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(Reviewed by Fred Sabin, President, NJCC)
Computer security
has changed! Simply updating your software on a regular basis and using an
anti-virus program is not enough. Hackers now have more tools to access your
computer and use it for identity theft, fraud, and other malicious purposes.
Thus, you in turn need more protection to keep your computer safe from these
threats.
A firewall, either
hardware or software based, adds significantly more security by examining
everything that enters (and also leaves with ZoneAlarm) your computer system,
and allows you to select only those items that you approve of to pass. You can
pre-select items that you want to allow, as email or software updates, or have
the firewall notify you of other activity so that you can make decisions on a
case by case basis. After a while you will get a good feel for what is
happening, and you can then let the firewall work automatically in the
background and only notify you of critical situations where your input is
necessary.
I started with the
free basic ZoneAlarm software downloaded from http://www.zonelabs.com. It
installed quickly and without problems. There is a Help Menu, but unless you are
familiar with ports, protocols, IP addresses, etc., this may be difficult to
understand at first. Fortunately, you can set up the program to run
automatically with minimum input, or if you get really frustrated you can just
turn it off. If you have the patience and interest, you can gradually delve
deeper into just what is happening, and this will lead to a whole new
understanding of how computer systems work. If you decide to stop at this point
you will have gotten extra protection at no cost.
If you get
"hooked", as I did, you will soon want to know more about what is happening,
what the alerts and logs really mean, and what you can or should do about them.
Fortunately, you can learn a lot and do a lot in response to this information.
In addition, you can upgrade to ZoneAlarm Pro for many more features, including
customizable security level settings, hacker ID (including a map of the source),
ad blocking, cookie control, and much more. With this version I have not
received a single pop-up ad in over six weeks, and have had 174 high-rated
intrusions detected with 70 inbound access attempts blocked. I also have a log
of who (DNS/IP) made the intrusions, when (Date/Time), and where (Destination
Port). This level of security and information is invaluable in maintaining a
safe and secure computer system.
ZoneAlarm Pro 4.5
requires 10 MB of hard-drive space and MS Windows 98SE or ME with a minimum
Pentium 233 MHz and 32 MB RAM; OR MS Windows XP with a minimum Pentium II 300
MHz and 128 MB RAM.
The list price for
ZoneAlarm Pro 4.5 is $49.95, but $10 to $20 discounts are regularly advertised.
The basic ZoneAlarm software is free, and I would strongly recommend at a
minimum that you download it and try it out before ordering the ZoneAlarm Pro
4.5 edition.
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