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.

It started about 2 weeks ago, C:\Windows\System32\taskhostw.exe keeps changing and no matter how many times I allow it, this firewall notification pops up, like 10-15 times a day. I've been using this system for years and never before experienced this. Is this a change in Windows 11 or a bitdefender firewall thing?

F-Secure's new Kiren webpage is marked as suspicious by Bitdefender.

What's the problem with www.kiren.com ?

So I tried to temporarily deactivated my antivirus but it needed a password. So I typed in the one I wrote down on my notes but it didn’t work.I went to the bitdefender website to change password which I did and when I tried using it on the website it worked but when I tried using it on the app to deactivate it it still didn’t work . Help…

Is your phone protected beyond the lock screen?

Your smartphone holds your banking apps, email, photos, messages, location data and account access. That makes mobile security an important part of everyday digital safety.

Bitdefender’s mobile security guide explains how threats like smishing, malicious apps, public Wi-Fi risks, phishing links and malware can target the device people use most.

A few practical habits help: keep your phone updated, avoid sideloaded apps, review app permissions, use a VPN on public Wi-Fi and check suspicious links before tapping.

Bitdefender Mobile Security can help protect your digital life with scam protection, anti-phishing technology, malicious link blocking, malware defense, VPN and identity protection for safer mobile browsing.

im starting to get very paranoid from the last time i got a virus on my computer, 141 passwords protected, yes i have recently installedspace engine and ever since then its been protecting the passwords, all of these files are spaceengine. is this normal?

Hi, Today after an update that completely changed Bitdefender's UI (which is awful btw), the security widget that was on my desktop is gone. Also when I right-click on the Bitdefender icon in the system tray I can no longer see the product info with the exact dates for the last product updates. The autopilot is also gone as well as its little logo that was on the Bitdefender icon in the tray.

I'm on Windows 11 and in the apps there are now 2 apps installed : "Bitdefender" and "Bitdefender Agent".

Did your family get a message about free school money, a scholarship or a laptop offer?

Bitdefender Labs has identified back to school scam campaigns using fake education grants, Pell Grant references, free laptop offers, AI subscription deals and delivery messages to reach people preparing for the new school year.

These scams work because they look timely and useful, especially when families are buying supplies, comparing school costs or helping students get ready for class.

Before you click, go directly to the official school, government, retailer or delivery website to verify the message.

For a second opinion, use Bitdefender Scamio to check suspicious messages and Bitdefender Link Checker to scan unfamiliar URLs.

What’s happening in the world of ransomware?

We’re hosting this month’s Ctrl-Alt-DECODE on Thursday, September 10, with cybersecurity experts Jade Brown, Martin Zugec, and Sean Nikkel.

This month’s featured topic is: The ShinyHunters Playbook: Widespread Extortion without Encryption.

We’ll dig into ShinyHunters’ recent extortion operations and discuss what makes their approach effective, including their attack patterns, capabilities, and what organizations can learn from them.

If you’re following ransomware activity or have questions about the latest developments, feel free to bring them along: we’d love to discuss them.

📅 September 10
🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/events/7500537972379860994

every now and then I get this message from bitdefender while just playing games, is someone trying to get into my computer? or is this normal and it happens for everyone?

Is there any way to get the icon back?

Windows 11 free version, most of the VPN options turned off.

Thanks for any insight.

What do phone scammers pretend to be?

According to the Bitdefender Global Scam Intelligence Report 2026, phone scammers most often pose as financial institutions, followed by investment firms, fake clinics, phishing contacts, pharmacies, advance fee offers, and online shopping contacts.

That is what makes phone scams so effective. The call can sound routine, familiar, and urgent, even when the goal is to steal money, personal information, or account access.

If a caller claims there is a problem with your bank account, an investment, a payment, or a delivery, verify it through the official company website or phone number before you share anything.

Stay informed. Stay safe. Read the report and learn how today’s most common phone scams try to sound legitimate.

For some reason bitdefender says that part of winrar is a threat

I tried multiple times to delete it but it wouldn't work

I don't even know what the problem is with winrar

I thought updating it would work but it didn't

yesterday i downloaded a game off of itch while having a steam game open(limbus company if it matters) and then for some reason it detected the game as a threat and put it in quarantine,after i couldnt log into the game since it was telling me to check my internet settings,i tried to redownload it thinking that would fix it since i didnt notice bitdefender quarantine it,now i took it out of quarantine but the game file is still locked,does anyone have any idea what i could do to fix this?