ZoneAlarm Security Suite 2005

List Price: $69.99

Features:

• Firewall blocks hackers and other unknown threats
• Blocks and removes viruses
• Safeguards privacy and protects personal data
• Prevents email worms from spamming address book
• Secures instant messaging conversations

Customer Reviews:

Complete Security Package [Posted on 2004-11-08]
I purchased this package just 5 days after buying Trend Micro Internet Security 2004, as I needed a suite for a second computer and I had only a single license. My second system was running Norton Internet Security 2003 (NIS2003), and I was getting frustrated by the memory footprint and resource consumption of NIS2003 (the antivirus in particular) and decided that I needed to make a change. On the recommendation of the system administrator at the office, I decided to purchase ZoneAlarm Security Suite 2005 (ZSS2005).

I should preface this review by saying, rather bluntly, that I prefer the Trend package. Trend is smaller and faster, which are my two main sticking points when it comes to software. However, Trend also lacks some of the refinements found in bigger packages. I did not make a mistake buying ZSS2005, though, and am happy with my overall decision.

The most important components of the package are the firewall and the antivirus. I will talk to these points first, then discuss the rest of the suite.

The firewall is generally regarded as the best on the market when it comes to software solutions. Those reviews are on-target. The firewall is extremely highly configurable, easy to manipulate, and a bear to bypass. There are settings for nearly everything - setting ranges of IP addresses and ports to filter out, high/medium/low settings via sliders to define general behavior, and program access not unlike that found in NIS. Access to the settings is done through a dialog that is easy on the eyes and laid out in a very logical and clear manner. There should be no problem finding anything you need to find in the interface.

The alerts that the firewall sends are glaring and unmistakable, so that if there is some kind of activity you want to know about, you cannot help but know about it. With a button click you can dismiss the alerts, and if you are tired of them you can tell the firewall to be quiet and the alerts get toned down.

Program access to the internet is done in a manner similar to that of NIS, where each program is handled individually. This can be configured to be automatic, or it can be done on a case-by-case basis via manual action. The choice is yours.

If you're daring and you know what you're doing you can even establish your own custom rulesets for the firewall.

The other primary feature, the antivirus, is based on Computer Associate's scanner engine, and it seamlessly integrates into the package without trouble. While not especially fast at scanning, this antivirus actually lets me run scans in the background while I do other things. Granted, I wouldn't want to load up Doom3 or something like that while running a viral scan, but opening an app or two and doing a little work while the virus checker merrily does its thing is not a big deal. Sure, it slows down the other processes, but it doesn't completely kill the box like McAfee, Norton or Trend do.

The antivirus does have the ability to check email (inbound and outbound) for infection, and the base settings are simply on or off. Further controls allow for handling of attachments based on file extension.

There are several minor features of this firewall, some of them useful and some needing a little refinement. One of the nice features is a parental control facility. The configuration of such is very straightforward - on/off via radio buttons. There are many categories to choose from when deciding what to block or allow, and this list is straightforward. Once set, it is quite efficient and is independent of browser choice. It appears to rely on a lookup server as opposed to keeping a local copy of the list - this may or may not bother you, so consider this when enabling this feature.

One of the less refined features is the ad blocking, which hides in the privacy settings. I have found that it does not do as nice a job at blocking banner ads as I would hope and it lets a few slip through. This may improve down the road, but for now I personally am a little disappointed.

ZSS2005 has the ability to secure instant messaging transmissions as well. However, it requires that the person with whom you are communicating also have ZSS2005. Otherwise, everything stays unencrypted. This does make sense.

There is a setting for blocking spam, but this is misleading. The spam to which this setting refers is unsolicited instant messages, not email. There is apparently no email antispam functionality in this suite, which is something a lot of other packages offer, even if the feature is typically limited in scope. If you already have an antispam solution, great. If not, do not expect ZSS2005 to be of much help.

ZSS2005 is a nearly comprehensive solution that does a good job protecting your system while connected to the internet. It is fast enough to satisfy, it has a small footprint in memory, and is very light on resources. Although it is a newcomer on the internet security suite market, this one is absolutely worth a look. It has a good balance of power, speed and price.

