Today I will be reviewing my favorite way to protect my computer, Zone Alarm Pro. Zone Alarm has been with me for a few years now, and every time I use it I like it more and more. This small firewall has saved me from countless Trojans and malicious files that would have otherwise rendered my computer dead. I underestimated it, and so many people that make that mistake will see the true benefits of this cheap program!

Zone Alarm was created initially by Zone Lab’s but was bought by Check Point in 2003. It has only been compatible with Windows XP until recently in 2008 they updated Zone Alarm to 7.1, allowing the program to be compatible with 32-bit Vista only. Zone Alarm’s main purpose is to provide an effective firewall for your computer, allowing or denying no file without your decision. Whenever you boot up a new file or possibly a malicious file, they stop it momentarily until you allow or deny access using a handy pop-up. This means that there is no possible for a program to receive access and harm your computer or send files to the internet without your permission.Zone Alarm also allows for complete program control, allowing you to choose what level of trust you think is appropriate for each program. 1 being restricted, and 3 being full access to your computer. You can also choose to kill the program, which allows no access whatsoever, preventing any threat that program might bring to your computer.

The main feature of Zone Alarm is of course the actual firewall. The firewall is made up of 3 zones: Trusted Zone Security, Internet Zone Security, Blocked Zone Security. The TZS decides how cautious your computer should be within your Trusted Zone, which you define in program control. Even if you have a program that may seem fine at first glance, if somehow it receives a malicious update and you have the TZS turned off, it will not work effectively because you have allowed unlimited access to the program. The IZS decides while your browsing the internet how cautious it should be downloading files or viewing pages. This feature is great if you accidently view a Phisher site. The BZS blocks whatever you decide to, and doesn’t let any communication whatsoever through. It can be analogized to being stranded on a foreign planet with hostile aliens and no communication. This firewall is nearly impenetrable, allowing no file, communication, or hacker in your system without your command.

Not only does Zone Alarm act as an amazing firewall, it also has Anti-virus monitoring, Anti-Spyware, and EVEN E-mail Protection. With E-mail protection enabled no attachment can be opened or sent without thourough inspection. With the Anti-virus monitoring Zone Alarm works in conjunction with a designated Anti-virus program to alert you for out-of-date or possible not useful software. If your Anti-virus program is out of date, then there could be possible new virus’s that it has not incorporated into its automated defense. the Anti-Spyware is not a full program, but a handy attachment to the firewall that scans as you see fit. With the Zone Alarm privacy setting you can prevent pop-up ad’s and certain cookies.

Last but not least there is Identity Protection! You can enter certain figures, such as your bank number,credit card number, passwords to sites such as ebay and others, address, passport number, mothers maiden name, and many more. Then whenever data is communicated that may contain that information outbound from your computer, Zone Alarm stops this. This is very handy for password stealers and those pesky hackers that steal your information!

All in all Zone Alarm is a highly recommended program by me. It is very learner friendly, easy to use, and quite effective. Besides the Firewall, there are so many more things that you can do that will safeguard your computer that it is quite hard to list them, but I somehow managed to. I have no criticism of this software , and for only $30/year, the investment is worth it! I have yet to try out 7.1, seeing as my version is still behind at 6.5.722, but the coverage is still the same! For you gamers trying to log onto servers, Zone Alarm may sometimes get a little annoying. For those situations, simply right click on Zone Alarm and go into gamemode, which does not question repeated server connections during your gameplay! It is also noteworthy to say that Zone Alarm does not slow down your computer like other heavy duty defense programs. I have noticed maybe a slight delay here and there, but nothing significant!

I’ve also included a download of the basic firewall

Free Basic Zone Alarm Firewall

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