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The company could improve this passive feature by blacklisting all Apple-signed Unix apps from acting on the Safe Files folders, too. Still, even passive protection is better than none, since most ransomware threats involve downloaded apps, not freestanding scripts. This kind of passive ransomware protection differs from that provided by our top paid pick, Sophos Home Premium, which actively looks for patterns of encryption that ransomware apps follow. Because the script wasnвЂ™t known malware, it also wasnвЂ™t blocked by the anti-virus database in Bitdefender.

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However, I also tested a simple Terminal-based вЂњbashвЂќ shell script, which uses a command-line ZIP compression tool, and the script and the ZIP compression and encryption werenвЂ™t stopped: macOSвЂ™s Unix tools are signed by Apple.

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To test this feature, I ran a piece of known ransomware from the Objective See archive with BitdefenderвЂ™s real-time scanning feature disabled (as that would prevent its expansion and launch) but Safe Files turned on. When an unsigned app first tries to modify files in a folder protected by Safe Files, Bitdefender warns and offers options. All unsigned third-party apps are blocked by default. You can also manually add and remove apps from the list and set them to approved or blocked. That approval behavior also canвЂ™t be modified, but you can set Bitdefender to block third-party signed apps after their first attempt to access a protected folder. I tested an Apple-signed third-party app, Bare BonesвЂ™s BBEdit, and it was automatically approved and shown in the Safe Files apps list. You can add others, but ransomware typically targets only files created by users, as those require fewer permissions to modify.ДЄppleвЂ™s apps are all exempted from Safe Files automatic blocking, and thereвЂ™s no way (or, really, reason) to block them.

When Safe Files is turned on, it prevents apps from creating, modifying, or deleting anything within protected folders the starting set encompasses Desktop, Documents, Downloads, and Pictures. The Safe Files feature passively protects selected folders against unsigned and blocked apps modifying anything within them.

The company says an installation wizard should offer both Safe Files and the Time Machine protection option (which weвЂ™ll discuss next) as optional features a user can enable. You must dig into the softwareвЂ™s preferences and turn it on manually. In both versions 6.1 and 6.2, the default setup doesnвЂ™t activate the Safe Files feature, which provides passive ransomware protection. This behavior is what IвЂ™d expect and marks a substantial improvement. Disabling its protection, expanding the archive, and then re-enabling it also resulted in an immediate quarantine of malware files.

With version 6.2, however, as soon as I expanded the encrypted archive, Bitdefender instantly recognized the malware, moved it into quarantine, and displayed a notification about what had happened.

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A manual вЂњCustom ScanвЂќ operation had to be performed to recognize the malware. In our previous review of version 6.1, BitdefenderвЂ™s anti-malware monitoring didnвЂ™t stop me when I decompressed macOS malware from the Objective See archive, nor when I tried to launch it.