Danish entrepreneurs founded the firm in 2002. It has grown into a well-known brand throughout the course of its 15-year operation. BullGuard now offers full-featured cross-platform anti-malware, smartphones, tablets security software, and IOT (Internet of Things) technologies. BullGuard is characterized as a solid and dependable solution for basic security in most BullGuard evaluations.
They’ve built a product that is recognized all around the world because of their philosophy of low prices, quick customer service, and discounts. This antiviral is small and has little influence on the system. It has a user-friendly layout. It becomes a must-have with well-above-average individual test scores, a list of simple yet helpful features, and continuous updates.
The latest 2022 BullGuard products are pretty excellent as compared to earlier editions. Antivirus software is available for all main systems. Every component and component of BullGuard has been thoroughly researched by our panel of professionals.
- Dynamic machine learning – An automated self-learning software that tracks down malware faster
- Behavioral engine – Bullguard antivirus tracks the behavior of the applications and shuts them down when they go rogue.
- Vulnerability scanner – Checks for vulnerabilities within your system
- Game booster – Blocks popup and notification when you’re gaming or streaming movies
- Secure browser – A separate browser for processing banking transactions (in Internet Security package and above)
Pricing
The cost of an annual license for 5 to 10 devices is $100, $160 for 2 years, and $300 for 3 years.
Surprisingly, BullGuard Premium Protection is less expensive than Internet Security if you ever need to secure 10 devices. Indeed, you get much more features for a lower price. We’re not sure what’s going on, but we’re not grumbling. If you’re wanting to buy, make careful to look at the pricing for all subscription lengths and apparatus numbers; they might not be what you think.
- BullGuard Antivirus – $29.99/year
- BullGuard Internet Security – $59.99/year
- BullGuard Premium Protection – $99.99/year
- BullGuard Mobile Security – $19.95/year
If you’re unable to make a decision? It’s no issue. BullGuard Antivirus has a 15-day trial available, as well as 30-day versions of BullGuard Premium Protection and intermediate BullGuard Internet Security. You’re also covered by a 30-day money-back warranty, which gives you more than enough time to decide if this is the appropriate antivirus that suits your home or business.
Great Lab Scores
While accurate malware identification is critical, an antivirus must also avoid quarantining legitimate apps and not slow down the performance of the system. The AV-Test Institute awards antiviral products up to 6 points for security, efficiency, and utility, with usability referring to the fact that it does not identify legitimate apps or websites as harmful. BullGuard received a maximum of six points in each of the 3 groups, resulting in an excellent 18 points score.
AV-Comparatives reports on a wide range of security product testing on a regular basis. We’re keeping a careful eye on three of them. Standard certification is given to products that pass a test, however, Advanced and Advanced+ certification is given to products that go above and above the required minimum. BullGuard has received a variety of ratings in these tests in previous years. Sometimes it got to Advanced+, and other times it didn’t even get to Standard. BullGuard isn’t mentioned in the lab’s most recent studies.
Features
The UI of BullGuard Antivirus is a tad clumsy, especially for a beginner product. The application separates its dashboard into eight or nine little panels rather than focusing exclusively on security and your protection status.
Just one of them is about antivirus; the other two are about vulnerability checking and the performance-boosting Game Booster, both of which are useful but not daily functions. Because BullGuard Antivirus does not contain BullGuard VPN, Firewall, Backup, System Tune-up, Parental Control, or Secure Browser, the following six options are greyed out or inaccessible.
Although this is a waste of precious on-screen space, it does not make the software any harder for using. The activities available are listed in a drop-down menu — Quick Scan, Full Scan, and Custom Scan are the several types of scans available.
The opportunity to add other scanner types, which BullGuard refers to as Antivirus Accounts, is tucked away in the Configuration. This might be used to construct bespoke scans in which you have absolute control over which sections of the system are scanned, which data are investigated, how the scan is executed (manual process or on a schedule), and what the application does if any risks are discovered. Although not everybody will require or even realize this, it is useful to have the choice.
