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Bitdefender

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Bitdefender
Company typePrivate
IndustryComputer software
FoundedNovember 6, 2001; 22 years ago (2001-11-06)
FounderFlorin Talpeș
HeadquartersBucharest, Romania Santa Clara, California
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Florin Talpeș (CEO)
ProductsCybersecurity software
ServicesComputer security
Revenue€296 million (2022)[1]
Number of employees
1,800+ (2023)
Websitewww.bitdefender.com Edit this at Wikidata

Bitdefender is a multinational cybersecurity technology company dual-headquartered in Bucharest, Romania and Santa Clara, California,[2] with offices in the United States, Europe, Australia and the Middle East.[3][4]

The company was founded in 2001 by the current CEO and main shareholder, Florin Talpeș. Bitdefender develops and delivers cybersecurity products and services, including endpoint protection, cloud and managed security, antivirus software, and security for the Internet of things. Bitdefender products are distributed through partners in over 150 countries[5] and the US market is estimated to generate more than 40% of its revenues. As of 2023, the company employed more than 1,800 people worldwide.[5]

History

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Bitdefender software was originally developed by SOFTWIN, a company founded in 1990 in post-communist Romania. It was originally sold as AVX (Antivirus Expert) from 1996 until 2001, when the Bitdefender subsidiary was created, and AVX was rebranded under the Bitdefender name.[6]

In 2007, Bitdefender became a separate business entity with external capital entry, with Axxess Capital Investment Fund as a key shareholder.

From 2004 to 2015, the company expanded with offices in the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Denmark, and the Middle East.[7]

In 2017, the company acquired French partner Profil Technology.[8] British fund Virtuvian Partners would then buy a 30% stake in the company, putting its valuation over $600 million.[9]

In 2018, Bitdefender opened a new subsidiary in Australia, through acquisition of assets from SMS eTech.[10] That year, the company also acquired behavioral and network security analysis company RedSocks.[11]

Bitdefender opened its own Security Operations Center in San Antonio, Texas in 2019. Bitdefender signed a multi-year partnership deal with Scuderia Ferrari on September 28, 2022.[12][13]

In April 2024, Bitdefender announced the launch of Bitdefender Voyager Ventures, a corporate venture capital unit.[14]

Products and services

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Bitdefender's original product was sold as Antivirus Expert until 2001, when it was rebranded under the Bitdefender name.[6]

Since 2011, Bitdefender has expanded to include consumer and enterprise security products, and in 2021, an extended detection and response (XDR) platform.[15] Like most security suites, Bitdefender’s consumer services are managed through an online portal, called Bitdefender Central.[16]

In December 2023, Bitdefender launched Scamio, a free AI-powered scam detector.[17][18]

Cybersecurity

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The company joined the No More Ransom initiative in 2016, releasing free decryption tools for victims of ransom attacks to decrypt their devices without having to pay to do so.[19][20]In 2018, Bitdefender joined the Cybersecurity Tech Accord.[21][22]

Bitdefender’s 2020 research into the Interplanetary Storm botnet proxy network was provided to law enforcement ahead of the FBI dismantling the network in November 2023.[23]

Controversies and incidents

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Trojan.FakeAlert.5

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On March 20, 2010, computers running Bitdefender under 64-bit versions of Windows were affected by a malfunctioning update that 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.[24] Bitdefender representatives announced the removal of the faulty update and a workaround for the users affected,[25] except for those using the 2008 version.[26]

DarkSide ransomware

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In 2021, Bitdefender was accused of self-promotion when releasing and publicly announcing a decryptor to the detriment of victims of DarkSide, a hacking group. In 2020, DarkSide switched their main encryption ransomware product over to an "affiliate" model wherein other attackers could download and use their software in exchange for a portion of the profits. However, they introduced a bug in the process where affiliate hackers would all use the same private RSA key - meaning that a decryption package for a single target who paid the ransom would work on any target that had the ransomware installed. Security researchers noticed and were quietly already helping victims of the software, but with no public notice, making it so that the attackers would only see an inexplicable decrease in ransom payments that could be written off as chance.

