The Bitdefender Box: Not the Wi-Fi Security Droid We’ve Been Looking For
Once upon a time, the Internet was like a big city; there were good neighborhoods and not-so-good ones. But if you steered clear of the sketchy areas and stuck to the clean, well-lit ones, you could usually stay out of trouble.
The Bitdefender Box (Photo: Bitdefender)
Those days are over. Now it doesn’t matter where you go. The bad guys will eventually come to your house and find you. Small businesses and individuals are increasingly being targeted with ransomware — malware that takes over your computer and holds your data hostage until you cough up several hundred dollars.
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The next big target for cyberthieves is your home network. So just as you’d add a deadbolt to your front door or adopt a Doberman if crime started to pick up on your block, you now need to lock down your network. Preferably before you install dozens of insecure Internet of Things devices ripe for the plucking.
Frankly, minding smart-home security is a pain in the butt, requiring more technical savvy and time than most people have at their disposal. Which is why a product that can defend all your devices at once — without making you jump through endless hoops — is such a great idea.
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The $200 Bitdefender Box is one of the first security products made specifically for home networks. The Roku-size box looks cool and is great in concept. In my experience, though, the execution is sorely lacking.
What’s up, dog?
When it comes to cyber-watchdogs, the Bucharest-based Bitdefender’s pedigree is as good as they come. It was one of the first anti-malware companies to identify CryptoLocker, the notorious ransomware that has drained millions from personal bank accounts. The company’s antivirus software routinely receives top marks from Germany’s highly respected AV-Test labs.
Generally speaking, all anti-malware software works in two ways. One is by comparing the bits flowing into and out of your network against a database of malware signatures — essentially, snatches of identifying code, like a fingerprint file for cat burglars. When bad code is detected, the software puts it in the slammer, keeping it from reaching your computers.
Cybercriminals know this, so they write code that spontaneously mutates over time, creating thousands of variations on a single piece of malware. To detect these transforming bad programs, anti-malware vendors also look for bizarre activity on the network — like a smart refrigerator that appears to be sending email — and quarantine any code that could be causing it.
It’s a constant game of cat and mouse, with malware databases updating several times an hour in an effort to keep up with all the mutations. That’s why a cloud-connected device like the Bitdefender Box, which can be constantly updated, makes a ton of sense.
With the box installed, data is still delivered by your ISP to your modem, but from there it flows to your box, where it is examined for malware signatures and other anomalies. If the data looks questionable, the box stops it in its tracks. If not, it flows out via your Wi-Fi router to the devices on your network. Likewise, if the box sees unusual amounts of data flowing to or from a device on your network, it can also halt that, then send an alert to your phone.
(Photo: Bitdefender)
Because the box is also a Wi-Fi router (albeit an extremely limited one), you can use it to set up its own network and connect the devices you want to protect.
So instead of having to install anti-malware software on all your computers — or to live with no protections on devices that don’t give you the option of installing security software, like a Nest Thermostat or Dropcam camera — you can protect everything on your home network with one automatically updated device.
Not ready for crime time
Now for the bad news. The box doesn’t work with all routers or Internet gateways, including some from major ISPs. And when it fails, it does so rather thoroughly.
Setup isn’t a slam-dunk, either. You start by downloading an app to your phone, which then walks you through the installation process. I tried to connect the box to my Comcast Xfinity Wireless Gateway, which combines a cable modem, a Wi-Fi router, a TV set-top box, and a VoIP phone in one device. The app told me I had to manually configure my router by logging into the Gateway’s administration panel and disabling the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), which provides Internet addresses to each device on the network.
There were no instructions on how to do that, so I called Bitdefender’s tech support. They couldn’t tell me how to do it either, and instead directed me to Comcast. I’d rather have an anesthesia-free appendectomy than call Comcast tech support, but I did. After about 20 minutes we determined that it’s not actually possible to disable DHCP on its gateway.
So I went for option two: install the box as its own Wi-Fi network and connect my devices to it. But I couldn’t do that either, because first I had to remove the box from my network — an amazingly complex and bug-prone process that’s too painful to detail here but involved six tech support calls, 90 minutes on the phone with the boys from Bucharest, and one remote-access session. And we still couldn’t get it to work.
(Other reviewers of the box encountered similar installation snafus, as well as problems getting the box to detect all the malware they threw at it.)
Bitdefender’s website lists 20 router makers whose devices it claims to work well with, including popular vendors like Belkin, D-Link, Linksys, and Netgear. Even then, though, you’ll likely have to go in and manually change the DHCP settings. Bitdefender provides instructions on its site on how to do this, but it’s a nerdy step that’s beyond the comfort zone of most non-tech-savvy consumers.
If you own one of these routers, you might well have better luck than I did. It’s hard to imagine worse.
What would Jobs do?
If nothing else, this story illustrates just how hard it is to create something that works seamlessly across devices from a wide range of manufacturers. This is Bitdefender’s first attempt at a hardware product for consumers, and I think the company underestimated the effort required.
I can count on one hand the devices I’ve tested over the years that truly did work as flawlessly as advertised — the Sonos wireless music system, Roku, TiVo, Roomba, and pretty much everything from Apple, which of course benefits from tightly controlling the hardware its devices will connect to. It’s a rare thing. But almost all the tech products I’ve used were easier to set up than this one.
Ultimately, it makes much more sense to build this kind of security into the router itself. In fact, Bitdefender says it has received interest from several major ISPs about incorporating its software into their routers, which would also avoid the compatibility issues I encountered. Even if it failed to stop every threat, it would be a big improvement on what we have now.
Until that day — or if Bitdefender Box 2.0 appears and swats all the bugs and setup hassles — we’re left to fend for ourselves. Time to batten down the hatches.
Reach Dan Tynan here: ModFamily1@yahoo.com.
