How to update Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac to latest version

DavidPeter

I contacted customer support this morning because even though I tried updating from Version 8.3.0.30 to the latest, 9.0.4.4, the update procedure (going into the Actions menu and selecting "Update threat information database") didn't help. The customer service agent asked me to uninstall and reinstall Bitdefender, but that didn't help either. I've still got Version 8.3.0.30. Any suggestions? I'm running OS Monterey 12.4 on a 2019 iMac. Is Monterey causing the problem?

DP

Alexandru_BD

Hello @DavidPeter and welcome to the Community!

Do you have a ticket number? I can have a look.

Do you receive any error messages? Are you using any firewall applications?

Regards

DavidPeter

Hello @Alexandru_BD ,

My ticket number is 1007445044. I did not receive any error messages. Since I was able to update the database and all the files downloaded I didn't suspect a firewall issue. My notifications tab confirmed "update completed successfully" for the threat information database. I've checked and the computer's firewall is turned off in Apple Security and Privacy settings. There is no operational VPN either.

Even though Bitdefender Antivirus is installed, it is a Netgear Armor subscription, not a Bitdefender one, so I wondered if that has something to do with it. For the reinstall I needed to go into my Netgear Armor account. I don't have a separate Bitdefender account, so the link that customer service gave me for reinstalling didn't work because I couldn't log in.

All best,

DavidPeter

Alexandru_BD

Hi,

Thank you for providing us with the detailed context. I have added a note to your ticket and the Support representatives will reply as soon as possible and provide further assistance.

Regards

Mac Guy

I'm having the same problem. NETGEAR Armor says it's bitdefender problem, and bitdefender support says contact NETGEAR Armor team.

any update on how to proceed with this? this is an issue for me because my Mac is using the M1 chip, and version 8 runs in compatibility mode whereas version 9 supposedly runs in native mode.

thanks for any help you can provide on this issue.

DavidPeter

I'm stumped. After weeks of pursuing technical support one of the engineers wrote back to me with this message: "Please know that the reason why the product from your device does not update is because Netgear Armor uses an older Bitdefender version and the one you have installed is the latest version. Therefore, there is no need to perform a remote session, as your Antivirus for Mac from Netgear is up to date: 8.3.0.30."

I'm wondering how I'm supposed to know which version is up to date when new versions come out. Also, why, if there is a 9.0.4.4 version, is my version considered up to date?

DavidPeter

So am I less protected with Netgear Armor?

Mac Guy

OK, heard back from both Netgear and Bitdefender customer support -- basically it looks like a licensing issue, as Netgear users are restricted from using the 9.x release stream version. Netgear claims it's a Bitdefender issue, but Bitdefender claims it's a Netgear issue.

This is really a very bad situation for those who access Bitdefender via Netgear -- effectively we are "second class citizens" and our support options are very limited.

But here's a suggestion to both Netgear and Bitdefender -- stop playing the finger-pointing game and resolve the licensing issues for the users. If this is not resolved very quickly you are going to lose customers (like myself) who purchased the product assuming that we would have access to the latest version (which is what all the product literature from Netgear claims).

Alexandru_BD

Hi,

I'll jump in to clear the air here. The development teams are working on delivering the product build to Armor customers as well and they are collaborating with our partner, Netgear, to find the best route for this. However, even though you don't have the latest product built, rest assured that the product offers the maximum level of protection.

There are no further updates at this stage, but the teams are confident that a resolution is in sight.

Regards

breaksfr1

Has there been any update on this in terms of an ETA for deployment to Armor/Netgear customers?

Thx

Mac Guy

Greetings, and thanks for the update.

However, I do not agree with your comment "... rest assured that the product offers the maximum level of protection." Specifically, the current version of the product has a bug that conflicts with the proper operation of Time Machine.

In particular, if I enable "Time Machine Protection" within the Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac app, NO PROCESSES CAN ACCESS TIME MACHINE VOLUMES, which includes the MacOS Time Machine app! So I cannot get time machines backups with this option enabled. If I disable the "protect Time Machine backups" option within Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac, then the time machines volumes are not protected against ransomware apps that could wipe out the contents of my Time Machine backups.

Therefore, please consider this a serious request on behalf of all macOS users to fix this problem ASAP!