ZoneAlarm Reviews

We use ZoneAlarm Antivirus with Firewall software for protecting the Bring-Your-Own-Devices that our employees take to the offices, and for a limited number of teams only since it is not an approved corporative standard software yet. In total, there are about 150 laptops of different kinds with several generations of the Windows operating systems running ZoneAlarm.

Currently, we use the Free version of Zone Alarm and not the Extreme Security edition. As for the free solution, ZoneAlarm provides good security capabilities. We use both Firewall and Antivirus, with regular scans and updates scheduled.

Our organization does not have a dedicated budget for the BYOD endpoint security software, so we have to stick with the free solutions available on the market.

ZoneAlarm Antivirus with Firewall software is a good match for protecting the Windows-only environments of our company's offices, and now we have been using it for about two years.

It has not only the firewall functions but a constantly updated Antivirus, and even an advanced Anti-Malware blade. Nobody else that we know of provides that for free.

Of course, it does not have centralized management, but that is not expected from the free software.

1. The software is completely free, but you could always buy & apply a license if you feel the need for it.
   
2. Despite the name, ZoneAlarm Free Firewall is not just a firewall but has built-in Antivirus as well. The Antivirus databases are updated on a regular basis, and they also provide both on-demand and scheduled scanning of the file system and memory.
3. Constant updates of the "software blades", per configured schedule.
4. Personally, I find the Game Mode of the Firewall very useful. When it's enabled, all the scan/updates/alerts are suppressed, and I can enjoy playing without interruptions.

1. Currently, there are only the clients available for the Windows operating systems family. It would be nice to have the software version with the same functionality for the macOS operating system.
2. There is no centralized management software for the free version of ZoneAlarm.
   
3. Some of our users say that the interface is a little bit outdated for 2020, and want it to be more modern and cozy.
4. Minor issues with the performance have been reported for the really old laptops that lack the free RAM available.

We have been using ZoneAlarm for about two years.

The antivirus and firewall are stable and work smoothly on the Windows laptops.

Previously, we didn't have a security policy for having the antivirus and firewall on the BYOD devices.

The setup was easy and straightforward, no pitfalls have been met.

The implementation was performed by the in-house team, no special skills or knowledge is required for the Zone Alarm.

We use the free version of the software, but it can be upgraded to the paid Extreme Security edition.

We tried Sophos and Comodo as well, but the users voted for ZoneAlarm after the PoC.

I strongly recommend ZoneAlarm as a simple but efficient solution, especially if your organization doesn't have a dedicated budget for providing a security solution for BYOD devices.

ZoneAlarm Free Firewall is a good choice for protecting Windows-only environments on the user PCs, but you should also have network-layer protection.

On-premises

Pros of ZoneAlarm are- 1) Two way firewall 2) Antivirus/Antispyware 3) Advanced Download Protection 4) Parental Controls 5) Anti-Rootkit 6) Anti-Spam 7) Trojan, Malware, Keylogger Protection 8) Web and Application worm protection

Few cons of ZoneAlarm are- 1) Updating ZoneAlarm is a problem at times 2) Longer scanning completion times 3) Increased PC shutdown time 4) The interface is inconsistent at times 5) Uses significant amount of system resources while updating the antivirus

ZoneAlarm is one of the best rated security products from Checkpoint, which comprises of inbuilt antivirus, anti spyware, anti phishing, and advanced threat protection features. It is has few unique features such as virtual and private browsing, hard drive encryption and identity protection. It has very little impact on system resources such CPU and RAM and also has the capability of credit report monitoring.

User friendly design and interface Easy to setup and create rules It is not just a firewall, it provides intrusion detection and web filtering as well It is NAT-friendly, that is it can work behind proxies

It creates a lot of popups, which can sometimes become frustrating Its simplicity makes it suitable for small scale end users, but it is not complex enough for implementing a large scale enterprise security solution The pro version, with many important features, is a bit expensive

I have used it in the past for personal desktops and for systems at small startups, but I would not recommend it as an enterprise level firewall security solution.