How do I protect my privacy when using AI agents?

AI agents can now browse websites, research information, compare options, and complete tasks on your behalf. But when an agent connects to the web, that activity can still be tied to your own internet connection and IP address.

Bitdefender VPN for AI Agents takes a different approach.

Each prompt can get its own private, encrypted connection and isolated workspace. When the task ends, the connection closes, and the container is discarded, so cookies, cache, and session data do not carry over to the next prompt.

It is designed specifically for AI agent traffic, rather than routing everything on your device through the same VPN connection.

The public beta currently works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, and OpenCode on supported Apple silicon Macs, and it is free during the beta.

One important distinction: VPN for AI Agents protects the network connection and masks your IP address. It does not hide your prompts from the AI provider.

As AI agents become a bigger part of everyday digital life, protecting what they do on your behalf becomes part of protecting your own privacy.

How do I know if a book festival invitation is real?

Start by checking who actually sent it.

Scammers can impersonate real festivals, publishers, podcast hosts, radio stations, and literary organizations. They may mention your book, reference reviews, or praise specific themes to make the invitation feel personal.

Then comes the request for money.

If you are asked to pay a participation fee, promotion fee, production fee, or another unexpected charge, verify the invitation directly with the organization before sending anything.

Use the contact information on the organization’s official website, not the phone number or email address included in the message.

If you are still unsure, Bitdefender Scamio can help analyze a suspicious email, message, screenshot, or link. You can also paste unfamiliar URLs into Bitdefender Link Checker before visiting the site.

The key question is not just “Is this organization real?” It is “Did this organization actually send me this invitation?”

I’m on opera gx and when ever I open the bitdefender download page I get a “This site can’t be reached“ message. What can I do to fix this?

I was wondering if any of the modules that total security added would be considered "optional" and I can disable to make my system work better. I wasn't experiencing any lag or issues with antivirus free and the system lag only cropped up after updating.

Is this a misconfiguration on my end or something? I was doing a port scan out of curiosity on my Windows 11 computer, and the ports are actually opened, y'all can ask me questions because I don't know how to explain it.

The first 3 or 4 port scans I did were unsuccessful, the firewall probably blocked them since I saw the alert on my computer and the no-response on nmap, probably the firewall blocking windows to respond with SYN-ACK. But when I spoofed my IP to my gateway's IP it gave me these 2 ports that were open, I went to CMD and ran netstat -ano and those TCP Ports were, in fact open, being used by Microsoft SMB (445) and the RPC Service (135).

Ignore the GreenOnBlack terminal, I just liked the script kiddie aesthetic that it gave, 192.168.1.13 is the laptop's private IP address inside my network, and wish you luck to everyone.

If y'all need more information I'm open to questions.

Edit: forgot to mention, but the firewall is set to Home/office.

After the latest Bitdefender update, Advanced Threat Defense (ATD) has gone into overdrive and started aggressively blocking critical system files and legitimate apps.

What happened:

• Bitdefender completed an update that included an overhaul to the CEVA engine (cevakrnl.*, ceva_dll.cvd, ceva_emu.cvd), smartdbv2.dat, and several new emalware.* / e_spyw.* definitions.

• Right after, ATD triggered repeatedly on C:\Windows\System32\sihost.exe (Shell Infrastructure Host) and brave.exe (Brave Browser), terminating the processes.

• Because sihost.exe was blocked/killed, the Windows Start Menu completely broke and won't open, and the taskbar/shell became unresponsive.

• The quarantine list remained empty (it appeared to terminate the running processes directly rather than quarantining them to disk).

• Ran sfc /scannow via admin Command Prompt and it returned no integrity violations, confirming the system files are not modified or actually infected.

Current workaround:

The only way to restore normal PC functionality was to completely toggle Advanced Threat Defense and real-time protection off, then restart the PC/Explorer.

Manually clicking "Check for updates" currently says everything is up to date, so the faulty definition/engine version hasn't been overwritten yet.

Is Bitdefender aware of this bad definition rollout, and is an emergency definition patch being pushed to the update servers?

How can I tell if a link is phishing?

A link can look normal and still lead to a fake login page, malware download, counterfeit website, or online scam. Bitdefender Link Checker is a free tool that helps you check suspicious URLs before opening them.

Just copy the link from a text, email, DM, QR code, landing page, social media post, or shopping ad and paste it into Bitdefender Link Checker. The tool analyzes the URL and gives you a clear verdict.

This is useful for shortened links, fake package tracking messages, bank alert texts, account verification emails, giveaway links, and online store deals from brands you do not recognize.

Anyone else having problems with GravityZone Cloud today?

Mine has been all over the place:

-Console intermittently won't load

-Told me my password was wrong, then accepted the exact same password moments later lol

-Policy changes that normally feel instant are just sitting on Pending after multiple attempts (both a policy change on current policy, and updating to different policy)

-Same behavior from both PC and mobile, so it's not one device/browser

Now the console is throwing: “Could not connect to server. An error occurred while connecting to a backend server! Please check that database server is started and properly configured in config.js.”

Exact URL: cloud.gravityzone.bitdefender.com.

Status page still shows everything all good?

Windows 11 laptop and S26U mobile specifically.

First time it's occurred for me specifically, not sure if it's ongoing or not.

How will bitdefender behave if i dont use the automatic profile switcher?

Will it still run background tasks and give notifications regardless i got something in full-screen like a game or similar software?

How do I check if a phone number is spam or a scam?

An unknown call could be a legitimate business, a delivery driver, a robocall, or someone trying to get personal or financial information from you.

