Keeping the outside out: Seven desktop firewalls tested

Zone Alarm Pro

Zone Alarm Pro was unique in that it installed quickly and activated without the need of a reboot. When it starts, you are asked to set up basic needs (Web browser and Windows file sharing), and are then taken to a 10-page tutorial slide show of how to use the software. An automatic check is then made with a Zone Labs server to check for any updates available for the software.

Firewalls: Introduction Check Point SecureClient Computer Associates eTrust EZ Firewall ISS RealSecure Desktop Protector Kerio Personal Firewall McAfee Desktop Firewall 7.5 Symantec Client Security 8.0 Zone Alarm Pro Sample scenario How we tested Glossary Specifications and results Editors' Choice About RMIT Test Labs

The port scan found nothing, and generated a huge slew of popup warnings showing that something was happening. In the ping flood test, the system only logged the first 50, but dropped all the pings with only a small performance hit on the machine.

Configuration of the system is very easy and based on three zones: Internet, Trusted, and Blocked. There is also a “Stop Everything” button, which will basically shut down the network interface if you suspect an attack is underway.

Attaching to the Windows file share was blocked until we placed the server in the trusted zone. Web surfing proceeded normally as the browser was already a registered application. To read e-mail, we had to allow the traffic on that port and set it to remember before proceeding.

There are some extra features included in Zone Alarm that are not in the other packages tested, including ad blocking, cookie control, and pop-up ad control. Zone Alarm also includes a feature to track whoever is trying to hack your PC and attempt to report them. There is also a program control feature to protect against known and unknown Internet threats by monitoring outbound traffic to prevent rogue programs from transferring your data to the outside world.

Zone Alarm Pro can run in standalone mode, or can be managed centrally using a separate product called Zone Labs Integrity Server—which can be used to manage the whole suite of Zone Labs products.

Zone Alarm is quite easy to configure, has some great extra features and good default settings and good documentation.

Product:	Zone Alarm Pro
Price:	From US$40 per user
Vendor:	AnswerZ
Phone:	02 6288 5992
Web:	www.zonelabs.com
Interoperability:	Good management features.
Futureproofing:	½ Easy to use and good default settings.
ROI:	½ Good value for money.
Service:	½ Very good online help and FAQs.
Rating:

• Related stories

• Alerts

Sign up for an e-mail alert

ZDNet Australia Alerts is an e-mail alert service which provides personalised news, features and reviews to readers’ inbox on an hourly, daily and weekly basis.

Alert:

E-mail: *

Frequency: *

Hourly Daily Weekly

Add alert

Add your opinion

Add your opinion

All fields are required

Subject:
Comments:
Full name:
E-mail address:

Your e-mail will not be displayed

Posting options:

Display all details Do not display details

Security Code:

You must read and type the 6 chars within 0..9 and A..F

 

central silent installs?? was ...Anonymous -- 20/05/04

central silent installs?? was in ice cap but to my knowledge not yet wriitten into SP!!

• Reply to comment
• Reply to story
• Report offensive content

You did not review the new eTr ...Anonymous -- 03/11/04

You did not review the new eTrust EZ Armor. It is different now; it consists of eTrust EZ Antivirus and eTrust EZ Firewall (which is ZoneLabs technology). So you have a good antivirus, not a resource hog, uses less space on hard drive, and "ZoneAlarm." There are not many better.

• Reply to comment
• Reply to story
• Report offensive content

• Just In

• Most Popular

Login

E-mail Password (forgot?)

Login Remember

Sign up and win a iPhone3GS!

Reader Services

Popular Topics

Essentials