Review: ZoneAlarm Security Suite 6.5

Kai Chandler puts ZoneLabs new ZoneAlarm 6.5 firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus security suite to the test.

Product	ZoneAlarm Security Suite 6.5
Company	Check Point Software
Web	www.zonelabs.com
Price	$49.95 initially then $34.95 per year.
We like	Superb firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus suite.
We don't like	One-year subscription but you have to pay to get the best. Anti-phishing and spam filters currently only function with Outlook
Rating	10/10
Requirements	Windows 2000 or XP

No computer user should go online without ensuring that there's a firewall in place and Practical PC has recommended ZoneAlarm as the gold standard for PC firewalls for as long as I can remember.

There's now a whole family of ZoneAlarm products ranging from the excellent free firewall up to the top of the range ZoneAlarm Security Suite which includes essential anti-virus and anti-spyware capability.

Meet the family:

ZoneAlarm (free) - the original firewall. Unlike the relatively limited firewall included with Windows XP which only protects against inbound threats, the ZoneAlarm firewall also protects against unwanted outbound connections, prompting the user to confirm each new attempt.

ZoneAlarm Antivirus 6.5 ($19.95) - adds the award-winning VET Computer-Associates Anti-virus engine to the basic ZoneAlarm to secure your PC from viruses, worms, and unknown threats. It automatically updates itself and scans for and removes viruses. Email Security quarantines suspicious email attachments and monitors outgoing email for potential viruses. The ZoneLabs Triple Defense Firewall adds protection of programs and operating system from threats. Wireless PC Protection automatically identifies new wireless networks.

ZoneAlarm Pro 6.5 ($39.95) - as above but lacks anti-virus. It adds Anti-spyware to scan and remove spyware, adware and unwanted cookies. It adds Identity Theft & Privacy Protection to block pop-up ads and prevent personal data from leaving your PC without your permission. It also tracks hacker attempts and anonymously reports offenders to their ISPs.

ZoneAlarm Security Suite 6.5 ($49.95) - combines all the above with IM Security to encrypt instant messages so they can't be monitored. It also adds Web Site Filtering to block entire categories of inappropriate and offensive Web content. Finally for Outlook users only, it adds Anti-phishing to protect against phishing emails that attempt to steal your money or identity and a Junk email filter to provide automatic spam blocking that adapts to the latest spamming techniques.

Version 6.5 sees some minor improvements over Version 6.0 For example, there's a so-called Games Mode which lets you temporarily suppress most security scans and alerts in a couple of clicks.

There's a Spy Site Blocking feature which has a couple of useful features. First, it prevents spyware from getting on your PC by stopping accidental visits to websites that distribute spyware. Second, if you are unlucky enough already to have spyware, then it blocks the spyware from sending out personal information or getting updates.

Finally, Version 6.5 adds an Identity Theft Protection feature aimed primarily at US users.

You can see a table of all the features from this link.

What's it like in use?

Most users will want the Security Suite version. It's easy to install with wizards to help you through the process. It works "out-of-the-box" with only minimal prompting and you don't need to be a computer whiz-kid to use it.

The first scan took a few minutes, but subsequent scans were much faster.

During the scan any spyware and viruses are identified and you can configure ZoneAlarm to quarantine or delete them. The difference between the two options is that something placed in quarantine can be restored later if needed so it's safer to use.

As threats change daily, ZoneAlarm regularly updates its antivirus and antispyware signature files so you can be sure it's up to date. In tests this seemed to happen every few days.

Users of earlier ZoneAlarm products will feel at home with the user interface. A control panel gives a quick status report, showing the number of inbound access attempts, and simple menus are structured by function eg. Firewall, Program Control, Anti-virus and Anti-spyware, Email protection, Privacy.

Firewall - The firewall is heavily customisable but the default setting work well. New from version 6.0 is wireless network protection.

Anti-virus and Anti-spyware - The Anti-virus functionality is provided by the respected CA eTrust "VET" engine. It efficiently deals with any nasties in hard disk and memory scans and then subsequently deletes any suspect attachments in mail. Third party anti-virus test labs ICSA, West Coast Labs, Virus Bulletin and Av-test all give top reports for the eTrust VET engine.

ZoneLabs new home-grown anti-spyware engine is the most significant addition. It scans daily and immediately identifies and deletes any spyware. This is a major benefit over the free anti-spyware products such as Ad-Aware and SpyBot. It's on a par with industry-leader SpySweeper which alone costs $29.95 a year.

Email Protection - Inbound Mailsafe is excellent. It renames potentially dangerous attachments such as executables, JavaScript files and batch files to end in a .zl* extension. This quarantines the attachment by keeping it from running automatically. When you open the e-mail containing the attachment, Zone Labs security software displays a MailSafe alert to let you know that it has quarantined the attachment. If you try to open the attachment, an alert warns you of the potential risk involved. However, you are still able to open the attachment if you are sure that it is safe. It also scans incoming attachments for potential viruses which are immediately removed from the message. Inbound MailSafe protection works with any e-mail application that uses POP3 or IMAP protocols.

Anti-phishing and spam filters currently only function with Outlook. For essential anti-spam tools users of Mozilla Thunderbird and other email clients should look at other tools such as Mailwasher Pro.

Privacy - there's a comprehensive range of settings to let you control cookies and popup ads.

ID Lock - This is a really clever feature to help prevent ID theft by controlling any sending of sensitive information. You enter key data such as phone or even credit card numbers into an encrypted area called MyVAULT. If you send an email, instant message or click on a web page the information is checked against what you have entered in MyVAULT and if there's a match, ZoneAlarm prompts you to confirm whether this information can be transmitted.

IMSecurity - a variety of filters for instant messaging users to block, for example tags and links. Also provides encrypted links for messaging with other ZoneAlarm IMSecurity users.

Parental Control - and finally, a set of password protected filters to allow parental control of access to sites in a comprehensive variety of categories ranging abortion to webhosting. This is based on lists maintained by third party Blue Coat and works well to ensure children are blocked from unsuitable sites.

In view of the many threats on the internet, a top internet security suite providing firewall, antispyware and antivirus with minimal overhead and automatic updating is a must. ZoneAlarm Security Suite 6.5 includes all this as well as parental internet and popup filters. Although the price has been reduced on special offer to $49.95 initially, with annual support cost thereafter at $34.95 per year. It's great value compared with buying individual tools. ZoneAlarm Security Suite 6.5 is a top choice that compares very well in performance and cost with main competitors McAfee and Norton. With a 15-day free trial, it's very highly recommended. Note that at the time of this review, CheckPoint are offering the full Suite at a special offer price of $49.95 but it may revert to $69.95 at any time. Support for older Windows versions eg. 98, SE, or ME has been dropped from Version 6.5.

 

Kai Chandler reviews top tools for family friendly surfing at www.surfcontrols.com