Bitdefender

1990: Creation of Softwin, one of the first IT start-ups in post-communist Romania.

The rapid growth of computer viruses led to the development of Softwin AVX (AntiVirus eXpert)

2001: The Bitdefender subsidiary was created. AVX solution was rebranded under the Bitdefender name.

2004: First offices outside Romania in US, Germany and UK.

Further expansion in the Middle East (2011) and Denmark for the Nordics Region (2015).

2007: Bitdefender became a separate business entity with external capital entry.

Axxess Capital Investment Fund entered the company’s shareholding.[5]

2011: Bitdefender launches enterprise range and virtualization security product.

2015: Bitdefender creates a new consumer product category with Bitdefender BOX and IoT security services.[6]

2017: Bitdefender makes its first major acquisition by acquiring French partner Profil Technology Source.[7]

British fund Vitruvian buys a 30% stake in the company. The transaction values Bitdefender at more than $600 million.[8]

2018: Bitdefender creates a new subsidiary in Australia through the acquisition of assets from business partner SMS eTech.[9]

Bitdefender acquires behavioral and network security analytics company RedSocks.[10]

2019: Bitdefender opens its own Security Operations Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Bitdefender offers complete protection for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.

Bitdefender Total Security provides advanced protection for Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android.

With automatic updates and upgrades, Bitdefender Total Security gives users up-to-date technologies that predict, prevent, detect and eliminate the latest cyber-threats, including malware and ransomware. Total Security brings network-based protection, prevents exploitation of vulnerabilities, and detects and blocks brute-force attempts and botnet attacks from compromising devices, while keeping sensitive information safe.

Bitdefender BOX was launched in 2015[11] as the first-ever consumer cybersecurity hub to protect the entire connected home. It received a substantial upgrade in 2017 in the form of Bitdefender BOX 2, which could work as a stand-alone router, in addition to connecting to an existing home gateway or personal router. Its main feature is the way it can protect all web-connected devices in the smart home, even IoTs that cannot normally run security software. Bitdefender BOX works at the network level to block malware, prevent stolen passwords, identity theft, hacker attacks and other types of cyber-attacks, and includes specialized local protection for Windows, macOS, Android & iOS devices. In 2018, Bitdefender BOX was honored by CES Innovation Awards in the Cybersecurity category.[12]

Bitdefender VPN protects users’ online presence by encrypting all internet traffic. Bitdefender Premium VPN is fast, easy-to-use secure VPN that takes its users off-network and helps them access the “true Internet”, the Internet without borders.[13]

Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection continuously monitors users’ personal information and sends alerts in real time in case of a data breach. This way, users can change passwords and secure their accounts to prevent any financial loss or social media impersonations.

For businesses, the company markets its Bitdefender GravityZone portfolio.[14] It includes products and solutions addressing a wide spectrum, each designed to answer the needs of specific organizations, from small businesses all the way up to large enterprises. All products are built on the same security platform, which was designed from the ground up in 2012 for virtualization and cloud to deliver security services to physical endpoints, mobile devices, virtual machines in private, public cloud and Exchange mail servers.  As a result, Bitdefender products and solutions include self-configuring kits for deployment from desktop to data-center to cloud, software that secures physical, virtual and cloud-based endpoints, and software that uses a Network of malware data to stay updated . Bitdefender’s flagship solution is called Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra Plus, and includes hardening and risk analytics, EPP, XDR and MDR, honored as a top CRN tech innovator in the 2020 Security – Managed Detection & Response category.

Bitdefender has also expanded its portfolio to provide managed detection and response services, as part of its own security operations center in San Antonio, TX.

The quality of the business portfolio was recognized by various international awards:

2019: Leader, Forrester® WAVE™ for Cloud Workload Security[15]

2020: Strong Performer, Forrester® WAVE™ for Endpoint Detection And Response[16]

2020: Top Player, Radicati Group for Endpoint Security Market Quadrant[17]

In May 2009, customers criticized Bitdefender's support service for lack of responses. Bitdefender responded by saying they were aware of the problems, and would take steps to solve it. They attributed the problem to an unexpectedly strong surge in customers.[22] The company's website claimed that support was available 24/7 on telephone, email, online chat, and an online knowledge base.

On March 20, 2010, computers running Bitdefender under 64-bit versions of Windows were affected by a malfunctioning update which classified every executable program as well as dll files as infected. These files were all marked as 'Trojan.FakeAlert.5' and were moved into quarantine. This action led to software and systems malfunctions that affected users around the world.[23] Bitdefender representatives announced the removal of the faulty update and a workaround for the users affected,[24] except for those using the 2008 version.[25]

Bitdefender is incompatible with Asus AiSuite2 and Asus AiSuite3, a motherboard optimization suite of software bundled with Asus motherboards which enables automatic overclocking, power tuning and fan control. Bitdefender claims that the incompatibility is due to the "NDIS Asus driver (WinpkFilter LightWeight Filter), which prevents the installation of some Bitdefender files".[26][27]