Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization is one of our favorite websites for using industry standard Eicar test files to determine if an antivirus is properly configured and working. Eicar files are fake malware used for testing purposes across multiple platforms. It stopped. It also left our test system vulnerable to the cloud. On another test website we use, Wicar, Firefox provided more protection than BullGuard Antivirus did.
We initially thought it might have installed browser extensions without alerting us, but that was quickly disproven. Over two-thirds of the time, BullGuard Antivirus failed to protect our test system. Contradictory results between our testing and the third-party laboratories, which gave it decent marks, creates a bit of a quandary.
We tested the customer support chat line by sending a question about the game booster feature. We asked if there were special requirements for using the game booster and she responded that there were not. After reminding her that BullGuard Antivirus says it requires a minimum of four CPU cores, she said those were recommended specifications and it would work on a single core over 4. On our test system, though BullGuard Antivirus specifically says that option is disabled because it is effective only on systems with at least four CPU cores.
After downloading and installing a free version of BullGuard Antivirus, we decided to pay for an upgrade to the regular full version. It took over 24 hours to get the activation codes. When we tried to put in the code, we were never able to get it accepted, in the app or on the website. We went around and around on it, with two of us tag-teaming the support line over a period of several hours, and we never got an acceptable response.
The takeaway from our experience is that this low-cost package is a way the company to get a foot in the door, then bug you until you upgrade to the more expensive BullGuard Internet Security package. Third-party test results were decent, but our tests showed an unacceptably high failure rate.
The user interface alternated between obscure and mediocre and customer service was a nightmare. BullGuard Antivirus is a decent antivirus package, but we have reservations about it. Perhaps BullGuard Internet Security will perform better, or you could check out our other antivirus reviews. Do you agree with our assessment of BullGuard Antivirus? Let us know why or why not in the comments below. Thanks for reading. BullGuard couldn't do that, and our four files were effectively trashed.
Still, many antiviruses miss our simulator entirely, allowing it to encrypt thousands of file. We'd like to see file recovery support, but in the meantime, if we had a ransomware attack and lost only four documents, that would mostly feel like a success. BullGuard Antivirus is lightweight, configurable, and has an unusual speedup extra in its Game Booster. Protection isn't quite leading edge, but it delivered solid results in our tests, and the package did a better than average job in keeping us safe.
BullGuard Internet Security builds on the basics-only BullGuard Antivirus with a stack of new features, including a firewall, parental controls, cloud integrated backup supports Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive and basic PC optimization. Platform support is extended to cover Android and Mac, as well as Windows. BullGuard Internet Security and Premium Protection also include a Secure Browser, a customized version of Chromium which uses multiple layers of security to keep you safe online.
Extra security layers block malicious URLs, check site certificates, and encrypt your internet history to keep it safe from snoopers. BullGuard's VPN can be launched from the interface, as well, if you've a license to use it. Unlike Kaspersky, Bitdefender and others, BullGuard doesn't have a limited free version of its VPN, and although there's a 7-day trial available, you have to be an existing BullGuard customer to get it. A day trial build gives you a quick and easy way to find out if this is the right antivirus for you.
That should be long enough, but even if you run into problems later, you're further protected by a day money-back guarantee.
BullGuard Internet Security has all the core BullGuard Antivirus functionality, and it looks and feels much the same. It's lightweight, for instance, and in normal situations made little or no impact on our system performance. Scanning speeds are a little faster than average, there are some useful configuration options, and the antivirus engine provided capable protection in the latest AV-Test results and during our own checks.
The self-protection issues we noticed in the last review have been fixed, too, and we couldn't find any malware might be able to compromise BullGuard's security. The dashboard still looks a little cluttered, with ten tiles pointing you to its various function areas.
But at least most of these are available for use the Identity Protection and Home Network Scanner features are only available if you upgrade to BullGuard Premium Security, and BullGuard VPN is licensed separately , and there's certainly plenty to explore here. BullGuard Internet Security includes a firewall which blocks for network attacks, and sort-of controls access to your internet connection. We say 'sort of' because although the firewall allows known safe processes to get online automatically, it asks the user about anything it doesn't recognize.
That's an issue, both because it's difficult for even experts to tell which processes are legitimate, and, if users are prompted like this regularly, it's tempting to keep hitting the 'it's fine' button without really paying attention. We prefer more intelligent firewalls, like Bitdefender and Kaspersky's offerings, which make these decisions themselves.
