Microphone monitor allows Bitdefender to detect different applications or web pages that want to grab microphone access and record sound for a different purpose, such as blackmail or extortion.
Rogue apps may access your built-in microphone silently or in the background without your consent. To make you aware of potential malicious exploits, Bitdefender Microphone monitor will give you notice of such events. This way, no app will be able to gain access to your microphone without you being in charge.
1. Bring up Bitdefender and click Privacy on the navigation menu.
2. In the VIDEO & AUDIO PROTECTION pane, click Settings.
3. In the Microphone tab, turn on or off the Microphone monitor switch.
By default, Bitdefender notifies you only when an untrusted app tries to access your microphone. You can choose to receive more or less microphone alerts. Here is how:
1. Bring up Bitdefender and click Privacy on the navigation menu.
2. In the VIDEO & AUDIO PROTECTION pane, click Settings.
3. Go to Microphone tab.
4. In the Notifications section, switch on or off:
• Notify when an application tries to access the microphone
• Notify when browsers access the microphone
• Notify when untrusted apps access the microphone
• Display notification based on Bitdefender users’ choice
Apps that try to connect to your microphone will automatically appear in the Microphone monitor list. From there, you can choose if Microphone monitor should display notifications for each app:
1. Bring up Bitdefender and click Privacy on the navigation menu.
2. In the VIDEO & AUDIO PROTECTION pane, click Microphone monitor. The first time you access Microphone monitor, a pop-up explains how this feature works.
3. The apps that already requested access to your microphone together with the time of last activity will appear in this list.
4. To start receiving microphone notifications for an app from this list, click . The icon turns to indicating that Bitdefender will display notifications when the selected app tries to access your microphone. To view what other Bitdefender users have chosen to do with a selected app, hover the mouse cursor over .
5. To change notifications for an app that is not in the list yet, click the desired link:
• Select Windows Store apps to add to the list – Windows Store apps installed on the PC are listed. Turn on the switch next to an app, then press OK to add to the list.
• Add a new application to the the list – select the .exe file you want to add to the list, then click OK.
6. Once the app is added to the list, click . The icon turns to , indicating that Bitdefender will display notifications when the selected app tries to access your microphone.