BitDefender TrafficLight

MidnightCowboy · 11. Apr 2011, 06:22 PM

There's been quite a lot of talk about this over at Wilder already so no point in repeating that.

Basically you can either install the cross browser application on your system or use one of the available extensions instead, although these don't offer the same level of protection.

There was an error today (this is Beta software) which prevented the system utility installing but this is now fixed.

http://trafficlight.bitdefender.com/

MC likes it

26Dolphins · 11. Apr 2011, 08:57 PM

Thanks for the heads up, looks interesting (bookmarked the page), but the reports on high CPU/ RAM hold me back from trying out the beta.

The first extension released was the one for Chrome - hm, interesting.

kendall.a · 11. Apr 2011, 09:34 PM

I don't have the time right now to catch up on the discussion at Wilders, so I have a question. I almost hate to ask it, but here goes....

What advantage, if any, does this have over using something like Sandboxie?

MidnightCowboy · 11. Apr 2011, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 26Dolphins

Thanks for the heads up, looks interesting (bookmarked the page), but the reports on high CPU/ RAM hold me back from trying out the beta.

The first extension released was the one for Chrome - hm, interesting.

I'm trying to push the boundaries of common sense

by using it on IE9 with Trend Micro Browser Guard enabled too. Yes the RAM is a little higher and CPU spikes occasionally but nothing to concern me.

MidnightCowboy · 11. Apr 2011, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kendall

I don't have the time right now to catch up on the discussion at Wilders, so I have a question. I almost hate to ask it, but here goes....

What advantage, if any, does this have over using something like Sandboxie?

In theory no but not everyone is disciplined enough to use something like Sandboxie properly. Plus Sandboxie and BufferZone need varying degrees of configuration, whereas simplicity is what you get with BitDefender TrafficLight. Also, many prefer their protection to be (supposedly) available "on the go" rather than having to sort things out later.

I guess this might pick up something you were otherwise unaware of which you then let out of the sandbox.

deya · 11. Apr 2011, 09:54 PM

Thanks for this, MC. I've installed the cross browser app - XP Pro SP3 - it installed with no problems. Too early to say how well it performs just yet but here's what I noticed already with the browsers I have installed at the moment.

Opera 11.10 Beta - BD TL works but WOT stops working
FF 4 - BD TL works fine in tandem with WOT
Lunascape 6.5.0 Beta - BD TL doesn't work - with any of the 3 engines
Sleipnir - BD TL doesn't work
ChromePlus - BD TL works fine with WOT
SeamMonkey 2.1b3 (Beta) - BD TL works fine with WOT
Maxthon 2 - No support for WOT but BD TL works perfect
Maxthon 3 - No support for WOT but BD TL works perfect - with both engines
IE 8 - BD TL works fine with WOT

I did notice an initial bit of lag at first with ChromePlus (not the fastest browser anyway) but now it seems to have settled and it's running ok again. Best part for me though, BD TL absolutely flies with Maxthon 3 - the BD icons load in an instant.

The task manager shows bsserv.exe running, the memory usage increases and decreases as you use it - from around 600k up to 29,000k. But it fluctuates all the time so I'll have to use it longer to tell more. CPU does spike when opening pages, or when the search icons load, but I've not seen it go over 20 per cent as yet, and it's only a brief spike. Time will tell so I'll try and keep checking that.

BD TL reminds me of Finjan but with more options and, same as with Finjan, it shows site ratings as green when WOT shows them as red. So, who to believe?

I disabled the search result analyzer and tried it again with Opera but WOT still won't work properly. But as they're both Betas you can't draw too much of a conclusion to that at the moment.

I'll keep it on here and see how it goes, I like the idea of it - especially in the browsers I can't use WOT with.

Thanks for posting this.

J_L · 12. Apr 2011, 12:16 AM

@kendall: Sandboxie doesn't protect you from fraud or phishing.

