Protects against tricks that malicious software can use to bypass personal firewall as it loads potentially malicious DLLs into a trusted application, bypassing application control and accessing the network freely.
Enlisting ZoneAlarm to protect your PC is a simple matter of downloading and running the free installer, which in turn downloads the latest application code. Like Norton and others, ZoneAlarm downloads the most recent antivirus signatures as part of the installation process.
Zonealarm Free Antivirus Firewall
The firewall built into Windows 10 does a fine job of foiling port scans and other web-based attacks. It doesn't include the companion program control found in the few remaining third-party personal firewalls, but that's not important to everyone. We're left unconvinced that you actually need a personal firewall. But when it comes free with your free antivirus, it's a nice addition.
Check Point ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus NextGen has evolved since my last review, but not entirely in a good way. It now uses homegrown antivirus code instead of licensing from Kaspersky, but tests suggest Kaspersky is a better choice. The firewall's robust self-protection capabilities are back, but its Application Control system remains absent for now. And this free edition still lacks protection against malware-hosting websites. The new, bright user interface is a definite improvement, but not enough to save this fading product.
ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus (opens in new tab) is an unusually versatile antivirus tool with a security suite-like list of extras, including a powerful firewall, integrated online backup, and daily credit monitoring and identity theft protection services for US users.
The free edition leaves out a lot of 'premium protections', including web and email monitoring, network file scanning, mailbox file scanning, and real-time cloud protection to keep you safe from the very latest threats. This isn't quite as bad as it seems, because even if the program doesn't check for threats in an email attachment or a download, it should pick them up when you access them as files. It's still a concern, though, and these aren't restrictions we've often seen in other free antivirus apps.
The bulk of the console is taken up with three panels displaying the status of its antivirus, firewall and identity theft modules, for instance, but most of the space is wasted with text descriptions of what each module does and three arguably unnecessary View Details buttons.
Installing the antivirus also gets you ZoneAlarm Firewall, a very capable way to block network attacks and control what your installed applications can do online. The firewall is smart enough to know how to handle most situations all on its own, but security or network experts can also adjust its settings to suit their needs.
An odd mix of tools which doesn't really need to exist. You want Kaspersky antivirus, install Kaspersky Free - it's more up-to-date and complete, and you can add ZoneAlarm's free firewall if necessary.
ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall 2013 is based on the same technology that protects the top Fortune 100 companies. It is available today in English, German, French, and Spanish. The product is completely free for individuals and not-for-profit charitable entities. To view a video of the product, click here. Download ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall 2013 at www.zonealarm.com/freeantivirus-firewall.
ZoneAlarm is an internet security software company that provides consumer antivirus and firewall products. ZoneAlarm was developed by Zone Labs, whose CEOs were Kevin Nickel, Mouad Abid and Shahin and the Company was acquired in March 2004 by Check Point.[2] ZoneAlarm's firewall security products include an inbound intrusion detection system, as well as the ability to control which programs can open outbound connections.
ZoneAlarm Antivirus has been a mainstay of the antivirus/firewall community for more than 20 years. Backed by Check Point, a powerhouse security and software company, it has the power to catch zero-day exploits with ease. However, its UI and features lag behind some of its competitors in our best antivirus software roundup. Its customer support also left a lot to be desired.
Every tier of ZoneAlarm offers more features than the next. While the free tier will get you good scanning capabilities and a firewall, the best features are locked behind the paid tiers. Unfortunately, the price is a bit high when you consider the features being offered.
ZoneAlarm Free Firewall blocks hackers from infiltrating your home PC by hiding your computer from unsolicited network traffic. By detecting and preventing intrusions, ZoneAlarm Free Firewall keeps your PC free from viruses that slow down performance, and spyware that steals your personal information, passwords, and financial data.Essential firewall protection
Be invisible to others online
New interface makes it even easier - smaller size keeps it light
Systematically identifies hackers and blocks access attempts
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ZoneAlarm is an old and trusted name in the field of computer security. Its free personal firewall has been popular for years, and now, it has decided to step up its game: Its latest product takes the solid foundation of the free firewall, and adds a free antivirus on top. With this move, ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall competes directly against Microsoft Security Essentials and the built-in Windows firewall. PCWorld has not yet tested this product's effectiveness, but I sat down with the software to evaluate its features.
Do you need a straight antivirus utility, or would you prefer one that comes with a firewall component? If the latter, Check Point ZoneAlarm PRO Antivirus + Firewall may be worth a look. It combines a time-tested firewall with antivirus technology licensed from Editors' Choice Kaspersky. However, the premium-level firewall enhancements are too arcane for most users, and the antivirus component earned mediocre scores in our hands-on testing.
The paid edition also checks for antivirus updates more often. Those using the free edition can manually check for updates at any time, but automatic updates happen just once per day. The paid edition checks every hour, by default, but you can set it to intervals between 30 minutes and 24 hours.
Given that the premium product includes antivirus features that the free product lacks, I went back to the beginning and ran my hands-on malware protection test again, with no change in the results. ZoneAlarm detected 86 percent of the samples and scored 8.4 of 10 possible points. That's on the low side, but Kaspersky Anti-Virus($29.99 at Kaspersky Lab North America) tends to score lower in my hands-on tests than in lab tests.
ZoneAlarm's free antivirus doesn't include any web-based protection, and it fared poorly in this test, only eliminating 32 percent of the verified malware downloads. Tested with the very latest malware-hosting URLs, the premium edition scored better, defending against 86 percent of the samples, roughly half by blocking access to the URL and half by quarantining the malware payload.
Even the free edition of ZoneAlarm successfully stealthed all ports and resisted Web-based attacks in testing. In addition, it resisted my attempts to disable protection using techniques available to malware coders. It didn't block exploit attacks, but then, it's not meant to. If exploits are your concern, look to Symantec Norton AntiVirus Basic. Even though it doesn't include a full-scale firewall, Norton scored better than any other product in my hands-on exploit protection test.
Where the free edition allows you to make broad changes to settings for the Trusted Zone and Public Zone, this paid version offers extremely fine-grained control over what network events are permitted in each zone. Unless you're a network wizard, you shouldn't touch these settings. Likewise, only a firewall expert should consider using the advanced option to manually define firewall rules. The same is true of the advanced features added to application control. The point of these features is to catch programs that try to evade detection, but enabling them results in more pop-up queries that you may not be qualified to answer. For the average user, the paid edition's firewall enhancements are just too complex.
If you want to use ZoneAlarm's firewall and antivirus combo in a business setting, you must pay; the free edition is licensed only for non-commercial use. Home users should just stick with the free edition. Better still, use one of our Editors' Choice free antivirus products, such as Kaspersky Free. 2ff7e9595c
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