ZoneAlarm Using ''Scareware'' to Sell Firewall

[kikireeki]

ZA firewall was anything but good, but their anti-spyware was superb.
sadly that they went down to such level.

 

[razor512]

consumer software firewalls are a failing business.Companies like zone alarm try to market their firewall as more than it really is. A firewall's job is to block unrequested traffic and stop programs from usign ports that you didn't allow them to use.

The windows firewall does this, and the routers firewall also does this. All programs like zone alarm, do is add more eye candy and throw up warnings for every little bit of traffic that comes your way and identify them as a hack attempt their their product just protected you from.

Software firewalls are not as reliable as hardware firewalls. Most malware that infects a system will disable or alter any software firewall that is running.

For software firewall functionality, windows built in firewall does everything that zone alarm does, it just isn't as flashy so to many users it is seen as not doing much.

The constant warnings that zone alarm throws up is useless to the average computer user as they don't know what the info in it means. windows firewall does the same job but it likes to remain silent and out of the way of the user, zone alarm does the opposite to give the illusion that it is doing more.

 

[it8]

if microsoft is rubbish, zonealarm is shit

 

[chickenhoagie]

hey its cool guys, i use malwarebytes and AVG free and I've never had a virus problem in my life. kudos!

 

[eddieroolz]

Amazing to see just how far ZoneAlarm has fallen...

 

[adamboy64]

Poor ZoneAlarm...

I used to use it back in the days of Win9x..
When I updated to a PC with XP... I've just used the standard windows firewall ever since.

 

[Travis Beane]

I'm growing a love for Microsoft Security Essentials.

I don't care who does it, scaring people into buying something that they don't need is shameful.

 

[Guest]

Same reason Ad-Aware went bye-bye on my systems - anoying pop-ups

 

[belardo]

MCafee makes Norton look awesome...

ZA is still pretty good and has more controls than Windows7, etc. But this popup is a big-no no.

For many people, the included Win7 Firewall is fine - but its not easy to find or configure... since its default is to be hidden.

 

[GenRabit]

I use PC-Tools firewall and Avast for Antivirus. Norton stuff and Microsoft's firewall is crap. I ouldn't trust that firewall as it leaks like hell.
As for hardware firewalls, I thrust them just as little. If your pc has a trojan, your hardware firewall won't stop it calling home. only a software might do it. Exception would be hardware routers in the 1000USD price class with yearly subscription to firewalls. But these Firewalls blocks everything you haven't allowed, both ways.

 

[Jarmo]

Haha, nice going ZA! Here's one more new user for Comodo.

 

[dbeutel]

This and many other similar "Marketing" tactics essentially constitute Extortion.

Extortion, outwresting, and/or exaction is a criminal offense which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person(s), entity, or institution, through coercion. (p. http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion)

This form of marketing should be illegal. Companies that use it should be punished by law and their victims given restitution.

I personnally have had to intervene on behalf of others after their computers had fallen victim to these cycber extortionists.

 

[d1rtyju1c3]

I used ZA for a while and liked it. I think the free stuff works great maybe not the best and some are better than others but all of them can be a huge pain. The only thing I have paid for was norton and I absolutely hatted it, I would rather use ZA any day if I had a choice between the two. The only thing I use now is windows firewall, malwarebytes and avira on a thumb drive if I have any trouble. Oh and my router is firewalled, and I have no problems. The whole scareware ZA uses is BS they should just rely on the people using it, like it and would buy it, not scarring them into buying it with a malware type of add. ZA has lost all respect from me.

 

[zaznet]

[q]It's believed that the information is actually outdated.[/q]

That's not hard to believe since antivirus software is updated all the time as any new virus threat is discovered. I sometimes see two updates in a day for mine.

 

[Hilarion]

[citation][nom]azcoyote[/nom]Norton. The only program whose uninstaller actually needs another uninstaller, which you get at Norton. I HATE Norton...[/citation]
And THAT uninstaller doesn't work either. I used it and later got a notification that Norton was STILL trying to connect to the internet. Had to go through and clean out all the trash that the two Norton uninstallers left behind and edit it out of the system registry. Five hours of my life wasted getting rid of the virus/malware actions of Norton. Why did I want to get rid of it? It was a HUGE resource hog.

 

[Tamz_msc]

I use Avira Free version on XP and Windows firewall is enough for me.

 

[sykozis]

[citation][nom]JD13[/nom]Norton's is THE Worst! I use to use it, but after reading & finding out that it was incompatible with my Dell computer which even came with Norton's 12 or 15 month "Free" trial package.... I switched to Mc-A-FEE, it's not as bad & doesn't have any issues with video card drivers at all like Norton's did.[/citation]

Norton has NEVER had "issues" with video card drivers. Norton products are compatible with EVERY computer running WindowsXP or later. McAfee has one of the lowest detection and removal rates of all the "major" antivirus companies. The company that produced McAfee Antivirus, Network Assocations, produced the first trojan ever released. McAfee is also one of the very few to detect legit system files as viruses....and result in Windows having to be reinstalled.

[citation][nom]Hilarion[/nom]And THAT uninstaller doesn't work either. I used it and later got a notification that Norton was STILL trying to connect to the internet. Had to go through and clean out all the trash that the two Norton uninstallers left behind and edit it out of the system registry. Five hours of my life wasted getting rid of the virus/malware actions of Norton. Why did I want to get rid of it? It was a HUGE resource hog.[/citation]

Not sure which version of Norton you were using, but as of Norton 2008, it became one of the most resource lite AV suites on the market. The uninstaller...still sucks...but not nearly as bad as McAfee's, AVG's, Panda's, ZoneAlarm's, or SpySweeper's.

[citation][nom]GenRabit[/nom]I use PC-Tools firewall and Avast for Antivirus. Norton stuff and Microsoft's firewall is crap. I ouldn't trust that firewall as it leaks like hell.As for hardware firewalls, I thrust them just as little. If your pc has a trojan, your hardware firewall won't stop it calling home. only a software might do it. Exception would be hardware routers in the 1000USD price class with yearly subscription to firewalls. But these Firewalls blocks everything you haven't allowed, both ways.[/citation]

In 3rd party testing...Avira, Norton and Security Essentials consistantly have the best detection and removal rates. ZA is typically well down the list with the likes of AVG Free, McAfee and Panda....all of which tend to have false-positive rates that would scare most consumers away from their products.

 

[hebe]

A lot of people hate Norton for no apparent reason. It's not bad at all, aside from how pesky it can be to remove if you don't use their tool right off the bat. Avira, GDATA, Kaspersky... They are the highest tier of product on the AV market. GDATA and Kaspersky really stand alone in most independent tests, but Avira is the best free (and one of the better paid) AV's out there. Security Essentials is very underrated as well, I think it got lumped in with Norton at some point as far as people disliking its brand. Other top ranked software includes TrustPort, Panda (who knew?!), and one of the old favorites BitDefender.

 

[WyomingKnott]

Pitiful.

I was a fan of Zone Alarm for many years, but no longer use it.

 

[Guest]

I am a paid zone alarm customer... now im having second thoughts