Bitdefender GravityZone Small Business Security review

GravityZone Small Business Security brings Bitdefender's business engine to Linux, but its licensing tells you who it is for. The suite combines anti-malware with heuristic analysis, Advanced Anti-Exploit, ransomware mitigation that backs up files before a suspicious process changes them, and web protection that scans HTTP and HTTPS traffic and blocks phishing and fraud pages. Bitdefender lists pre-execution and on-access blocking layers, and its requirements include Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or higher along with Red Hat and SUSE. The catch for desktop users is that Bitdefender says Linux operating systems are considered servers, and servers can account for only about 30% of the devices in a bundle. That works for an office with ten Windows laptops and two Ubuntu file servers, and badly for a household of Linux desktops. The deals page builds prices with scripts, so we could not confirm a USD figure from our location.

Who it is for

Small businesses with mostly Windows and Mac desktops plus a few Linux file servers.

Price

See vendor pricing (USD check pending).

US price check pending. See the vendor pricing page.

Key features

• Anti-malware with content scanning and heuristic analysis against viruses, worms, trojans and rootkits
• Advanced Anti-Exploit for memory corruption attacks
• Ransomware Mitigation that backs up files before a suspicious process changes them
• Anti-phishing, fraud prevention and web protection for HTTP and HTTPS traffic
• Pre-execution and on-access blocking layers

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Covers Windows, macOS and Linux from one console
• Strength: On-access and pre-execution blocking layers
• Strength: Sold in bundles from 1 to 100 devices
• Weakness: Bitdefender counts Linux operating systems as servers
• Weakness: Servers can make up only about 30% of devices in a bundle
• Weakness: Prices load by script and we could not confirm a USD figure

Key facts

• Operating systems: Windows, macOS, Linux
• Linux licensing: Counted as servers
• Server share: Up to 30% of total devices
• Ubuntu support: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or higher

Where it ranks

Bitdefender GravityZone Small Business Security is No. 4 in our Best Antivirus for Linux verdict and No. 1 in Best Antivirus for Small Business.