on the page) but inexperienced users may sometimes still have questions left after reading those. Experts and most intermediate users will find those explanations sufficient on the other hand. Additional links to help pages for users, with an option to turn those off would be a good addition to the program.

BitDefender makes a distinction between settings, which are module specific, and options, which define the security software in general.

Antivirus

A new layer of security has been installed to this year’s version of the security application. The antivirus protection supports both signature based and heuristic scans, as well as intrusion detection to prevent the installation of malware drivers, manipulation of system files, the Registry, and dll injection.

Internet protection offers antiphishing protection for Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and the two messengers Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. Search Advisor has been added on top of that, to provide the web user with instant information about search results in Google Search, Bing and Yahoo.

Protection levels can be set to a more aggressive or permissive profile, or a custom profile that allows greater customizability. A custom profiles enables the user to configure detailed scanning preferences, that for example includes the local and remote locations that are scanned, the types of threats, and the actions if malicious files are found.

Quick Scan makes use of the cloud to scan running processes and important files, taking less than a minute to complete.

Additional changes and features

Parental Controls have been extended with the functionality to monitor the activity of other family member’s remotely. This includes statistics about visited websites, applications and activity in instant messaging programs.

Parts of the parental controls can be accessed from the BitDefender website which provides access to alerts, recent activity and configuration options. Great for checking in from any location.

The Home Network option can be used to add multiple PCs to the BitDefender network, to administrate them from computers that have been configured as servers in the network. Activities include running remote scans of connected PCs, updating BitDefender or setting parental controls.

One interesting feature is the vulnerability scanner, which informs the user of available updates for Windows or Microsoft software, applications and other security settings like weak passwords or autorun settings, complete with options to take appropriate actions directly in the program’s interface. This feature has however not been integrated into the warning notifications on the dashboard. BitDefender should add those, as Windows patches that have not been installed can open the doors for malicious attackers exploiting those.

vulnerability scan

Game, laptop and silent modes are available that offer operation modes catered to specific system states. Laptop mode will for instance configure BitDefender to postpone or skip scheduled tasks if running on battery. Gaming mode allows for uninterrupted games, so that scans and other background tasks are reduced to a minimum.

These modes detect system state changes automatically, game mode comes with a default list of games that are detected automatically, and other games can be added to a custom list. To make things easier, game mode or silent mode can be enabled automatically for full screen applications.

BitDefender 2011 comes with several additional modules, including the previously mentioned firewall, data encryption, online backup and privacy controls.

One interesting feature that many users will like is the Troubleshoot Wizard, that can aid the user in troubleshooting issues. The wizard displays common problems associated with modules. For the firewall those are for instance problems accessing a computer in a network, printing or accessing the Internet. The troubleshooting wizard then tries to resolve the issue for the user.

It offers for instance to add an application to the firewall’s whitelist if the program fails to connect to the Internet. all the user needs to do is to select the program to add it (by browsing to it with a file browser).

Bitdefender 2011 Direct Downloads

BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011

• BitDefender Antivirus 2011 (32-bit)
• BitDefender Antivirus 2011 (64-bit)
• Antivirus Pro 2011 Homepage

BitDefender Internet Security 2011

• BitDefender Internet Security 2011 (32-bit)
• BitDefender Internet Security 2011 (64-bit)
• Internet Security 2011 Homepage

BitDefender Total Security 2011

• BitDefender Total Security 2011 (32-bit)
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 (64-bit)
• Total Security 2011 Homepage

Verdict

BitDefender offers several improvements over last year’s version. A common trend among security companies seems to be to pack features into the software, even if they do not add anything to the protection of the system. BitDefender on the other hand as extended the functionality of their product in areas where it makes sense. Features like the gaming or laptop mode, cloud based antivirus scanning, file encryption, shredding or the improved parental controls with home networking options blend well into the existing product.

The only module that does not seem to belong into the program is Tune-Up, as it offers features such as Registry Cleaning, defragmentation or duplicate file finding. But that’s one module out of a dozen.

Computer users should take a look at the product comparison chart to find the BitDefender program best suited for their situation. BitDefender Internet Security 2011 gets our recommendation, as it comes with all security modules needed to protect a computer. Users who want more than that, like online backups or file encryption should pick Total Security instead. Users who already have a firewall installed, and who have no need for antispam or parental controls can pick Antivirus Pro 2011.

Additional information are available at the Bitdefender homepage.

Giveaway

The guys at BitDefender were nice enough to give us 15 licenses of BitDefender Total Security 2011. The licenses are valid for one year, and will be given to random commenters of this thread.

The giveaway ends in 48 hours from the time of posting, and we announce the winners in the Ghacks forum after this. Winners need to include a valid email address, as we are sending the product keys to the email addresses they made their comments with.

To make things interesting, tell us about your current security setup, and how you would use Total Security if you got one of the license keys. Good luck everyone.

The following links point to antivirus software programs that can be downloaded as trial versions. These trial versions can be used for either 30 days or 90 days without payment.

Which antivirus software developers are offering 90 day trials?

