Bitdefender GravityZone combines multiple security services into a single platform to reduce the cost of building a trusted environment for endpoints.
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ThreatLocker
Score 9.0 out of 10
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ThreatLocker Inc. is a security platform used to stop misuse and vulnerable software as well as control application elevation, storage and network traffic.
It just works. I have seen multiple viruses and malware get past other antivirus software like TrendMicro, Webroot, and Kaspersky. Bitdefender GravityZone always catches what others miss. It has a very light footprint when it comes to system resources. The centralized management console is nice, but I prefer the console before they redesigned the UI.
I have tested two of software besides ThreatLocker. ThreatLocker by far, was the easiest of the 3 to work with and setup. One of the companies' software was too complicated to run and setup. The other one lacked a lot of the features that ThreatLocker had. ThreatLocker came with many prebuilt template for common software and utilities, like Office365, putty, Firefox, Google, etc. It came with a bunch of prebuilt blocking/ringfencing rules for utilities like powershell, hyper-v psexec, and many others. This saves setup time. Unfortunately, ThreatLocker will let you download something from the MS Store, sometime it will let you execute and sometimes it won't. I would like to see this to be able to block the download from MS Store until ThreatLocker approves the download.
Once installed, Bitdefender [GravityZone] runs silently in the background with little to no need for user interaction.
The cloud-based console provides for easy computer management and deployment.
Bitdefender [GravityZone] is extremely flexible, with a policy-based system wherein different profiles can be created (i.e. a policy to deactivate the firewall, a policy to allow for admin control on a machine, etc.) and pushed out to individual computers.
Computers can be grouped into different categories, with different policies automatically deployed to each category.
Bitdefender [GravityZone] is relatively resource-light and runs well even on lower-end computers.
Who do I ask? This is my chief complaint is once the initial licenses were purchased through Bit Defender, there was no one to contact that could help navigate some of the initial questions I had with regard to specific policies to implement for our file server. The parent web site is, well, hard to navigate when one is trying to "learn" the system.
The second issue is in increasing the licenses. It took several days for the parent company (by contact and phone) to inform me that they could not increase the licenses and I would have to go through a private vendor. There was no intent to connect me to a vendor or provide a vendor list until I asked specifically. YET I continue to get email from the parent company reminding me to pay an annual fee for the licenses purchase through the private vendor. The parent company can see the number of licenses yet did not sell them to me.
Gravity Zone Dashboard, while excellent for those who have experience, is not particularly intuitive for those who have never used it. There does not seem to be a lot of documentation for those responsible for implementation.
It works. I rely heavily on my vendors to provide a product that works, is easy to implement, and that they support. As well as be a decent value for the money
ThreaLocker has done its job and has prevented malware from executing. It has stopped an encryption process once already. It has kept a user from going to a bad website. He tried twice and was wondering why he was getting an error message from ThreatLocker and ESET both.
The console is easy to use, but has grown to have a lot of functionality. The only challenge is that all functions (even disabled and not installed ones) are shown. It would be great if only the functions that are active would be visible.
ThreatLocker ease of use allows me to get the answers I need to any threats or denied action that ThreatLocker took. The "Unified Audit" is a great tool to show what is happening/executing on a user's computer or on a server. Unified Audit will allow to look at what steps a programs takes when it executes. It will show you if it calls on Powershell or what DLL's it is executing and many other things.
Support is an area Bitdefender has always struggled with. While their products work great, the GravityZone dashboard is very technical in nature. If you aren't IT inclined, it could be difficult to setup. While most times support is helpful, we tend to work with them over email because of their very thick accent, they are hard to understand over the phone.
You can email, call or do online chat with tech support. I love their online chat. They are quick and friendly. Also, if you need to show them something, you can give the chat technician permission from your Chat box to allow the tech access to your computer. They also can pull out your admin console on their side. They can look at your "Unified Audit" log and see the same thing that you can. They have a good KnowledgeBase that you can look for answers. They have what is called "ThreatLocker University" where you can go through tutorials and take tests.
The owners and co-founders work with you through Zoom Meetings. They walk you through how to use and setup ThreatLocker. They also have webinars. You also can go through ThreatLocker University online training.
Using ThreatLocker University online training is very easy and informative. You take online tests to see how well you learned the material. It is great!
ThreatLocker is a family ran business. The owners, co-founders work with you to ensure you are up and running as quickly as possible. They went to ensure your success with ThreatLocker.
We were a Kaspersky shop for years. Kaspersky was a resource hog and it didn't even block half of what was thrown at it. We had more outbreaks and more end-user complaints in a year of Kaspersky then we have had in almost three years of Bitdefender.
I honestly have not seen many other programs like Threatlocker so I do not have any to compare to. Auto-Elevate may be the closest, however I did not evaluate them as part of my decision. Threatlocker does do a great job at onboarding which made deploying, setting up, and troubleshooting the program a breeze
ThreatLocker is very easy to add new ThreatLocker agents on computers and servers. It is very easy to do. You can install an agent on a computer or server in about 2 minutes or less.
The ROI for Bitdefender is hard to quantify except that it requires very little maintenance time from our staff.
We've spent no time troubleshooting user complaints or issues from users, so it has been a big time-saver over our previously used anti-malware software.
Bitdefender's customer service is usually pretty good and also very responsive, so I don't have to wait by the phone or to keep checking email to resolve a problem--although our issues have been mostly informational and not a problem with functionality.
