If you are an Android user like many of us, you probably already know that the high degree of customizability of the operating system and the huge selection of free apps available also means that using this platform means a higher security risk. Fortunately there is also a high number of security products available for Android: some really good, some not that much. If you want to know more about one of the leaders of the security market, be sure to read this review of Bitdefender Mobile Security 2016:
Bitdefender Mobile Security - What can it do for you?
As its name suggests, Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android is more than just an antivirus software: it is a full-fledged security suite with many modules that can help you use your Android device with a high degree of safety. For a yearly price of 14.95$ (or 9.95 euros) you get the following modules:
- Malware Scanner - this is the antivirus module that takes care of all unwanted apps and malicious software. It has an on-demand scanner and also an automatic scanning engine.
- Privacy Advisor - checks your applications and rates your privacy based on what you use. The rating is based on how your apps use your personal information.
- Web Security - provides you with a safe browsing experience, notifying you of any reported attack sites or dangerous web pages.
- Anti-Theft - tracks your phone, so you can locate it or lock it down in case if it gets lost or stolen.
- App Lock - you can lock your applications with PIN codes, so they will be inaccessible for anyone getting their hands on your device.
Besides these five main modules, Bitdefender Mobile Security 2016 also has a Dashboard where you check if your device is safe, read any important messages regarding security, see when the last security scan ran and immediately start one by tapping Start scan. Its last module, Reports is where you can see any recent security-related events and complete security reports for the current and previous weeks.
Setting up Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android
For testing this security solution we have used a OnePlus One smartphone running Cyanogen OS 12.1 on Android 5.1.1. After downloading Bitdefender Mobile Security from the Google Play Store we signed it with our Bitdefender account. If you don't have one, you can create it upon launching the app, or on the My Bitdefender website.
The first thing you should do is running a security scan - the app also advises this, it only takes a tap. Once you're done with the scan, you should also set up the Anti-Theft module: for this to work, you need to give administrative privileges to the application, enter a PIN code to be used by Anti-Theft and a friend's phone number you can use for remote control if your device is lost or stolen. That is all the setup you need to do, everything works out-of-the-box, without any special configuration.
NOTE: The Bitdefender Mobile Security you can download from the Google Play store is a 14-day trial version of the security suite. In order to continue using it after the trial period has expired, you will need to purchase a license on the Bitdefender website. Once you have obtained a license key, you can enter it by tapping Activation code on the app's main menu.
Setting up Bitdefender Mobile Security is a very easy and straightforward process, you don't need any special knowledge to do it, as it installs just like any other app from the Google Play store. The fact that it requires a Bitdefender account is a bit cumbersome, but it's a free account, you can get one fairly quickly and you won't receive any spam messages. The overall setup experience is very good, as basically you don't need to set up much besides the Anti-Theft module: the app just works.
Using the Malware Scanner
As we have noted earlier, the Malware Scanner has two modes of operation: manual and automatic. In order to start a manual scan, just tap Start Scan on the Malware Scanner page. This will scan your device for malware and display the scan's results.
The automatic scanning engine, called Autopilot , is always enabled, so you don't have to set up anything about it. This scans all apps on installation and when updating them, and notifies you of any possible threats. Bitdefender will also let you immediately lock newly installed apps with a PIN code and will show any privacy issues about them.
The Malware Scanner proved to be a very quick one, as it scanned about 20GB of data in a matter of seconds. The always-on Autopilot makes this module a very useful one as all users will surely be protected from malicious apps, since they will surely have a permanent protection activated.
Using the Privacy Advisor
The goal of the Privacy Advisor is to let you know about applications that can pose a risk to your personal information. Once opening this module, you get a Privacy Score that should be a good overview of how safe is your device regarding your personal data. Besides the score you will also see a list of applications that have anything to do with your data.
Unfortunately the Privacy Advisor is not such a useful tool as it sounds: most of the applications we had on our device during testing were not analyzed by Bitdefender, so their privacy score was only estimated as clues based on the permissions required by them. This makes the Privacy Advisor more like an overview of all app permissions, as it doesn't really give you a hint about which apps can pose real danger. For example, Facebook is shown as not analyzed, but with five possible privacy threats based on its permissions.
Still, the filter in the Privacy Advisor can be handy: it lets you filter applications based on their permissions, so you can quickly see which ones can cost you money, or which ones can track your location.
The Privacy Advisor could be a really useful tool, if many applications would be analyzed by Bitdefender. Currently, it is more like an overview of application permissions with a handy filter.
Using Web Security
The Web Security module in Bitdefender Mobile Security is the simplest of them all: it has a single setting, which lets you turn the module off or on. The purpose of Web Security is to protect you from harmful sites when browsing the web, so you shouldn't turn it off.
