ZoneAlarm Free Firewall 2012 Redisgned, More Features, DataSafe

[madeinheaven]

ZoneAlarm Free Firewall 2012 Redisgned, More Features, DataSafe

Among all operating systems, which are commonly used, like Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, Windows is the the most vulnerable operating system. Even a minor mistake can make your Windows OS unstable and your computer starts malfunctioning. Out there are even more threats when you are online. Your computer, all operating systems installed, is visible and hackers or intruders can can see what you do on Internet. They can plant a tiny bit of code into your operating system core and you will not even notice it. Then whatever you will do, they will know it. This can be the case with all operating systems. But Windows is, as said more vulnerable that is why there are more security programs for Windows OS compared to other OSs.

Firewall is an important part of computer security specially if running Windows OS. It is a virtual safety wall between your computer and outer world. The main purpose of firewall is to protect your identity on Internet. Identity protection can be achieved in numerous ways by using firewall. A firewall should be able to hide your IP on Internet, it should be able to control the programs installed on a computer by monitoring their behavior and it should not let any program access Internet unless allowed. There is where two way firewall concept implied by controlling installed software behavior. There are also many other features a firewall should have but these two are the most common and important ones.

Windows comes with its own pre-installed firewall which is a very basic and can not protect you fully. Here we need third party firewall. There are number of strong but free firewalls like Comodo Free Firewall, Emsisoft Online Armor Firewall Free, Agnitum Firewall Free, ZoneAlarm Free Firewall (ZAF) and a few others. If you are a nontechnical person like me and do not want much details of firewall operations as well as a lot of interaction with settings but you want a strong, I mean really strong, firewall, most probably ZoneAlarm Free Firewall will be your choice.

New ZoneAlarm Free Firewall is totally revamped with better protection, more features and redesigned accessibility. ZAF has new interface which more looks like impressed by Comodo TimeMachine like main interface is divided into three blocks: Computer, Internet, Identity and Data. Clicking on any block will lead you to related settings and controls. Computer block has basic firewall settings and application control which is ZAF’s two way firewall behavior indicator. Internet block leads to Anti-Phishing which checks website behavior and blocks and website acting ans spy or containing malicious code. Identity and Data block features your identity protection as well as 2GB online safe data storage.

At the moment, I am using ZAF 2012 and so far there is problem using it. Running at its full strength, I was invisible on Internet, I mean computer ports were hidden and there were no response to any call from out side which makes my computer non-responsive to any intruder and hacker. If there is no response from a particular IP means there is nothing on that IP. It gave me full control over installed software which should access the Internet and which should not, which software is auto-allowed and which should ask my permission to access Internet. ZAF works quietly in background and do not show to many interactive messages unlike other free firewalls. Being less disturbed give me more time to work on other things.

How it works: ZoneAlarm Free Firewall renders a PC invisible to hackers, preventing them from gaining access to a user’s computer and stealing information. And when malware, such as spyware or bots, bypasses AV software and infects a user’s PC, our firewall’s unique “outbound” protection kicks in. Outbound protection stops thieves from sending stolen information back to its host servers and distributing attacks or spam to the PC owner’s contacts.

ZoneAlarm has partnered with iDrive to give you 2GB online free and secure data backup space. The features as per ZA:

Retrieve data from any location – Login via any web browser to your account and access backed up data, view log reports and restore data to your local machine.

Create user-defined encryption keys – Secure your files as they are uploaded and downloaded. All data stored on the IDrive servers is encrypted using a secure key with a password known only to you, protecting your data from hackers.

Automate your backups – Schedule the backup of data at your convenience. Includes optional automatic shut down of your computer upon completion.

Backup your files fast – Thanks to compression, your internet bandwidth is used much more efficiently for faster backups. Only the modified portions of files are backed-up, resulting in faster backups.

You can read more about ZoneAlarm Free Firewall 2012 (v10) here.

http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/zonealarm-pc-security-free-firewall.htm

Source: computelogy

[0veR]

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[spudboy]

Did they fix the inability to maximize the ZoneAlarm window in the latest version of 10? And with it not remembering your view settings?

Edit: Answered my own questions. Still can't resize the main window and it does not remember the applications window view settings once it's closed. It's handling of permissions is also just as bad as it was in 10.1.056.000 because sometimes it will not even ask for in/out permissions and just make the decision for you. Changes are sometimes not applied until a reboot as well. Oh... and the fact that there is no more "remember this setting" box. You make the choice (if it even asks you) once and then have to change it manually from within the applications section of the program, then reboot for it to take effect.

ZA Free 10.x is thus far absolutely horrendous. Stick with 9.2.044 as it's the last good version that also doesn't add erroneous entries to your program list for things that haven't even asked for (and never will) internet and/or server rights.