Zone Alarm

[lizzyhermit]

anyone have any pros/cons on this freeware ?

 

[MGordon]

I used it for years without any problems. It's a good program. I did upgrade to Zone Alarm Pro about a year ago.

 

[Philip]

Very good program. I reccommend it to anyone on the internet. It is good for telling you if you get any of those phone home programs/ virus.

 

[JConley]

Zonealarm is one of the best. I recommend getting a linksys router. For about $45. 00 you have better protection.

 

[Ram4Sam]

I have been using the free version for years and never had a problem. This is a must(there are others also) for a cable/Dsl connection. A router will do the same job as Zone Alarm as far as intrusions but the router won't block any outgoing phone home spyware programs you manage to pick up, Zone Alarm will. I use both to cover me both ways.



For you Zonealarm users, check out this free program that runs along with ZoneAlarm



http://visualize.phenominet.com/



It backtraces any intrusion attempts that Zonealarm detects and gives their location on a world map, along with other info. It's kinda cool when you get bored.



Sam

 

[mjendrejcak]

Originally posted by JConley

Zonealarm is one of the best. I recommend getting a linksys router. For about $45. 00 you have better protection.

I second that. I support about 6500 users world wide, about 40% require VPN access back to the office. I can configure the linksys, send them to the users and never hear from them again. Zonealarms is a great tool but the pop up alerts can be annoying and if you are not careful you can shut down your internet access.

 

[waterdonkey]

Have been using it for years, no trouble. A+

 

[nickleinonen]

i've been using it for about 2 years now. i've had no problems with it and it runs hidden in the background nicely

 

[HEMI®Dart]

I started with Zone Alarm trial version. Then I upgraded to Zone Alarm Pro. Bought it online from Zone Labs. I won't go online without it.

 

[slo-ryde]

If you want to see just how secure your connection really is visit www.grc.com and run the probes, you'll probably be very surprised at just how many ports are open in your software.



It took awhile but I finally managed to get my systems and router configured to be completely stealthy (that means my systems and router completely ignore any/all probes). When you're running in full stealth mode you don't exist, this leads hackers to assume your IP address is not being used and they move on.



BTW: the author of the site speaks highly of Zone Alarm but cautions it's only one piece of the security solution.

 

[Ram4Sam]

Another test..

Here is another quickie test site to see how vulnerable your broadband connection is



http://www.dslreports.com/scan





Sam

 

[JConley]

Ram4Sam



A hardware solution can be configured to stop both inbound and outbound traffic. Zone Alarm is good, but is its a software solution. I highly recommend this if you have nothing else. Software has vulnerabilities, and since the PC is plugged directly into the Internet with a routable IP address, your computer is getting directly hit with the attack, and you are relying on software to stop the attack from getting any farther in your computer.



With a hardware solution like a Linksys box, the Linksys is getting hit with the attack, not your computer. Not only that, but your computer would not have a routable IP address behind the linksys box, so that is even more protection.