The Good, the bad and the Ugly of ZoneAlarm [Posted on 2004-12-07]
Till recently, words like "Firewall" and "Hackers" were limited to corporate networks. However, today firewall software for home computers has gained as much importance as the virus protection software and rightly so. With fast, always on internet connections and computers that don't need to be shut down every night, your home pc is an easy target for hackers looking for a host pc to run their web pages or applications, to steal informatin like credit card numbers and address or just to hone their skills. This is why you need the firewall. There is no question about it.

The real question to ask is "Do I need to spend close to 70 bucks to buy ZoneAlarm?"
The answer is NO. Most email programs like yahoo and hotmail already have virus protection. Most people have some sort of virus protection on their computer too. If not, then better choice is Norton and MacAffee, not ZA.
You do need firewall though which is not provided by virus protection packages but there are a few things you should know before buying ZA.
Firstly, if you are on Windows XP you already have basic firewall protection. Please look at your manual to see how to turn it on. For most users this is enough. If you are really interested in getting more protection, read on.
If you have a router to share your internet connection with multiple home machines, then check the router manual. Many have firewall capability which is very powerfull and can protect you from most attacks. This firewall is as good as ZoneAlarm.
If you don't have either, you will need something like ZA. But before you rush to order it, I would encourage you to try the free trial version available from www.download.com. At this website, you will also find lot of other firewall programs for free.

Finally if you still wanna buy ZA then you should be aware of following problems:
1) If you have virus protection software like Norton or McAfee, ZA may actually mess your system up as all these softwares try to grab same files at startup time causing conflicts and system crashes. I had such a hard time that I had to uninstall ZA and clean up my entire system. The problem can be so bad that you may actually not be able to log into your machine at all.

2) Poor customer service: ZA doesn't have good, knowledgable customer service. If you run into technical issues, don't expect quick, easy to follow directions to get out of the mess.

That said, I still consider ZA to be a good alternative if you do not have Windows' built in firewall or router with firewall capability. However, do try the free version before you buy ZA Pro.

just a comment on anti-virus & firewalls [Posted on 2005-08-18]
I was just going to add the comment that avast antivirus works with zone alarm, and avast is a free antivirus. I have had no trouble with either on my system.

Can't Recommend [Posted on 2006-07-12]
Until last week, I'd been using ZASS for almost 2 years on my Gateway 510 (Pentium 4, 3.Ghz, 1.5GB Ram,XP/SP2), despite the periodic bugs in the updated versions. These were mainly problems with the True Vector system or glitches with the automatic AV downloads and I could usually find a fix for them. Unfortunately, though, their last update was an unmitigated disaster for me.

Within a day or so of downloading and performing a clean install of the new version (which came out around 6/26-6/28), I encountered hard drive problems for the first time. The first indication of trouble began when Windows Security Center kept reporting that my AV was out of date--which it was--or that I had no AV program at all. I didn't think much of it--I just made sure to download the new updates myself. But then the desktop disappeared, followed by Explorer crashing. I also received one of those opaque "serious error" messages. Then I ran ZASS's AV program, which took 5 hours(!)--as opposed to the usual 50 minutes--and my computer was clean. After rebooting to run CHKDSK, I was only able to get back into the normal configuration with a boot disk. CHKDSK showed (also for the first time) that a number of sectors (as well as the index) were corrupted and could not be repaired. Being something of a novice (and forgetting that I'd downloaded a new ZASS update), I assumed it was my 2 year old hard drive giving up the ghost. It never occurred to me that it might be Zone Alarm causing the problem.

I ended up buying a new hard drive. After reinstalling all the OEM software from CD-ROM's, everything went swimmingly for several hours--until I downloaded ZASS from the company's web site. Within an hour or two, Explorer began crashing repeatedly--after the 3rd time, I found I couldn't even get into the system with my boot disk or the Applications CD. After unplugging the cables on my hard drive and plugging them back in, I managed to boot into Safe Mode, and discovered that I had a bad driver and a newly corrupted boot file. Aaargh. #&%@ Googling the error code for the driver brought up links to stories about ZASS's buggy new version causing problems like mine--and not for the first time, either.

After uninstalling ZASS, I'm happy to report the problems have disappeared. CHKDSK repaired my boot file and the driver is history. Having gone through this mini-ordeal with ZASS, I'm not willing to give them any more chances, especially since every other update seems to have some kind of bug(s)in it. ZASS is like the little girl with the curl--when it's good, it's very, very good, but when it's bad--watch out!

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