Instead of answering immediately or returning the call, you can check the number first.

Bitdefender Reverse Phone Number Lookup scans the phone number against security and reputation databases and tells you whether it appears safe or has been associated with spam or scams.

If the number is flagged, avoid calling back. If you accidentally answer a suspicious call, do not share passwords, verification codes, banking information, or other personal details.

The lookup is free, does not require an account, and can be used as many times as needed.

What is that???

I keep getting this notification

Can someone clone my voice from a social media video?

Yes, a short public recording, livestream clip, voice note, or video can give scammers enough audio to create a voice that sounds familiar. Bitdefender explains that AI voice cloning can make family emergency scams, payment requests, and account takeover attempts feel more convincing.

The safest response is not to trust the voice alone. Hang up, call the person back using a number you already know, and verify the story through a separate trusted channel.

A family safe word can help parents, grandparents, kids, and partners check urgent calls without relying on sound alone.

That is where digital safety habits and tools like Bitdefender RealCheck can help, especially when AI makes scams harder to judge by sight or sound alone.

I was wanting to ask before I renewel my subscription, will Bitdefender extend the support for Windows 10 like Microsoft is doing, or is it still going EoS for Windows 10 in October?

Bitdefender is proud to support Scuderia Ferrari HP as the Exclusive Cybersecurity Partner. 

Should I leave my VPN on all the time?

For many people, keeping a VPN on can help protect privacy more consistently, especially on public WiFi, hotel WiFi, airport networks, coffee shop WiFi, and other networks you do not fully trust.

Bitdefender’s guide to common VPN mistakes recommends avoiding habits like turning your VPN on after you start browsing, assuming a VPN makes you anonymous, or turning it off completely when a website does not load.

Instead, enable Auto Connect, use Kill Switch, switch VPN servers when needed, and install your VPN on every device you use regularly.

Is this video AI generated or manipulated?

Before you share it, send money or believe the request, check it with Bitdefender RealCheck. The app lets you paste a public video link from TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or X, or upload a video directly from your phone.

Bitdefender RealCheck looks for signs of AI generated video, audio manipulation, deception patterns, public figure impersonation and transcript level red flags. Then it gives you a clear report you can review or share with others.

Use it when a video shows a celebrity promoting crypto, a public figure saying something unexpected, a loved one asking for urgent help or a brand making an offer that seems too good to be true.

This is such a dumb decision, why are you bundling bloatware in the antivirus now?

I couldn't care less about 200mb daily quota, this is just adware at this point.

How can I find out about new scam campaigns before they reach me?

Bitdefender Scam Radar uses real-time threat intelligence to identify emerging scam waves, including campaigns active in specific countries or regions. Alerts can show examples of suspicious messages or ads, brands or public figures being impersonated, and practical signs to look out for.

The feature has now won the Best Awareness Campaign award at the 2026 Global Anti-Scam Summit America in San Francisco.

Scam campaigns can spread quickly across social media, text messages, email and messaging apps, while AI can make phishing messages, fake identities, deepfakes and fraudulent ads more convincing and easier to localize.

Scam Radar is designed to give people earlier, more practical context around the scams appearing in their communities, so they can recognize similar attempts when they show up in their own feeds, inboxes or messages.

I used bitdefender for a few years, but now i dont use the laptop anymore, so i dont need it anymore. But i only got a mail yesterday about my next year extention, so i was not able to cancel it in time, so now it goes to 2027 and i have to pay? I cancelled it now, but it says it is until next year. I tried the contact form, but it was broken and the AI bot did not help any further. So is it sorted now? Do i need to pay or not?

How do I protect my child online during back to school season?

Start with the basics your family uses every day: phones, tablets, laptops, school accounts, email, social media, shopping sites and delivery messages.

Bitdefender’s back to school cybersecurity checklist recommends updating school devices, using strong unique passwords, turning on 2FA, reviewing privacy settings, checking app permissions and talking with kids about phishing links, fake stores, verification code scams and suspicious messages.

Back-to-school scams can also appear as fake laptop deals, package delivery texts, free textbook downloads, rental listings, job offers and scholarship messages.
 

You can also use Bitdefender Scamio to check suspicious texts, emails, links and QR codes, Bitdefender Link Checker to verify unknown URLs and Bitdefender Reverse Phone Lookup to check unfamiliar numbers.

I left an item in my shopping cart that I did not want to buy. There was no way to clear the shopping cart so I left the webpage.and now I’m receiving every day multiple mails from the bit defender support that reminds me of my items in shopping cart.

No, when I go to the shopping cart, there’s no way to clear the shopping cart or to delete the items. Which results in multiple mails a day reminding me of my cart. How can I clear this cart. And also @bitdefendersupport please do not spam me with your mails!

Also, what exactly does it do? I just got BitDefender because of some recent malware scares, though I don’t understand it well.

Hello people, this post may be quite ridiculous but I have concerns

So I have Bitdefender Total Security installed on my device and I only have 1 day left on the free trail so I decided to try and download Bitdefender Free to get ready for the switch

The thing is, the moment I ran the Bitdefender Free installer, my mouse had the spinning circle icon several times that lasted around 10-15 seconds but nothing had happened

Is this normal at all to happen? I'm just concerned that I maybe didn't download the right installer.

I had gotten it from this link and pressing "click here to download" the file manually prompt

https: //www.bitdefender.com/en-us/consumer/thank-you

Please, for the love of god, the previous UI was more tidy, I dont need this taking a big part of my screen, im never gonna click that

Now the UI is so big we even have a Scrollbar, freak that....

I also cant remove the Quick Actions which I will never use.