BullGuard Antivirus additionally offers real-time security, which we found to be effective for most sections. For example, the software automatically inspected and prevented risky downloads, and it discovered viruses we extracted from an encrypted ZIP right away.
However, we discovered one flaw in email detection. Received emails are not scanned at the network level by BullGuard Antivirus; rather, email client add-ins are used (Outlook and Thunderbird are supported). Your emails will not be checked if you use another software or if the add-in stops working or becomes deactivated.
This will not be an issue if you view your emails on a browser. BullGuard’s real-time security must identify and prevent any malicious link after it has they’re stored or accessed, even if you’re impacted. Nonetheless, it’s possible that some consumers would lose a level of protection that they would normally obtain from other providers.
BullGuard Antivirus includes quick risk assessments that examine your Wi-Fi privacy, mobile device auto-run settings, Windows Update status, and drivers’ digital certificates.
Malware and Ransomware Protection
BullGuard isn’t the most powerful antivirus when it comes to protection techniques and real-world tests, but it does deliver above-average results. BullGuard is capable of stopping 100% of malware samples as well as 99 percent of so-called zero-day threats. Our hands-on tests demonstrated its usefulness.
The anti-phishing defense seems to be quite good. BullGuard, while behind Panda by only 5%, was able to stop the great majority of threats. It fared admirably in URL blocking, earning an 89 percent score, putting it among the top-10 antivirus programs on the market. The inconsistency of this antivirus is the most serious worry. It has climbed into the top eight in recent testing, after languishing far behind the leaders only a few months later.
BullGuard overlooked an altered variant of a severe ransomware strain when it was last tested. We didn’t normally run the sample modifications as part of this test, but we made an exception because it was ransomware. Without a word from BullGuard, the ransomware ran to complete, encrypting the test system’s documents and demanding compensation. It promptly cleaned out as well our 12 ransomware variants and their modified counterparts in the most recent round of testing, which is a significant advantage.
The BullGuard product range claims multi-layered malware protection. Safe Browsing prevents you from visiting risky websites; Dynamic Machine Learning detects malicious activities; Sentry Security for Zero-Day Ransomware; an On-Access Antivirus Processor; a Firewall (with suite-level solutions); and a Vulnerability Analyzer are the six levels.
- Great Lab Score
- Cheap and great performance
- Gaming boosts
- Backup storage
- Vintage design
- Not full features on iOS
Performance
BullGuard may add up to eight additional processes to the machine (could be checked in the Task Manager). They do not, however, overburden the OS, RAM, or CPU. The average amount of RAM used is 200MB. It takes up a lot less space than Bitdefender, which takes up 600-700MB. Even while the CPU impact was substantial in the predecessor of the antivirus, it is now quite low.
You must first pick a plan that best meets your needs before downloading and installing BullGuard. When you press the “download” button, a little setup will display on your machine. The setup process is straightforward and user-friendly. The antivirus will prompt you to establish an account when it is finished.
BullGuard will then download all of the current patches from the official site when you restart your computer or device. When you initially start the antivirus, it is advised that you do a comprehensive scan.
The app list is a fantastic feature that allows users to access almost any menu/option with only a few clicks. The style is a little vintage, and it looks a lot like what we saw 10-12 years back.
Customer and Support
BullGuard provides expert help in 12 languages 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Consultations are available through three different channels: live chat, email, and an on-site issue system. On the downside, they don’t offer phone voice help. However, it’s unlikely that you’ll ever use it.
If you use their live chat, you’ll get help right away. Unfortunately, it’s only available during business hours, from 2:00 AM to 4:00 PM EST (the hours might seem unconventional because the customer support team is based in the UK). I checked out the chat and found the agent to be quite helpful and polite.
You may also write to support at [email protected] if the live chat is unavailable. Another alternative is to browse the knowledge base, which contains a number of product manuals.
Customer service for virus eradication, application installation, and PC tuning is also available for a fee. The cost is defined by the number of treatments required.
