Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition Silently Blocking Library Website Without Warning

Hello,


I would like to report a problem that Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition seems to be only happening in the Brave Web Browser (it does not happen in Firefox or Edge or Chrome) on Windows 10 where these two pages from The Beauregard Parish Library’s website will not load because Bitdefender is silently blocking them as Phishing it seems without showing a block message in the browser.


Here is a link to a video showing this:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/wa57io3KsC4yaux48


Here are the two pages that this happens to:


https://library.beau.org/


https://library.beau.org/webmail/src/login.php


Here is the message that I see in the Brave web browser when trying to access those two pages:


“This site can’t be reached


library.beau.org unexpectedly closed the connection.


Try:


Checking the connection

Checking the proxy and the firewall

Running Windows Network Diagnostics

ERR_CONNECTION_CLOSED

Check your Internet connection

Check any cables and reboot any routers, modems, or other network devices you may be using.

Allow Brave to access the network in your firewall or antivirus settings.

If it is already listed as a program allowed to access the network, try removing it from the list and adding it again.

If you use a proxy server…

Check your proxy settings or contact your network administrator to make sure the proxy server is working. If you don't believe you should be using a proxy server: Go to the Brave menu > Settings > Show advanced settings… > Change proxy settings… > LAN Settings and deselect the "Use a proxy server for your LAN" checkbox.”


If I open Bitdefender to look at the Events I see:


Web Threat Blocked

Phishing attempt at: https://library.beau.org/


If I click Exclude for that website, only then will those two pages load.


Why is this happening and why does it only happen in the Brave Web Browser on Windows 10 when I have Bitdefender Antivirus Free because this does not happen at work on PCLinuxOS in Brave without Bitdefender Antivirus Free?


I assume that this is a false positive as well?


Thank you,

-John Jr

Comments

  • Flexx
    Flexx DEFENDER OF THE YEAR 2023 / DEFENDER OF THE MONTH ✭✭✭✭✭ mod

    @goodjohnjr

    If you think the stated website is incorrectly detected, kindly fill up the online forum (https://www.bitdefender.com/submit/) & the link will be directly shared with the research team. If the detection is indeed incorrectly detected, detection will be removed in maximum of 72 hours. If even after 72 hours detection stays, then you should assume that the link is classified as malicious by research team.

    Regarding bitdefender free & brave browser conflict, kindly drop an email to bitdefender support at bitsy@bitdefender.com briefly explaining your issue. They will then share this internally with the development team. Make sure you keep in touch with the support team on the email to receive any update regarding your issue.

    Response may be delayed due to less staff and covid19. Rest be assured, they will reply back asap.


    If this helps, kindly mark answer as agree/ accepted

    Regards

    Flex

    (Bitdefender beta tester 2019/ 2020)

    Life happens, Coffee helps!

    Show your Attitude, when you reach that Altitude!

    Bitdefender Ultimate Security Plus (user)

  • Hello Flexx,


    I think that I already reported both links last year, I could be wrong, but I just did it again; they only fail to load when tried in Brave, Bitdefender Antivirus free seems to only block them in Brave not any other browser that I try them in.

    I definitely think that those are false positives, those are public library links to their home page and webmail log-in.

    Another problem is that Bitdefender shows no block page and if you look at the events it will not even show that anything was blocked if they were blocked in the past, it will just show that past block from another day, not the block from the current day.

    I tried reporting this through a Bitdefender form, I got an email telling me to report it at the forums, but I have emailed that address like you said.

    Thank you,

    -John Jr

  • Flexx
    Flexx DEFENDER OF THE YEAR 2023 / DEFENDER OF THE MONTH ✭✭✭✭✭ mod

    Kindly mark the case as agree/ accepted, so that the query can be closed in this forum & kindly be in continuous touch with the email you have sent to bitdefender support. If there is genuinely an issue, it will be rectified by development team through the feedback given by you to bitdefender support.

    Life happens, Coffee helps!

    Show your Attitude, when you reach that Altitude!

    Bitdefender Ultimate Security Plus (user)

  • I was told by email support that the troubleshooting of this issue should continue here, and so this issue is not resolved.


    -John Jr

  • Flexx
    Flexx DEFENDER OF THE YEAR 2023 / DEFENDER OF THE MONTH ✭✭✭✭✭ mod

    @goodjohnjr

    Well it's weird that bitdefender support team redirected you to the forum. I will tag co-member of community alongside bitdefender staff so that they can have a look into your issue.

    @Alex D., @Andy_BD (bitdefender staff)

    @Jayakrishnan (community member)

    Regards

    Flex

    Life happens, Coffee helps!

    Show your Attitude, when you reach that Altitude!

    Bitdefender Ultimate Security Plus (user)

  • Thank you Flexx,

    When I first reported the issue from a form at the Bitdefender website, I got an email saying that you have to use the Forums for Bitdefender Antivirus Free support, and so then I made my post here; and then of course I followed your advice here.

    They probably should adjust the website so that form will direct them here if email support is not available for the free version to prevent confusion / annoyance / et cetera.

    -John Jr