Bitdefender Total Security 2013 review

Antivirus

As with any security product, antivirus forms the core part of the suite. This module has much to offer in terms of functionality. The autoscan feature kicks in when performance is not needed elsewhere on the computer. It also sports real-time protection that scans files and data as and when the user accesses them. There are further options behind the autopilot that allows users to carry out quick, full or custom scans, and a vulnerability module that looks for Windows and application updates as well as weak user account passwords.

The scans will only be as quick as the underlying hardware. Our test computer (a three-year-old Dell Vostro) carried out a quick scan in four minutes while a full scan edged closer to 17 minutes.

The vulnerability scan is useful for tracking down patches and updates that can be overlooked on many a PC. As well as tracking critical and optional Windows updates it also looks for application updates for browsers, applications and Flash and Java plugins, to name but a few.

Virus protection is still the primary function, but the speed of scans will depend on hardware

Firewall

Although interaction is kept to a minimum, a brief check of the firewall settings would not go amiss. This is because some features appear to be disabled by default. We felt that we would be afforded more protection by enabling the intrusion detection system to prevent malware installing itself.

Power users are catered for with more configurable settings. Interesting to note here is the "Paranoid Mode" which alerts the user every time a new application tries to connect to the internet.

Should you not wish to trust Autopilot, there are a plethora of application rules that can be configured. These include; program path, local address, remote address, network type, events, protocols, IP versions and permissions.