Bitdefender Virus Scanner for Mac

I use the version from the App Store. It can't scan .dmg files without mounting. Very inconvenient.

Despite what WetNet said in 2014 this is not a classic bait and switch operation. Many malware detection utilities have a "lite" version that you run manually and offer a paid version that runs all the time in the background for more complete protection. MalwareBytes, for instance, is now only free in the manual version. Like others they have adopted an annual subscription for their full suite. So what else is new? Shareware apps have worked like this for years. Recently Bare Bones software suspended development of their free app TextWrangler and incorporated it in BBEdit. But you can still run BBEdit as a free app with a subset of the full app's capabilities, just like TextWrangler. It's not bait-and-switch, it's a way for them to consolidate and streamline their development efforts. While a bit confusing, it doesn't disadvantage any long time TextWrangler users. As for Bitdefender and MalwareBytes, they have offered a free version to develop mind share on the Mac platform. This is a perfectly sound business practice. FYI: ClamXav is no longer free, but has adopted the annual fee business model used by most of the other security software companies. Unlike MalwareBytes and Bitdefender, there is no longer a free version of ClamXav. The developer is competing with the big guys so I don't blame him for trying to monetize his work. FYI: Sophos Home for Mac is still free, but there's no telling how long this will last. Sophos, Bitdefender and MalwareBytes are all established companies on the Windows platform. It's a tribute to the ongoing success of the Mac that they are now playing here as well. In the meantime, Norton has walked away from the Mac—again. Given that, I wouldn't trust them on a Windows PC either. I'm currently running Bitdefender. It has a deep scan capability not available in the other free apps. It takes quite a while to run; there are other modes that are less time consuming. So I have to give it high marks for providing this deep scan in the free version. If it refuses when its done to remove or quarantine any threats it finds, I'll revisit this review.

Detailed malware detection test results are regularly posted here for nearly 2 dozen products, free and paid: http://securityspread.com/detection-rate-results/ These are very detailed, showing EXACTLY by name for each malware/virus if it is detected or not, for each product, then products are ranked 95%, 85%, 75% etc based on detection rates. Historical results are maintained so you can compare over time, and you do see product results change with each test (done every month to every 3 months depending on whether there are any new reported malware in the field, and a sample can be obtained for testing). I've done a bit of research on the site and tester, to make sure it was not one of those 'sponsored' sites by a vendor that are made to appear as objective, neutral reviews. The fact that the product rankings change constantly AND that the results are very specific and listed in detail, further support that this site and the tester are very objective. In fact this is exactly the kind of site and test results, that vendors DON'T want you to see, even the ones that do well on the test (because no product is 100%). I am posting this to support the Mac Community. When we are all better informed when it comes to this important area of security in this day of cyber threats, we all benefit. Education and information is the best defense, (as with so many things in life). For example, if someone uses MacKeeper because they don't know better, then in some ways the community failed for not getting the word out. If after doing some research and being advised not to use MacKeeper, someone still chooses to do so, then you can't help that, but hopefully it wasn't because there wasn't information available. My aim is not to support or dissuade anyone about a particular product, you pick / use or don't use whatever product you want, and live with the consequences, just remember that your decision can effect others, by virtue of whether you are part of stopping the spread, or being a part of it. I highly recommend you don't just look at the current results, but look at the past ones as well. You WILL see trends, with some products consistently doing well and others not so much, and some moving up and down. Remember, an A/V product rests on two main things, the scanning engine AND the malware database. A great engine can be crippled if the database is not updated in a timely manner. Conversely, a vendor that does maintain a current database might still not be effective if the program itself is buggy. This site only ONLY addresses virus detection results, it does not in general make any conclusions or post results regarding performance, installation, support, UI, etc.

Classic bait 'n switch company to make you pay for annual service. Award-winning Bitdefender engines?! BAH! what a joke! You'll be trying to contact CVS just to try and uninstall this crap. IF you can contact anyone. Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. ClamXav is a good choice. I made this mistake. Learn from me!

Anyone considering installing this ought to look at some reviews elsewhere first, i.e. the top one at the MAS. It says that the uninstaller doesn't work and support is very bad, even for the paid version.