The module uses Bitdefender Cloud Services to notify you of websites that contain phishing, fraud or malware and it works with Chrome and the built-in stock Android web browser, but it failed to warn us of a harmful site when using Firefox.
Overall, the Web Security is a very useful module that can protect you from many dangers lurking on the Internet. It is really simple to use, as it needs zero configuration. As good as it is, it would still be great to see it working with Firefox as well.
Using Anti-Theft
One of the most advanced modules of Bitdefender Mobile Security is Anti-Theft : it is designed to help you when your phone is lost or stolen and it can be a real life-saver. As we have mentioned it earlier, you will need three things to make this module fully functional: you need to give Bitdefender administrative privileges (the app guides you through this, it's just two taps), set up a PIN and optionally a trusted number. Let's see what are these good for.
Anti-Theft can protect you in two ways: via the Bitdefender Central website and using another smartphone. After enabling Anti-Theft , you can access the central.bitdefender.com address from any web browser and log in with your Bitdefender account. Here you will see your protected device's location (if it's turned on and has some kind of location services turned on), you can send a message to it (optionally sounding a really loud alarm), remotely lock it with a PIN or remotely erase all of its contents. Although this latter option might sound a bit too drastic, it can be vital if you have very sensitive data on your smartphone.
You can also activate these security features by sending an SMS from a phone to your device: you can check the list of commands under the SMS Control tab. While most features can be activated from any phone number, the remote wipe command can be sent only from the trusted number you entered. You can also set up Bitdefender to notify the trusted number via SMS if the SIM card has been replaced in your smartphone.
One of the SMS commands, CALLME can be sent from any phone to your number to make your protected device call you back in stealth mode. This would be a great way to silently listen on whoever has your phone, but, unfortunately, this feature didn't work as expected. Our smartphone did call back the number the SMS was sent from, but it was not stealthy as all: the call was visible just like a normal outgoing call and this hinders the usefulness of this feature.
The Anti-Theft module is one of the most powerful features of Bitdefender Mobile Security, as it can help you locate, lock and even remotely wipe your Android device using two methods. This can be one of your best shots at recovering your lost or stolen device, so we strongly suggest turning it on. Unfortunately, one of its best features, the remote call command didn't work as expected, but we really hope this will be fixed in a future update.
Using App Lock
The fifth module from Bitdefender Mobile Security can be used to deny access to your applications, which can be used when you lend your device to someone, and it's also a safety measure if it's lost.
To use App Lock , you need to enable special privileges for Bitdefender with a tap. After that you just need to tick any number of apps on a list in Bitdefender to have them locked. After locking an app you will need to enter your PIN code in order to launch it - you will be required to enter the PIN any time you open a locked app until you uncheck it on the app list in the App Lock module.
Although App Lock does indeed lock applications with your PIN code, it unfortunately doesn't hide notifications. For example, we have tried locking the Messaging app to hide our personal SMS messages from anyone else using the smartphone. Still, incoming messages were displayed in a notification, so the App Lock module doesn't offer 100% protection.
App Lock is a good way to block applications from running in case you lend your phone to someone, and the module does work great, since you won't be able to access locked applications without a PIN code. Unfortunately, notifications from locked apps will still be visible, so App Lock is not good for completely protecting your personal data.
Efficiency and speed
When using an anti-malware application or software suite, the most important thing is to have a security solution that keeps us safe from all kinds of malware and does it in a non-obtrusive way. This means that a good anti-malware solution should detect and clean malware while being light on system resources.
As a matter of fact, Bitdefender Mobile Security excels at both: we have taken a look at independent security analyst websites and the results are more than satisfactory:
- AV-Test measured a 100% detection rate for all kinds of Android malware, while also awarding a maximum usability score of six, which also includes performance scores.
- AV-Comparatives measured a protection rate of 100% and noted minimal battery use.
Apart from the independent labs, our experience suggests that Bitdefender Mobile Security can handle all malware quite well: it recognized all malware we threw at it, blocked unsafe websites and had no visible effect on our device's performance.
Verdict
When talking about security, Bitdefender is one of the first names to cross our minds: the company has a strong reputation in IT security thanks to its robust and easy-to-use security products. Fortunately they have managed to carry over most of their core values to the Android platform and release a great product called Bitdefender Mobile Security 2016. This product is easy to use and efficient. It doesn't only offer a high rate of detection for all kinds of malware, but also manages to have a small performance footprint on your Android device.
However, like any other software product, Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android is not perfect. For example, its Privacy Advisor is more of a simple permissions overview for your apps than a real advisor. Also, other modules like Anti-Theft and App Lock could benefit from a couple of minor improvements.
Overall, we are very pleased with the level of protection you get from Bitdefender Mobile Security 2016 and we recommend it to all our readers.
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