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ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus stands out as an unusually adaptable antivirus solution, delivering a wide array of protection features that are designed to simulate a full-fledged security suite. This makes it an excellent choice for anyone looking for an antivirus solution. This package not only provides effective antivirus protection, but it also includes a powerful firewall, integrated online backup capabilities, as well as the additional benefits of daily credit monitoring and identity theft protection services, which are specifically intended for users in the United States.
An unusual feature, in case you weren’t aware of it, is that ZoneAlarm, despite being recognised largely as a maker of firewalls, uses the trustworthy Kaspersky antivirus engine to protect your system from malware threats. If you weren’t aware of this, it’s an interesting fact. Some of the premium levels of protection are not included in the free version of this product.
These omissions include web and email monitoring, network file scanning, mailbox file scanning, and real-time cloud protection, all of which are meant to defend you from the most recent threats and those that are still developing. To our great relief, the fact that the program does not have a number of specified components does not render it ineffective. Even if it does not actively search for risks in email attachments or downloads, it is nevertheless able to detect them when you visit these files. In spite of this, it is important to point out that these limitations are a distinctive feature of ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus, which helps to differentiate it from the vast majority of other free antivirus program that are now on the market.
ZoneAlarm Antivirus Specifications
A number of other functions, including a password manager, a file shredder, and a startup manager, are also available to users of the ZoneAlarm Antivirus software.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Real-time antivirus protection | Scans files and applications for viruses and malware in real time. |
| Anti-malware protection | Protects users from malware, including spyware, ransomware, and trojans. |
| Anti-spyware protection | Protects users from spyware, which is software that can track users’ activities and steal personal information. |
| Anti-ransomware protection | Protects users from ransomware, which is software that encrypts users’ files and demands a ransom payment to decrypt them. |
| Firewall | Blocks unauthorized access to users’ computers. |
| Intrusion detection and prevention | Detects and prevents malicious traffic from reaching users’ computers. |
| Web filtering | Blocks users from visiting malicious websites. |
| Ransomware backup | Backs up users’ files so that they can be restored if they are encrypted by ransomware. |
| Parental controls | Allows parents to block their children from accessing certain websites and applications. |
| Download Now |
ZoneAlarm review: Setup
ZoneAlarm is smart enough to know when you have other antivirus software on your computer, but it’s also open enough that it won’t make you get rid of them. The setup programme turns off real-time protection if there’s a chance of a clash with another package. This is the smartest thing to do in this situation. When we looked at ZoneAlarm’s files, we saw that they contained code from Check Point, Kaspersky’s engine and drivers, and a number of third-party tools and DLLs.
It’s possible to attack antivirus tools that use third-party engines because they don’t always support the self-defense technologies of the original creator. It turned out that a batch file running as an executive could delete enough Kaspersky files to turn off the antivirus on the second try.
This isn’t a major flaw; a focused attack like this isn’t likely to happen, and if it does, ZoneAlarm’s console will find the issue and let you know about it. It’s still a good reminder that ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus doesn’t protect you as well as a regular Kaspersky programme.
ZoneAlarm review: Features
The ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus interface is crowded and difficult to use. Despite three panels showing the status of its antiviral, firewall, and identity theft modules, most of the console is squandered with text descriptions of each module and three needless View Details buttons. Scan, the most important feature, is hidden in a little menu. Just a click away, you can access the program’s three scan types: Quick, Full, and Full Scan With Archives.
ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus doesn’t let you scan a folder or disc from the interface, which is unusual. One way around this is to right-click an object in Explorer and pick ZoneAlarm > Scan, however it’s not convenient. Avast and Comodo let you set up many regions to scan, configure low-level scan specifics, and schedule the scan to run automatically when you’re away.
ZoneAlarm review: Malware Protection
It doesn’t matter if a security programme gets five stars from the labs; I still test it myself. These tests are the only ones I have to go on when there are no report from the lab. The first is a simple malware protection test that looks at how well the antivirus fits a group of malware samples that I personally gathered and studied.
First, I open a folder that has those items in it. For some products, like ZoneAlarm, the small access that happens when Windows Explorer shows the information about a file is enough to start on-access monitoring. There are also people who wait for a file action, like copying to a new folder, and people who don’t look at files until right before they run.
Like most antivirus programmes, ZoneAlarm shows a short message when it finds a dangerous file and puts it in quarantine. In contrast to most, it comes with a full-sized warning window that stays visible until you close it. For more information about the attacker that was found, click. To see files that have been blocked, click again. Because of these alerts and the fact that ZoneAlarm takes a long time to handle risks, it took over 10 minutes to go through the dozens of samples.
Final Words
Based on my own experience, ZoneAlarm is a good security program, but it might not be the best among others. It does a great job of blocking malware and protecting your computer from it, but it falls short in some important ways. I’ve found that ZoneAlarm’s goods are limited because most of them are only compatible with Windows PCs. If you’re looking for flexibility across platforms, you might not have a lot of options.
Even so, ZoneAlarm does offer a paid package called Extreme Security NextGen that works with more operating systems, making it a more flexible choice for users. Another thing to think about is that ZoneAlarm doesn’t come with a VPN, which is something that many high-end antivirus program do. If you want an all-in-one security option, the fact that it doesn’t have a VPN might be a problem.
ZoneAlarm review: The Good and Bad
A cool way to receive free credit monitoring, but other than that, there aren’t many other benefits. Install Kaspersky Free instead, if you’re a lover of the original Kaspersky product.
The Good
- Antivirus based on Check Point’s enterprise security
- Unique, effective phishing protection
- Free
The Bad
- Poor malware protection test scores
- No antivirus lab test results
Questions and Answers
The anti-virus protection provided by ZoneAlarm has greatly improved throughout the years. It was able to escape getting caught in a good number of the traps that were put during the test. The protection is extremely reliable and has an exceptionally high detection rate. Nevertheless, ZoneAlarm does not provide protection for the registry.
Downloading the ZoneAlarm Mobile Security App is a good idea if you want to provide a high level of protection for your Apple smartphone. It protects your iPhone against viruses and other online threats using multiple layers of defence, enabling you to browse the Internet without risk and giving your iPhone an additional layer of defence.