On more than half of the test systems ZoneAlarm kicked the cleanup process to the next level. Occasionally it marked low-risk threats as "Action required," meaning I had to give permission to treat the threat. Rocky Malware Removal When ZoneAlarm's antivirus scan encounters a threat, it almost always treats the problem immediately. ZoneAlarm simply failed to install on two of twelve test systems. Since this is a free product, that wasn't an option. With a commercial product tech support would most likely have escalated the situation, perhaps arranging for a support agent to clean up the system using remote control. ZoneAlarm still wouldn't install after the rescue disk's cleanup. For the other two, tech support recommended scanning with the Kaspersky Rescue Disk. On advice from tech support I ran the Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool-there's Kaspersky popping up again! After KVRT one of the problem systems was fixed. Half of my malware-infested test systems got this treatment.ĭespite the pre-install scan, installation failed on three test systems. That's a smart way to avoid having the installer derailed by malware. If it finds threats, it runs a pre-install scan, reboots, and starts the installation again. ![]() ![]() The installer runs a quick scan for active malware. Do keep your eyes open if you don't opt out you'll find that you've changed your browser's home page and default search to ZoneAlarm. Installation Ups and Downs ZoneAlarm's installer gets right to business with a quick install option that configures all settings with default values. ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall lab tests chart ![]() For a rundown on the major independent labs and their tests, see see How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests. The labs just love Kaspersky, giving it almost universally high marks. Check Point officially does not identify its antivirus partner, but you will find dozens of DLLs and other support files whose digital signature, copyright notice, and internal company name point to Kaspersky Lab. Why this lack of love? Because the antivirus component in ZoneAlarm is licensed from another well-known security company, so most of the labs simply test the original. Even then, over the past four years ZoneAlarm has participated in just five VB100 tests and passed four of them. Virus Bulletin is the only lab that regularly tests ZoneAlarm. ZoneAlarm is quite good at detecting sneaky techniques that try to work around normal program control.Īntivirus Lab Results Checking the independent labs for ZoneAlarm results is a bit confusing. Program control is of little use if a Trojan or other malware can gain access via a trusted program. With these tools you'll never get a popup query. If it does confront you with a popup query, pay attention, as the program in question may well be a problem.Īdvanced firewalls like those found in Norton Internet Security 2012 ($69.99 direct for three licenses, 4.5 stars) and Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 ($79.95 direct for three licenses, 3.5 stars) make security decisions about unknown programs based on their behavior. Modern firewalls, including ZoneAlarm, automatically configure permissions for known good programs identified through a huge online database. ![]() When a program tried to connect for the first time, the firewall asked the user whether to allow or deny it, this time or always. And as always I couldn't find any way to break down the firewall's protection programmatically, the way a targeted malicious program might do.Įarly versions of ZoneAlarm effectively put the user in charge of controlling which programs can access the Internet. It doesn't attempt to identify attacks on system vulnerabilities at the network level, but none of the exploits I tried managed to crack the test system's security. ZoneAlarm passed all port scan tests and other Web-based attack tests. I'll summarize the firewall's features here for full details please see the earlier review. Check Point will continue to make the standalone firewall available for those who prefer a different antivirus. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security SoftwareĮffective Firewall Naturally this product's firewall protection is exactly the same as that of ZoneAlarm Free Firewall 2012 (free, 4.5 stars).
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