Bitdefender wants to take a bite out of the password manager market

Bitdefender has announced the launch of its new password manager which aims to simplify the creation and management of secure passwords across all of a user's online accounts on both desktop and mobile.

While the company is known for its antivirus software, its new Bitdefender Password Manager offering also includes a password generator to create and save unique, highly complex passwords for each online account. These passwords can then be accessed by using a single master password. Bitdefender Password Manager is also backed by strong end-to-end encryption along with simple set-up, easy installation and an intuitive user interface designed to be accessible to all.

According to the recent 2021 Bitdefender Global Report: Cybersecurity and Online Behaviors, half of the over 10,000 consumers surveyed use a single password for all of their online accounts while nearly one-third (32%) reuse just a few passwords across multiple online accounts. 

Vice president of Bitdefender's consumer solutions division, Ciprian Istrate explained why the company decided to create its new password manager in a press release, saying:

“Cybercriminals rely on weak passwords to compromise accounts, steal user identities and profit from selling credentials on the dark web. Despite understanding the importance of strong passwords as a security best practice, the ease of memorizing a few passwords and reusing them everywhere outweighs increased security risk for most. We built Bitdefender Password Manager with this in mind, delivering what we believe is one of the best-in-class password protection without sacrificing user convenience.”

Bitdefender Password Manager

In addition to allowing users to store their passwords, Bitdefender Password Manager can also be used to manage and auto-fill payment data. All of this data is encrypted and decrypted locally and the account holder alone has access to the master password so that no third party has access to their financial information.

While there are mobile apps available for Android and iOS, Bitdefender has also created browser extensions for Windows and macOS that support a wide range of browsers including Chrome, Firefox and Edge with support for Safari launching soon.

If you already use another password manager like 1Password or LastPass, Bitdefender Password Manager allows you to easily import data and passwords from other platforms including browsers like Chrome and Firefox which have their own built-in password managers.

An annual subscription to Bitdefender Password Manager costs $ 29.99 per year but the company is currently offering an introductory discount where new customers can save 33 percent and pay $ 19.99 for the year or as little as $ 1.66 per month.

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Bitdefender, addio all’antivirus gratuito

Proteggere il computer dalle più moderne minacce e virus può essere difficile, in particolar modo adesso che trascorriamo ancora più tempo online, ma grazie a uno dei migliori antivirus, possiamo navigare con un maggiore grado di sicurezza.

E sebbene Bitdefender offra un certo numero di soluzioni a pagamento nell'ambito degli antivirus, l'azienda offre da sempre anche un prodotto noto come Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition. Tuttavia, attraverso un'e-mail inviata dai propri clienti e rilevata anche da TechRadar Pro, la società ha svelato che cesserà a breve il supporto per il proprio antivirus gratuito.

Nel messaggio, Bitdefender spiega che gli enormi cambiamenti nel settore della sicurezza hanno stravolto molti dei piani dell'azienda nell'ambito dello sviluppo prodotti e, purtroppo, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition è una delle vittime di questi sconvolgimenti.

A partire dal 1° gennaio 2022, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition sarà ufficialmente terminato e non sarà più disponibile né utilizzabile.

Tempo di upgrade

Sebbene Bitdefender abbia deciso di terminare il proprio antivirus gratuito, continuerà a offrire il supporto tecnico per il prodotto fino al 30 giugno 2022. In questo modo, i clienti avranno tempo di installare una soluzione alternativa e continuare a proteggere i propri dispositivi.

Per chi apprezza la “silenziosità” degli antivirus Bitdefender, l'azienda ha lanciato una promozione dedicata agli utenti Free per l'upgrade a Bitdefender Total Security

Dunque chi proviene da Free Edition potrà ottenere 1 anno di abbonamento per 5 dispositivi a poco meno di 10 euro. L'offerta è valida solo per gli utenti Free e scade il 31 dicembre 2021-

In alternativa, Microsoft Defender è una soluzione gratuita e integrata nei PC Windows, sebbene non includa una VPN e le app mobili Android e iOS come nel caso di Bitdefender Total Security.

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Bitdefender is ending its free antivirus

Keeping your computer protected against the latest threats and viruses can be difficult especially as we now spend even more time online but with the right antivirus software, you can browse the web safely and securely.

While Bitdefender has a number of paid antivirus solutions to help users protect their PCs, the company also offers a free product called Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition. However, in an email sent to its customers seen by TechRadar Pro, the company has revealed that it will soon end support for its free antivirus.

In the email, Bitdefender explained that immense changes in the security industry have upended many of its plans for product development and unfortunately, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is a casualty of these changes.

Beginning on January 1 of 2022, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition will officially be discontinued and will no longer be available for use.

Time for an upgrade

Although Bitdefender is discontinuing its free antivirus, the company says that it will continue to offer tech support for the product until June 30 of next year. This will give its customers more than enough time to install an alternative antivirus solution to keep their devices protected.

For those that want to continue using Bitdefender's silent “set-in-and-forget-it” style of antivirus protection, the company is running a promotion where it will upgrade the subscriptions of its free users to Bitdefender Total Security

Normally a one year subscription to the software costs £69.99 but Bitdefender will provide Free Edition users with a 5 device / 1 year subscription for just £8.98. However, this offer is only available to Free Edition users and will expire on December 31 of this year, so if you want to keep using Bitdefender to protect your PC, now is the time to claim it.

Alternatively, Microsoft Defender is another free antivirus software solution that comes built-in with every Windows PC though it doesn't include nearly as many features as Bitdefender Total Security like a VPN and mobile apps for Android and iOS.

We've also highlighted the best antivirus, best malware removal software and best endpoint protection software

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Bitdefender wants to protect your device for just over 7 dollars, but there’s a catch

If you're looking for a great deal on security – Bitdefender has extended its Black Friday sale and its Total Security 2020 platform has never been so cheap.

The company is offering a huge 60% discount, which means you pay only $ 35.99 (excluding taxes) for a year's protection instead of the usual $ 89.99. 

That’s about $ 7.20 per device, or just pennies per day, for one of the best security suites on the market.

While there is a VPN tool includes, it's not the best in town for a number of reasons – and we believe you'd be much better off using a standalone service such as  ExpressVPN.

In a nutshell, you get complete protection across up to five of your devices (Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android). The new version includes webcam and anti-ransomware protection and zero system slowdowns, plus dozens of other features.

Just bear in mind that this deal is only valid for the first year and you will likely pay far more going forward. One way to get around the issue is to use a different email on renewal to pass as a new customer. 

We'd recommend leaving the company's Antivirus Plus 2020 and Internet Security 2020 offerings; both of them are fantastic products but will run you $ 12 and $ 4 respectively. With Total Security 2020, you get a much better all-rounder with extra device coverage to boot.

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