• McAfee VirusScan Plus [link]
• McAfee Internet Security [link]
• McAfee Total Protection [link]
• Norton Antivirus [link]
• Norton 360 [link]

Which antivirus software developers are offering 30 day trials?

• Kaspersky Antivirus [link]
• Kaspersky Internet Security [link]
• Bitdefender Antivirus [link]
• Bitdefender Total Security [link]
• Bitdefender Internet Security [link]
• ESET Smart Security [link]
• ESET Nod32 Antivirus [link]
• Trend Micro Internet Security Pro [link]
• Trend Micro Internet Security [link]
• Panda Security Antivirus [link]
• Panda Antivirus Pro [link]
• F-Secure Internet Security [link]
• F-Secure Antivirus [link]

Please let us know in the comments if we have missed a product.

Some notes: This article does not rate the antivirus software programs. There might be free programs out there that are comparable to the listed antivirus products. The only problem with this method is that users need to install different antivirus software regularly. This not only means more work for the user but also the requirement to get used to new software products.

Many antivirus companies are running promotions every now and then that offer longer trial versions for download. This will obviously help tremendously.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Today it is BitDefender time here at Ghacks. The guys at BitDefender are donating one copy of Total Security 2009, two copies of Internet Security 2009 and another two copies of Antivirus 2009. One of the first questions that comes to mind is about the differences between those products. We would like to address them briefly in the beginning and concentrate afterwards on BitDefender Total Security 2009 as it makes use of all features including those of the two other products.

BitDefender Antivirus 2009 is a antivirus software program that combines a signature based and heuristic approach. It also incorporates protection against phishing, identity theft and provides instant messaging encryption.

Bitdefender Internet Security 2009 adds a firewall, parental controls and a file vault on top of that.

BitDefender Total Security 2009 finally introduces a backup module and a system cleaner in addition to all the features of the other two clients.

The choice of product depends obviously on the needs of the user. A user with a working software firewall might be inclined to pass on the two security suites that add a firewall to his system while someone without any protection might be inclined to grab the top product.

All three software programs can be downloaded as trial versions to make sure that they are compatible with the system’s software and hardware. This is also an excellent way of verifying that you can handle the software and do not encounter to many difficulties during usage. As an example, a software firewall that would throw cryptic error messages at the user might be the dream of every computer freak but a regular user would surely be swamped.

The installation requires a reboot of the system in the end. One of the first windows that a user will come in contact with is the Configuration Wizard which will walk the user through the steps to configure the product accordingly. Experts can skip the wizard but need to configure the modules manually in the main interface then.

The wizard will – among other things – update the product over the Internet and perform an antivirus scan on the system to make sure that it has not been infected already with a computer virus. It does not take to long on the other hand even if you read thoroughly.

The Bitdefender firewall is quite adaptive and let me connect with various programs to the Internet without bringing up “Do you want to allow” messages. Email and web browsers for example where working without difficulties right of the box.

The main interface is divided into a basic and advanced view. The basic view has been designed for inexperienced users while the advanced view provides access to in depth statistics and settings that would frustrate the inexperienced users.

The Dashboard is the central hub of the software program. It displays statistics and provides a quick overview of so called System Information. This gives access to to all kind of system related settings like startup items, services, hosts or processes.

The different modules of the security software are easily accessible on the menu on the left side. A click on the antispam module loads the settings of that module giving the user options to disable or enable the module, to change the level of protection or to manage whitelists and blacklists.

The layout of most modules is similar to the one above. Every module can be disabled and configured separately. One interesting module is the Vulnerability module that will query Windows Updates for updates and patches and makes it possible to install them directly in BitDefender.

The same menu will also check a few applications, in this case Skype and Firefox, for updates with options to download and install them automatically as well.

The program has been designed very carefully with the user in mind. The two modes make it a great choice for all kinds of users and the protections are extensive.

BitDefender has also created a community called Malware City which provides information and tips not only for BitDefender users but for everyone.

You can win one copy of BitDefender Total Security 2009, two copies of BitDefender Internet Security 2009 and another two copies of BitDefender Antivirus 2009 if you reply in the comments. Let us know what software you are currently running to protect your computer system.

It is apparently an Italian promotion, at least the website of it is in Italian. It’s however not that hard to fill out. Simply enter your first name, last name, email and verification code and select the product that you want to test for 180 days. BitDefender Antivirus 2008 is included in Internet security 2008 which again is part of Bitdefender Total security 2008.

If you want to test it all get the Total Security 2008 product. A comparison of the different products is available at the Bitdefender homepage. You can basically say that BitDefender Antivirus 2008 protects the computer from viruses, trojans, rootkits and the like. Bitdefender Internet security 2008 adds a Firewall, Phishing protection, access limits and network protections.

All of this is included in Bitdefender Total security 2008 with the addition of data backup possibilities, tune-up and clean-up functions. Just visit the promotional (via Techtrends) website and select the product that you want to test. The registration code will be send to the email that you enter in the form. The applications can be downloaded from the Bitdefender homepage directly.