Aside from this limitation, the firewall does a decent job, blocking most attacks and providing plenty of configuration options if you need them.
BullGuard Internet Security comes with a 'cloud integrated' backup feature. It's an application, not a service - there's no web space included - but otherwise it covers all the core basics. Customizable backups enable choosing what you'd like to back up, for instance, from common user folders to whatever else you might need.
Backup destinations include your Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive holders, or your choice of external drive. A simple scheduler enables running backups automatically, and there are a handful of useful settings covering compression, encryption and versioning. Norton 's plans go a step beyond BullGuard by providing their own web space 10, 50 or GB.
And experienced users looking for a backup tool could do better with the best-of-breed freeware. But the feature works well enough for simple tasks, and having the app available from the same interface as the rest of the suite means it's certainly convenient to use.
BullGuard's Parental Controls module uses a range of tricks and technologies to protect your kids online. Website filtering blocks sites by your choice of category adult, social media, chat, gambling - 24 in total.
You're also able to create custom whitelists and blacklists of sites which should never or always be blocked. We found this worked in a basic way, but had some unexpected side-effects. When we launched Corel's PaintShop Pro, for instance, a Parental Controls alert told us it had blocked the application, apparently as it checked for updates. The alert didn't give us any clue about why this happened, so diagnosing the issue could take a while.
Application control enables blocking specific apps from running. The module covers a dated-looking list of chat apps by default it includes Google Talk rather than Hangouts, for instance , but you can change that, or add any other apps you'd like to protect. The Privacy control feature aims to prevent your child sharing key personal details online names, phone numbers, credit card information, addresses and more.
This didn't always work for us, blocking the transmission of names but failing to recognize a telephone number. A scheduler enables limiting access to the internet, or your entire PC, to specific time of day or with a maximum time limit. It works, but doesn't give you much control. Time allowances can only be set in whole hours, for instance, and must start and end on the hour. Forget 'am to am', for instance - is the nearest you can get. Choose your preferred settings in all areas and you're able to apply them to your child's Windows user account.
BullGuard's Mobile Security has its own features, including the ability to monitor pictures stored or received on your child's phone, and an option to track where your child's device is. Full Specifications. What's new in version Release September 10, Date Added September 10, Version Operating Systems.
Additional Requirements None. Total Downloads 12, Downloads Last Week 1. Report Software. Related Software. Malwarebytes Free to try. Crush cyberthreats and shield vulnerable systems with all-new proactive device, data, and privacy protection.
FortiClient Free. Comodo Antivirus Free. Detect and destroy malware and viruses. Baidu Antivirus Free. Protect your computer against malware, phishing Web sites, worms, and Trojans.
While it's definitely not the cheapest antivirus out there, it costs a bit less than the most expensive solutions. Setting up BullGuard was a pretty chill experience. Once you download the. Luckily, after taking screenshots of everything that the app has to offer, I found it easier to navigate it. If you want the ultimate BullGuard antivirus application, you should download the Windows one.
It includes all the features mentioned in this BullGuard review and offers the most functionality. Meanwhile, the macOS app is lackluster. Even though it looks much, much better than its Windows counterpart, it doesn't include any extra features. It only offers scanning, real-time protection, and quarantine. It seems that the Android version of the wifi security feature only checks if your wifi network is password-protected.
Still, I found the app pretty pleasant to use. It would be nice to see an iOS version in the future, as features like Anti-Theft can be pretty useful to iPhone owners. If you come across technical difficulties or just have a burning question about BullGuard, you can contact their support team.
I tried the chat out myself and the agent was really helpful and friendly. When the live chat is unavailable, you can simply write to support at [email protected].
Another option is reading through the knowledge base that includes various product guides. There is also paid customer support for virus removal, program installation, and PC optimization. The price depends on the number of interventions you need. BullGuard is a good anti-malware tool that will satisfy most of your online security needs. Its virus detection rate has been excellent for quite a few years, which means it will do its main job well. At the first glance, it seems that the software offers a lot of extra features.
However, after writing this BullGuard antivirus review, I can see that most of them are rather basic, failing to offer anything more than what other anti-malware tools offer. If you want to give this software a chance, I suggest you try the Internet Security version. It includes such necessary features as a firewall, and is not overly expensive. In any case, you can simply download the free trial and see whether you and BullGuard make a good pair.
AVG antivirus review — all about this popular antivirus.
0コメント