Already using Chrome extension on Ubuntu Chromium, working fine so far. Looking forward to Firefox add-on as well (full version isn't compatible on my system).

bo.elam · 12. Apr 2011, 07:58 AM

I installed TL virtualized, ran with it for a couple of hours. I guess
that its OK for people not using Sandboxie or NoScript but I found
that in order to see the Traffic light display for each (most) page
I needed to allow scripts globally. That is something that I would
not do. Even if scripts are not allowed globally, Eicar page is block
so it does work even with NS at full power.
For some reason my install ended up in French even though during
the install everything was in English. I don't know what happened.
Memory was very high even though only tried Youtube quickly to
see if videos played well. They did but memory all around was very
high from start up and kept going.
I did not experience any high CPU spikes or slowdown at all, I guess
those were the strong points that I noticed.
Tried it because "MC likes it ", I guess it could become a pretty good
application when it comes out of Beta.

Bo

MidnightCowboy · 12. Apr 2011, 08:42 AM

With thanks to deya - also working fine at my end with IE9 (which also has Trend Micro Browser Guard installed) and SRWareIron.

deya · 12. Apr 2011, 10:22 AM

I'm going to stick with TL today and see how it goes. There's definitely an issue, for me, when using it with Opera. I installed version 11.10 final and tried it with that, TL works but WOT won't install properly and I keep getting unknown certificate pop ups on some Websites, even the 'Download Opera' page. They show the issuse as 'BitDefender Personal CA, TrafficLight' - so just a word of caution to anyone using Opera who's thinking of trying TL.

I've disabled the TL Ad Filter for now. Also, if I use the URL shortener Norton DNS content filter blocks the site. I get a warning about attempting to access saf.li - it says it's a known pornography site!!?? - so, obviously all is not yet quite perfect with TL.

I have to disable TL for ChromePlus because, after thinking all was well, it pretty near cripples the browser, using very high CPU and memory for long periods of time and pages won't load. No idea why that is but once TL is switched off the browser works fine again, but that's a plus point for TL, you can switch it off. Although when it is switched off bsserve.exe still runs and CPU flickers when browsing.

But with FF4, Maxthon, SeaMonkey and IE8, TL works fine. No lag, the icons load quick in the search results and, where it's installed, WOT works alongside it.

I really hope they get this right, in fact I'm pretty sure they will. So when I get the time later on today I'll try and read up more on it.

11. Apr 2011, 06:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
MidnightCowboy Site Manager Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: South American Banana Republic, third bunch from the left Posts: 9,250	BitDefender TrafficLight There's been quite a lot of talk about this over at Wilder already so no point in repeating that. Basically you can either install the cross browser application on your system or use one of the available extensions instead, although these don't offer the same level of protection. There was an error today (this is Beta software) which prevented the system utility installing but this is now fixed. http://trafficlight.bitdefender.com/ MC likes it __________________ Knows nothing and cares even less

11. Apr 2011, 08:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
26Dolphins Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 440	Thanks for the heads up, looks interesting (bookmarked the page), but the reports on high CPU/ RAM hold me back from trying out the beta. The first extension released was the one for Chrome - hm, interesting. __________________ 26Dolphins

11. Apr 2011, 09:34 PM	#3 (permalink)
kendall.a Foundation Editor/Forum Manager Intern Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 1,814	I don't have the time right now to catch up on the discussion at Wilders, so I have a question. I almost hate to ask it, but here goes.... What advantage, if any, does this have over using something like Sandboxie? __________________ <-------Is looking for his brain....

