If you download anything new to try today, get Zone Alarm!

WHO:
I am a professional information systems consultant specializing in network and system security (I am not affiliated in any way with Gibson Research or Zone Labs). While there is much hype in the media surrounding computer security, there are real threats that everyone should at least try to guard against. Check out ShieldsUp! on the Gibson Research page at http://www.grc.com if you want a little more convincing.

WHY:
Anti-virus software is still important. However, that only addresses one branch of the risks one is exposed to via Internet use. Network security is another major branch on the security tree. Zone Labs has done a major service to the public by releasing a free version of their Zone Alarm firewall. While this may not be the perfect firewall, it comes extremely close for personal use – especially for the average home computer user.

WHAT:
The Zone Labs web site does a great job of listing the features of both their free version of the software as well as the "Pro" version they sell. So, I will not waste space covering the same material here. I have not yet tried the "Pro" version, although I expect I will based on my experience thus far. So, this review addresses only the basic version.

PROS:
The basic (free) version provides a dynamic application based firewall with enough flexibility for most home users. Dynamically learning applications means it does not require much time for most users to configure. Security settings should be flexible enough for most single computer configurations. Logging to a file is available though, so you can do some after-the-fact evaluations of suspicious activity.

CONS:
The basic version will not likely satisfy all the desires of professional computer security individuals. There is no automatic offender tracking – Zone Alarm will not try to figure out who is trying to connect to your system. The automatic lock after inactivity (if enabled) locks out Internet activity. However, local network activity also appears to be locked out with no obvious way around the issue. This could be a problem if you have a home network.
:-)



Recommended: Yes