BitDefender Total Security 2008 Small Business Edition: One of the Best Security Solutions for Small Businesses

BitDefender Total Security 2008 Small Business Edition: One of the Best Security Solutions for Small Businesses
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Introduction

BitDefender Total Security 2008 (Small Business Edition) is a user-friendly, intuitive, and comprehensive security software suite. If you’re a small business looking to minimize the use of system resources while maximizing protection, this may be the security package you’re looking for.

Price to Value (4 out of 5)

In comparing BitDefender Total Security 2008 to similar Antivirus software, BitDefender came out roughly $20.00 more expensive.

$59.99 BitDefender Total Security 2008

$36.16 Symantec Antivirus

$34.98 McAffee Antivirus

However, it is important to point out that Symantec requires you purchase a minimum of 5 licenses which comes out to $180.80 ($36.16 if you break it down a per/PC unit). Both Symantec and McAffee products offer Antivirus, Antispyware, and some form of a client firewall. BitDefender goes one step further with the addition of the various system maintenance tools (Find Duplicate Files, Clean Registry, etc.) and system backup tools.

If these are worth the extra $20.00 (and I believe they are) then BitDefender Total Security 2008 is a great value when compared to other security packages on the market.

Installation & Setup (4 out of 5)

Test Machine

The following specs are for the test machine I used for this review:

  • Dell XPS 410
  • Intel Core2 DUO 6600 (2.40GHz)
  • 2.00GB RAM
  • 250GB Hard Drive
  • Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition (SP2)

Installation Process

The installation file was a single executable just over 47MB in size. This was downloaded from the BitDefender.com Downloads page. The initial installation was very quick and after completion took me straight into the registration process.Registration gives you the option to sign up for a BitDefender account where you can, “have access to technical support, safely store your license key and retrieve it later, and benefit from special offers and promotions.” I skipped this step. The last thing I need is another “online account” of some type! However, a business user will want to complete this step for support purposes if anything.After registration was completed, I was taken through the update process where all current updates were downloaded and applied. This took only a few minutes. Finally, an initial virus scan was performed after completing the registration. The scan ran at an average speed of 55 files/sec and the scan looked for the following criteria:

  • Infected items
  • Suspected items
  • Hidden files
  • Hidden processes

Thankfully no viruses were found! A single reboot was required after installation completed.

User Interface (5 out of 5)

The BitDefender GUI is very user-friendly and intuitive. Mouse over pop-ups are informative and easy to understand. The main window of the BitDefender Security Center is split into two sections. The first is the Status section which displays the following menu items:

  • SECURITY
  • PARENTAL CONTROL
  • TUNEUP
  • BACKUP

Each menu item has one of the following security states: Protected, Requires Attention, or Not Configured.The second section is the Quick Tasks section which is organized into tabs for the SECURITY, BACKUP, and TUNEUP items. Under each tab is a list of frequently used product features for each item. These features are covered in the next section.

Product Features (4 out of 5)

Most commonly used actions are easily accessed via the Quick Tasks tabs in the main Security Center window. The only exception is the PARENTAL CONTROL group which is accessed through Advanced Settings. Product features include the following:SECURITY

  • Antivirus scan
  • Antispam
  • Antiphishing
  • Firewall
  • Automatic Updates

PARENTAL CONTROL

  • Web Control
  • Application Control
  • Web time limiter
  • Keyword filtering
  • Web Access Blocking

TUNEUP

  • Disk Defrag Tool
  • Find Duplicate Files
  • Clean Internet Files (Deletes Cookies/Cache)
  • Shred Files
  • Clean Registry
  • Recover Registry

BACKUP

  • Backup Wizard
  • Restore Wizard

Performance (4 out of 5)

Not all of the tools were applicable to my uses as an individual so I focused on testing the tools that would be most beneficial in a small business environment. Results were as follows:##br# The initial Virus Scan took just over thirty-two minutes and found no viruses. ##br# The Registry Cleaner found no malicious registry keys but identified what BitDefender calls “orphaned registry keys” which are simply keys that are no longer in use or possibly “dead” because they point to applications that no longer exist on your system. Fifteen orphaned keys were found and removed. ##br# The Find Duplicate Files tool searches drive locations (that you identify) for duplicate files which take up unnecessary space. This can help organize your drives and possibly decrease search time by preventing unnecessary redundancy. Sixty-two “groups” of duplicates totaling 634 files were identified by this tool. Most were temp files in the Documents and Settings sub-folder and MP3s (I make a lot of music compilations for those long boring road trips!). When duplicates are identified, a dropdown box is provided for each grouping and gives you the following three options:

  • Keep Newest
  • Keep Oldest
  • No Action

I selected the Keep Newest option and have yet to encounter any missing documents. A total of 489 duplicates (of all shapes and sizes) were removed. Unfortunately I could not locate a report of any kind that would show me how much drive space was freed up but I’ll wager it was a substantial amount.##br# I use two different web browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 and Mozilla Firefox 2.0. Regardless of the browser, the BitDefender Firewall identified pages that attempted to transfer information to or from my system and popped up a system tray message requesting an Allow or Deny option to be selected. The system tray message also states whether or not the scan was clean and then make a recommendation on whether to Allow or Deny access. Specific access rules can be applied through the Firewall settings and the Parental Control settings.

Help & Support (5 out of 5)

The user guide and in-program Help are comprehensive and well written.

Online support is extremely well organized and categorized into easily accessible sections. A welcome to change to what many companies try to pass off as a “Help and Support” page.

Images

Security Center Main Screen

Firewall Alert Pop-Up

Settings Screen

Conclusion

So now the million dollar question. Is BitDefender Total Security 2008 (Small Business Edition) a good fit for the small business environment? I found BitDefender to be a very comprehensive all-in-one security suite. I have been using four different applications to do what BitDefender does with one. Therein lies a great value because when it comes to securing your information, using one software package means (hypothetically speaking) only one potential point of failure. Trying to manage multiple applications to secure a small business environment may not only be overkill but a waste of money and system resources. The novice user may find the initial configuration of BitDefender a bit daunting. However, the User Guide and online support are comprehensive and straightforward. The intermediate and advanced users (your everyday IT professionals) will find the package robust without hogging valuable system resources. For you avid gamers out there, BitDefender has a Game Mode which disables pop-ups, alerts, and sets the real-time protection level to “Permissive” to prevent game play from being interrupted. However, they strongly suggest that Game Mode be disabled as soon as you end game play.All things considered, BitDefender Total Security 2008 (Small Business Edition) is a comprehensive software package that provides a strong set of security features, and useful system tools, at a great value: an extremely good fit for the security-conscious small business environment.

Norton AntiVirus, McAfee AntiVirus

More Reviews!

Would you like to read more reviews? Look around Bright Hub and you’ll find reviews of numerous other leading security solutions including SpamTitan, GFI MailEssentials, Atek Secure Password Organizer, GFI LANguard, Norton Internet Security, Panda Internet Security, ESET Smart Security, McAfee Site Advisor, Norman Internet Security Suite and Undelete.