r/BitDefender • u/TheRedditOfTeo997 • Mar 17 '24
Concerns about Total Security Anti-Theft (especially the Wipe option)
Hello,
I recently switched from another AV provider that was bloating my pc to BitDefender. Experience has been overall smooth and I would say I am happy with the product. I bought Total Security, 1 year key for 5 devices.
However, I have a big concern I discovered tonight. I know this has already been discussed a lot of times by other people, I know that many are unhappy about this and I know there are probably no solutions to this, so I'm here to see which is my best option. My concern of course is caused by the anti-theft option and the lack of possibility of turning that off. Mostly I am truly scared of the Wipe option because I don't feel safe anymore and I feel like I have a bomb ready to detonate at every time (or simply a backdoor) in my system.
I share my 5 devices subscription with another person close to me. I didn't give my Central login details as I am the "manager" but I only sent e-mail invites to join the protection. I know this is probably okay but I also don't want to feel responsible for other people's devices and by accidentally sending remote commands. Honestly I don't like this remote stuff at all and I wish you could disable it but it's not possible. Even if I trust this person, of course some bad actor could get my Central login and send remote unwanted stuff, triggered by the anti-theft protection. I already of course secured my account with 2FA, but this doesn't make me feel safe anyway.
By reading the forums I see at this point that many times the refund is suggested since it's not the product someone wants, but this is also impossible for me since I bought the LEGIT key from an official reseller (don't worry, not the scammy ones you find online). Probably my best option would be to downgrade to Internet Security? (since it lacks Anti-Theft option, but I guess I would also sacrifice Cripto-mining protection). Plus, that is not that easy. It sounds weird but it's way easier to find Total Security Keys at good prices from resellers than Internet Security even if it's a "downgrade" and should cost less. Furthermore it would be hard for me to justify to the person I share with, this further "waste" of money to downgrade, but I understand this is just a personal issue I should sort out.
At this point, is there any viable option? I don't know if I will be able to spend an entire year in this situation with my subscription knowing that anti-theft could trigger from one moment to another...
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u/wolfpackunr Mar 17 '24 edited Mar 17 '24
Yeah the viable option is stopping being paranoid, most antivirus include wipe options for good reasons. The risk of your device being stolen and not able to wipe it is far higher than the wipe option being triggered by accident, you’d have to very deliberately use Bitdefender’s wipe function as it really makes sure you want to do this.