Months later, Bitdefender publicly released a decryptor of their own development and issued a blog post describing the flaw. This was criticized in an article in the MIT Technology Review. The article wrote that Bitdefender's program wasn't even safe - it was flawed and would "damage" files decrypted with it due to bugs within it, unlike the earlier decryptors that had been quietly used. Second, the blog post tipped off DarkSide as to the nature of the flaw, leading to the group sarcastically thanking Bitdefender and patching the bug.

A notable incident that took place after Bitdefender's public disclosure was the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack in May 2021. While the security researchers who had been using the flaw before acknowledge that it's probable DarkSide would eventually have noticed and fixed the issue, they still criticized Bitdefender for using the bug merely for a brief burst of publicity, rather than in the way that would most help victims of the scheme.[27] Bitdefender has defended their actions on their blog, saying that they only wished to make as many organizations as possible aware of the existence of the bug in DarkSide's ransom attacks.[28] The article and blog post triggered a discussion among cybersecurity professionals about the pros and cons of publicly disclosing such vulnerabilities in malware.[29]

Awards

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  • 2023 - AV-Comparatives Outstanding Security Award[30]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Revenue of Bitdefender from 2006 to 2022", statista.com
  2. ^ "About Bitdefender: Innovation in Cybersecurity since 2001". Bitdefender. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Interview with Florin Talpes, CEO at Bitdefender". Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  4. ^ "About Bitdefender: Innovation in Cybersecurity since 2001". Bitdefender. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Bitdefender Long Description". Bitdefender. Archived from the original on 5 February 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Definition of: Bitdefender". PC Magazine Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  7. ^ "M&A alert. Vitruvian Partners buys stake in Bitdefender from Axxess Capital". Business Review (in Romanian). 1 December 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Romania's Bitdefender buys France's Profil Technology". seenews.com. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  9. ^ Ilie, Luiza (1 December 2017). "Vitruvian buys 30 pct stake in Romanian cyber security firm Bitdefender". Reuters. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Romania's Bitdefender buys Australian partner SMS eTech". seenews.com. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  11. ^ Kass, D. Howard (23 October 2018). "Bitdefender Acquires Network Security Analytics Startup RedSocks in Expansion Push -". MSSP Alert. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Bitdefender Team Partner - Ferrari.com". www.ferrari.com. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  13. ^ "Bitdefender's Partnership with Scuderia Ferrari". Bitdefender. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  14. ^ Bains, Roshini (24 April 2024). "Cybersecurity firm Bitdefender launches CVC -". globalventuring.com. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security Enterprise Review". PCMAG. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Bitdefender Ultimate Security Review". PCMAG. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  17. ^ Rees, Ali (13 December 2023). "Meet Scamio, Bitdefender's new free AI scam detector". ReadWrite. Retrieved 21 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ "Bitdefender's Scamio Integrates With WhatsApp In Australia". 27 May 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  19. ^ Lakshmanan, Ravie (19 September 2022). "Europol and Bitdefender Release Free Decryptor for LockerGoga Ransomware". The Hacker News. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  20. ^ "What is a ransomware decryptor?". 10 January 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  21. ^ "Signatories". Cybersecurity Tech Accord. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Tech companies sign cyber accord". Information Age. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  23. ^ "District of Puerto Rico | Russian and Moldovan National Pleads Guilty to Operating Illegal Botnet Proxy Service that Infected Tens of Thousands of Internet-Connected Devices Around the World | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  24. ^ McMillan, Robert. "Bad Bitdefender Update Clobbers Windows PCs". PC World. Archived from the original on 27 October 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  25. ^ "Trojan.FakeAlert.5 Update issue". Archived from the original on 24 March 2010.
  26. ^ Peter Bright (22 March 2010). "Bitdefender update breaks 64-bit Windows PCs".
  27. ^ Dudley, Renee; Golden, Daniel (24 May 2021). "The Colonial pipeline ransomware hackers had a secret weapon: self-promoting cybersecurity firms". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  28. ^ Bitdefender's Position on Ransomware Attacks and Decryptors
  29. ^ Schwartz, Samantha (21 September 2021). "Is there too much transparency in cybersecurity?". Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  30. ^ Zehentmaier, Verena (1 March 2024). "AV-Comparatives Awards 2023 for Bitdefender". AV-Comparatives. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
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