12. Apr 2011, 08:42 AM	#9 (permalink)
MidnightCowboy Site Manager Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: South American Banana Republic, third bunch from the left Posts: 9,250	With thanks to deya - also working fine at my end with IE9 (which also has Trend Micro Browser Guard installed) and SRWareIron. __________________ Knows nothing and cares even less

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

11. Apr 2011, 09:54 PM	#6 (permalink)
deya Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: UK Posts: 528	Thanks for this, MC. I've installed the cross browser app - XP Pro SP3 - it installed with no problems. Too early to say how well it performs just yet but here's what I noticed already with the browsers I have installed at the moment. Opera 11.10 Beta - BD TL works but WOT stops working FF 4 - BD TL works fine in tandem with WOT Lunascape 6.5.0 Beta - BD TL doesn't work - with any of the 3 engines Sleipnir - BD TL doesn't work ChromePlus - BD TL works fine with WOT SeamMonkey 2.1b3 (Beta) - BD TL works fine with WOT Maxthon 2 - No support for WOT but BD TL works perfect Maxthon 3 - No support for WOT but BD TL works perfect - with both engines IE 8 - BD TL works fine with WOT I did notice an initial bit of lag at first with ChromePlus (not the fastest browser anyway) but now it seems to have settled and it's running ok again. Best part for me though, BD TL absolutely flies with Maxthon 3 - the BD icons load in an instant. The task manager shows bsserv.exe running, the memory usage increases and decreases as you use it - from around 600k up to 29,000k. But it fluctuates all the time so I'll have to use it longer to tell more. CPU does spike when opening pages, or when the search icons load, but I've not seen it go over 20 per cent as yet, and it's only a brief spike. Time will tell so I'll try and keep checking that. BD TL reminds me of Finjan but with more options and, same as with Finjan, it shows site ratings as green when WOT shows them as red. So, who to believe? I disabled the search result analyzer and tried it again with Opera but WOT still won't work properly. But as they're both Betas you can't draw too much of a conclusion to that at the moment. I'll keep it on here and see how it goes, I like the idea of it - especially in the browsers I can't use WOT with. Thanks for posting this.

12. Apr 2011, 12:16 AM	#7 (permalink)
J_L Co-Author, Best Free Security List Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,475	@kendall: Sandboxie doesn't protect you from fraud or phishing. Already using Chrome extension on Ubuntu Chromium, working fine so far. Looking forward to Firefox add-on as well (full version isn't compatible on my system).

12. Apr 2011, 07:58 AM	#8 (permalink)
bo.elam Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 1,224	I installed TL virtualized, ran with it for a couple of hours. I guess that its OK for people not using Sandboxie or NoScript but I found that in order to see the Traffic light display for each (most) page I needed to allow scripts globally. That is something that I would not do. Even if scripts are not allowed globally, Eicar page is block so it does work even with NS at full power. For some reason my install ended up in French even though during the install everything was in English. I don't know what happened. Memory was very high even though only tried Youtube quickly to see if videos played well. They did but memory all around was very high from start up and kept going. I did not experience any high CPU spikes or slowdown at all, I guess those were the strong points that I noticed. Tried it because "MC likes it ", I guess it could become a pretty good application when it comes out of Beta. Bo

12. Apr 2011, 10:22 AM	#10 (permalink)
deya Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: UK Posts: 528	I'm going to stick with TL today and see how it goes. There's definitely an issue, for me, when using it with Opera. I installed version 11.10 final and tried it with that, TL works but WOT won't install properly and I keep getting unknown certificate pop ups on some Websites, even the 'Download Opera' page. They show the issuse as 'BitDefender Personal CA, TrafficLight' - so just a word of caution to anyone using Opera who's thinking of trying TL. I've disabled the TL Ad Filter for now. Also, if I use the URL shortener Norton DNS content filter blocks the site. I get a warning about attempting to access saf.li - it says it's a known pornography site!!?? - so, obviously all is not yet quite perfect with TL. I have to disable TL for ChromePlus because, after thinking all was well, it pretty near cripples the browser, using very high CPU and memory for long periods of time and pages won't load. No idea why that is but once TL is switched off the browser works fine again, but that's a plus point for TL, you can switch it off. Although when it is switched off bsserve.exe still runs and CPU flickers when browsing. But with FF4, Maxthon, SeaMonkey and IE8, TL works fine. No lag, the icons load quick in the search results and, where it's installed, WOT works alongside it. I really hope they get this right, in fact I'm pretty sure they will. So when I get the time later on today I'll try and read up more on it.