More then a year ago, I decided to jump on the "broadband wagon," so I became a DSL subscriber. Boy, is DSL so fast and convenient? It's always on! No dialing in or busy signals. Well, shouldn't that be a good thing? Well, yes and no.

No? An always on connection? What could be so bad about an always on connection? Well, it's those "evil hackers" out there.. :-) Broadband connections like DSL and Cable are "always on", unlike dial-up. This means that your computer is connected all the time to the internet, even if you are not using it. This leaves your computer open to hackers and their "evil" scanners that can trace down open ports on your computer and can hack into your personal information.

So how can you protect yourself from the problem? Get a firewall, such as ZoneAlarm from zonelabs (www.zonelabs.com).

Before ZoneAlarm, I was using Norton Internet Security for a bit more then a year. Norton Internet Security is great, giving you many extra features in addition to a great firewall such as a content filtering and ad blocking. Read my review on Norton Internet Security for more information.

However, Norton Internet Security is very expensive (around $50). When I upgraded to Windows 2000, Norton Internet Security was not compatible with it. I started looking for another program, but I didn't want to spend another $50 to buy the latest version of NIS.

I started reading about ZoneAlarm. All of the major PC magazines such as PC Magazine and PC World love Zone Alarm and have given it many editor's choice award. I have to agree with these magazines. ZoneAlarm is an impressive program.

Installation

Installation is a snap. Download the program (about a 2 MB download) and run the program. The installer installs quickly, and in no time, your firewall will be set.

Another thing I noticed is that ZoneAlarm doesn't hog up memory like how Norton Internet Security does. It is very slim in terms of resource use. Everyone loves that! :-]

Features

ZoneAlarm is by far the easiest firewall to use. Any novice will have no problems at all getting acquainted with it.

When you first start accessing the internet, ZoneAlarm will ask you many times if you would like a program to access the internet. You can say "Yes" or "No", plus you can check a checkbox so the program will remember your decision.

The ZoneAlarm interface is very clean. It shows which programs are accessing the internet, the bandwidth that is being used, a lock (i'll explain the lock a little later) and 5 tabs, "Alerts", "Lock", "Security", "Programs", and "Configure".

The Alerts tab tells you how long you have been on the internet and the total data you have sent and recieved. Also, any attempted hacks are displayed in this section giving you more information if you would like to know the details of the hack.

The next tab is the Lock tab. The lock feature allows you to shut off internet access to any part of your computer and completely closing all of your ports to prevent any hacks at all. You can set the lock feature to come on after a certain amount of time, or you can activate the lock manually. This is a feature most firewalls don't have, but it is very useful, especially if you leave your computer on at night.

The security tab allows you to set the security level your firewall is set at at. It is very similar to Internet Explorer's Security feature in style. You can set the security all the way from Low to High, High being the most protective, low being the least protective. An advanced option allows you to add in manual rules, a great feature for advanced users.

The programs tab shows which programs you have allowed to have access to the internet. This tab is very self-explanatory.

Finally, the Configure feature has a few options you can choose such as automatic updating, which is very similar to Norton's LiveUpdate feature.

I needed a program that would allow me to use the Internet Connection Sharing feature that Windows 98 and 2000 provide. Many firewalls still do not support ICS, which is something many home users have become reliant on to share their home network. ZoneAlarm worked perfectly with ICS. I had no problems with it.

This program excels at what it is designed to do, protect your computer from hackers. Although it is a free program, it is still very easy to use and very effective at protecting your computer from hackers.

If you need content filtering or ad blocking also, take a look at Norton Internet Security (read my review). Otherwise, this is the firewall for you!

Thanks for reading my review! I hope you liked it.

Please recommend my review! Thanks!



Recommended: Yes