chaos945
OSNN Senior Addict
- Joined
- 10 Feb 2003
- Messages
- 934
ZoneAlarm Security Suite - Review
First impressions of having the Firewall combined with the Antivirus were mixed, previously having used Norton Internet Security that was one of the first programs to at least bundle both an Antivirus and a Firewall, the amalgamation was yet untried.
I had used an early SP2 build and was quite impressed with the idea of the operating system monitoring vital security services, especially third-party services. Hopefully customizing the services being protected will be an option in the final release, although I do not keep my hopes up in this regard, do to the unfortunate stance of Microsoft.
This combination of Firewall and Antivirus is the next natural step in the evolution of computer security. In combination with a device such as a router that supports the software in use, monitoring these services via the external hardware could create a very secure environment indeed. My only wonder is if the ZoneAlarm Security Suite will be fully compatible with SP2 on release, my guess is yes. As for the hardware devices functioning with ZoneLabs products, certain hardware vendors already support versions of ZoneAlarm.
The Suite is quite similar in design to previous ZoneAlarm programs, and the functionality is easy to understand and integrate. All the features of ZoneAlarm Pro are included with this beta and it is fully functional for 60 days. Also included are a few new features, most of which I regard to be needing more development, especially towards customizability. I will keep in mind however as you should too that this is still in Beta and should not be judged too harshly nor be considered for users with less than a technical aptitude of understanding.
In conjunction with SP2 and a router I hazard to say it will be quite difficult for someone with even extensive knowledge of security systems to gain unauthorized access. For me it will be a pleasing replacement as an antivirus, although I doubt it will be ready to replace my Ad Filtering program, nor has it mad a move towards combination of Antivirus and Malware removal.
Pros: replaces antivirus, powerful firewall (even non-Pro version is not bad, lacks the custom filtering however), not a terrible ad filter but there are better ones, lots of updates, autoupdate is completely silent, quite alot of featues for being primarily a Firewall/Antivirus
Cons: not the best ad filter in the world, no Malware removal/detection
Rating ** 4/5 **
Official Site
Download BETA
Screenshot
First impressions of having the Firewall combined with the Antivirus were mixed, previously having used Norton Internet Security that was one of the first programs to at least bundle both an Antivirus and a Firewall, the amalgamation was yet untried.
I had used an early SP2 build and was quite impressed with the idea of the operating system monitoring vital security services, especially third-party services. Hopefully customizing the services being protected will be an option in the final release, although I do not keep my hopes up in this regard, do to the unfortunate stance of Microsoft.
This combination of Firewall and Antivirus is the next natural step in the evolution of computer security. In combination with a device such as a router that supports the software in use, monitoring these services via the external hardware could create a very secure environment indeed. My only wonder is if the ZoneAlarm Security Suite will be fully compatible with SP2 on release, my guess is yes. As for the hardware devices functioning with ZoneLabs products, certain hardware vendors already support versions of ZoneAlarm.
The Suite is quite similar in design to previous ZoneAlarm programs, and the functionality is easy to understand and integrate. All the features of ZoneAlarm Pro are included with this beta and it is fully functional for 60 days. Also included are a few new features, most of which I regard to be needing more development, especially towards customizability. I will keep in mind however as you should too that this is still in Beta and should not be judged too harshly nor be considered for users with less than a technical aptitude of understanding.
In conjunction with SP2 and a router I hazard to say it will be quite difficult for someone with even extensive knowledge of security systems to gain unauthorized access. For me it will be a pleasing replacement as an antivirus, although I doubt it will be ready to replace my Ad Filtering program, nor has it mad a move towards combination of Antivirus and Malware removal.
Pros: replaces antivirus, powerful firewall (even non-Pro version is not bad, lacks the custom filtering however), not a terrible ad filter but there are better ones, lots of updates, autoupdate is completely silent, quite alot of featues for being primarily a Firewall/Antivirus
Cons: not the best ad filter in the world, no Malware removal/detection
Rating ** 4/5 **
Official Site
Download BETA
Screenshot
