Security

Review: Protect Higher Education With Bitdefender

Boost remote classroom security with robust, high-value anti-virus software.

Carlos Soto is an award-winning reviewer and journalist with 20 years of experience covering technology and business within various sectors and industries.

The education sector is a target-rich environment for cyberattacks. Education records contain a wealth of information that pays dividends for hackers on the dark web and often leads to secondary crimes.

Exacerbating the danger for the education system is the ongoing pandemic. The number of malware attacks committed each day has dramatically risen, with attackers hoping to exploit new vulnerabilities, particularly those created by the influx of newly remote students, faculty and workers.

Normally bundled with other solutions, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2020 offers threat detection that thwarts malware attacks of all kinds, from the most basic to the most sophisticated. I tested Antivirus Plus 2020 by infecting laptops, iOS and Android devices with a host of viruses. I also visited several sites well known to be fake. At every step, Antivirus Plus 2020 was able to stop infections and remediate each attempted breach.

Detect Threats With Impressive Speed

Bitdefender’s multilayered approach easily eliminates known malware, while also monitoring for behavior that might indicate advanced threats such as ransomware.

The ransomware protection includes a separate feature that safeguards all documents from unauthorized encryption. In conjunction with the Advanced Threat Defense module, Bitdefender protects all important files from encryption by ransomware at a level that also mitigates attacks and recovers damages in near real time.

Bitdefender also quickly works against everything from spyware and viruses to zero-day exploits, worms, Trojans and rootkits.

At the network level, Bitdefender provides threat protection through new cyberthreat intelligence technologies that also block sophisticated exploits, such as botnet-related URL attacks and brute force incursions.

This capability is further complemented by an advanced threat defense using behavioral detection to closely monitor active applications. As soon as Bitdefender detects anything suspicious, it stops that behavior and prevents the spread of any potential infection.

Bitdefender Antivirus: Full of Fantastic Features

Aside from a robust anti-virus platform, Bitdefender offers a host of other impressive features. This includes a comprehensive web protection module that provides strong protection from dangerous links. A service called Safepay is also included to help with online banking protection. Safepay can be used with any website by simply opening it using the Bitdefender Safepay program.

Safepay blocks unauthorized access to your desktop, and also guards against any attempt to take snapshots of the main screen. It also protects online passwords by safeguarding them in a built-in password manager. Safeguard even comes with a virtual keyboard that thwarts a hacker’s ability to read keystrokes and is completely independent from other browsers.

Finally, Safepay provides hotspot protection when computers are connected to unsecured Wi-Fi networks; for instance, at a coffee shop or hotel. This is complemented by Safeguard’s ability to support bookmarks, which gives it the ability to navigate safely between favorite banking or shopping sites.

Bitdefender Internet Security 2020 also adds a Windows firewall and a spam filter to keep users safe online or simply when checking their mail. The firewall continuously scans web connections and can even halt webcam hijacking.

Another great feature not often seen in an anti-virus platform is Safe Files, which prevents unauthorized changes to important documents and files. By simply adding folders to the program’s watch list, Bitdefender guards the files within against ransomware and other types of malware. The end user can then decide which applications are trusted enough to access the designated Safe Files area.

By default, Bitdefender automatically detects when the user is navigating to a banking site in any browser and prompts them to launch the site in Bitdefender Safepay. In line with keeping Bitdefender easy to use, Safepay can also be accessed within the main interface by simply selecting the Privacy icon on the left sidebar of the Bitdefender interface, and then selecting the Safepay action button.

Finally, Bitdefender adds anti-phishing capability that includes protection from online scams. This detects and blocks websites that masquerade as trustworthy sites but which are in fact fake sites set up to steal financial data such as passwords or payment information. The safeguard works automatically for users right in their browser of choice.

For educators working from home and away from their IT departments, protection like Bitdefender can be invaluable. It can stop not only common threats, such as viruses, but also many of the most advanced attacks used online today.