The issue relates to a problem I was having with iTunes where that app was not able to communicate with my mobile device. This problem was initiated precisely when I was in the process of an iOS update that did not complete for an unknown reason. Right after that process, is when the iPhone could no longer "talk" with iTunes. In fact the Apple Mobile Device USB driver was corrupted along with, likely, parts of iTunes during the install processes (e.g., plugging in an iPhone by way of USB port).
After a great deal of effort, the Apple Care Team determined (still working this case) that is may well be related to BitDefender. Further, it was suggested that I uninstall BitDefender and try to reinstall iTunes (with the Apple Mobile Device USB Driver) and see if that would help. I did and it did indeed help, corroborating the Apple Team's hypothesis that BitDefender was looking at the iTunes updates as invading viruses.
But the problem persists when I re-enable BitDefender. I hope the "fix" is NOT to uninstall BitDefender every time I want to synch my Apple Mobile Devices or every time there is an iTunes update.
The Apple Team says that it is not an isolated example with Virus Protection Software. A curious thing is that BitDefender is not reporting that it isolated anything suspicious like it would if it quarantined a virus.
I am writing to you to advise you of this issue, now corroborated through multiple experiments. If there is any way to avoid this happening in the future, it would be greatly appreciated.
UPDATE: I also discovered that BitDefender was (silently) blocking my installation of Amazon's KindleForPC app. When I turned off the anti-virus, firewall, anti-spam, updates, and privacy the installation went smoothly. Why is Bitdefender doing this? It's acting like a virus itself!
UPDATE: Discovered through experimentation that BitDefender seems to be corrupting the Apple Mobile Device Support USB driver. Once corrupted, I have to re-install iTunes all over again with BitDefender disabled (otherwise it appears to "eat" the driver on load when I plug in an iPhone, for example. Again, without reporting that it just ate my driver.) 