Zone Alarm "Marketing Trick" .. Is it the right way?

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by AvinashR, Sep 18, 2010.

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  1. AvinashR

    AvinashR Registered Member

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  2. CiX

    CiX Registered Member

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    Indeed :thumbd:
     
  3. Boyfriend

    Boyfriend Registered Member

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    @AvinashR
    I agree with you. Rouge/dirty maketing trick [​IMG]
     
  4. AvinashR

    AvinashR Registered Member

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  5. fax

    fax Registered Member

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    Classic marketing tricks to get attention from the masses. More discussions (bad or good) more visibility. And it seems to work, since, for example, I usually hardly see any ZA related post in here... and now we have even a dedicated thread :D :D :D
     
  6. acr1965

    acr1965 Registered Member

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    Nothing surprises me anymore if it comes from Checkpoint.
     
  7. AvinashR

    AvinashR Registered Member

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    I have posted this information not because i hate this product or something like that, but what i feel that it is not the right way to market your product.. I guess they got some kind of inspiration from rogue warez..

    I cannot expect this kind of rogue tactics from a well established security company.. I was planning to buy their router, but now i have to re-think again...:doubt:
     
  8. bellgamin

    bellgamin Registered Member

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    Rogue security apps generally LIE by saying that the victim's computer is actually infected, & should pay the rogue's license fee in order to have the infection cleaned.

    ZA's alert tells no lies. It does not falsely state the user's computer is actually infected. Instead, ZA's "Alert" merely states that ZA's free firewall doesn't protect against the ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq Trojan. I feel fairly certain that that is a TRUE statement -- who would know their free FW better than the ZA folks?

    The misleading aspect of ZA's alert is the IMPLICATION that it is the job of a firewall to protect users against trojans. That is nonsense, of course. Protecting against trojans is primarily the job of an Antivirus Program, rather than being the job of a FW.

    So ZA's ploy is really nefarious in that it could lead a user to believe that his firewall is no good because it doesn't do the job of an antivirus program.

    Finally, ZA's table HERE uses a single trojan in order to mislead readers into believing that ZA's Suite is thereby PROVEN to be better than other AV programs. That table is out & out skulduggery. The case of one single trojan proves nothing about the overall effectiveness of ANY of the AVs that it compares. The effectiveness of an AV should be tested/demonstrated, both dynamically & statically, over many thousands of in-the-wild malwares, not just one SELECTED example.

    Shame shame on ZA. :thumbd:
     
  9. AvinashR

    AvinashR Registered Member

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    I agree with you.. But look at the screen-shot, don't you find that its a bogus scary window? For a layman, it will be really scary message, they'll surely get confused by this bogus message and make them worry about their PC which may also lead to bad experience ..
     
  10. fax

    fax Registered Member

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    Probably you should wait for a new version (if any) since ZA router only support G standards. Most wireless router are now on the official N standard. So, I would not personally recommend it for the price you pay. ;)
     
  11. icr

    icr Registered Member

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    If this type of trick is helping them to get people start using their products then I don't feel they are doing any wrong its just a business.

    @Avinash

    How did the FW detect that threat anywayso_O I guess the job of firewall is to filter unauthorized access rather than detection which was well said by bellgamin
     
  12. AvinashR

    AvinashR Registered Member

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    Have you the saw the screen-shot...? It was not at all a virus detection .. But still prompted on a clean system in which a free firewall of ZoneAlarm have been installed... So what do you think, is it a right move? This kind of bogus pop-ups can create trouble for novice users... Think it like a novice user ...!!
     
  13. rogervernon

    rogervernon Registered Member

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    ........and to think folk complained about Comodo's marketing!
    Not good, ZA!:rolleyes:
     
  14. Nevis

    Nevis Registered Member

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    please dont scare me :D

    even now if i get detections then i try all solution and what happened .. and for novice users such warnings can cause serious troubles
     
  15. stratoc

    stratoc Guest

    Show me a security company that doesn't use fear to sell. Ok, most are more subtle than that scareware pop up. I have had no real-time protection on my gaming pc for over 4 years.
    And nothing has ever found anything on this one. The best protector is usually between the chair and the keyboard.
     
  16. BoerenkoolMetWorst

    BoerenkoolMetWorst Registered Member

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    While it doesn't state that your infected, it could really well give that impression to novice users. It looks a lot like rogue tactics, shame on Check Point.
     
  17. AvinashR

    AvinashR Registered Member

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    :thumb::thumb:

    I would say that the best protector is usually between "Brain" and "Fingers" ...:p
     
  18. m00nbl00d

    m00nbl00d Registered Member

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    This is how I would interpret that "alert" if I didn't know better:

    If I didn't know anyone who could help me out, after seeing that misleading alert - Yes, it is a misleading/rogue alert! -, then, most likely, I would either click the "GET PROTECTION" button, because indeed the fake alert says that my system is infected, but that the firewall cannot kill it; or, I'd format the system, if I knew how, or take it to the computer store, where I'd waste a few bucks for them to tell me it is a fake alert.

    This is a bad move. And, I thought that McAfee was abusive with their e-mails.

    Edit: If I were ZoneAlarm users, I'd stop using their products to teach them a lesson. It's not like their products are the greatest, anyway. So, what's your loss doing it, right? ;)
     
  19. m00nbl00d

    m00nbl00d Registered Member

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    Yes, it says. It says that system could be in danger and that the firewall has no way to protect them, at all, and the alert advises them to buy more protection. Plain and simple. There's no other way to interpret it, in my honest opinion.
     
  20. AvinashR

    AvinashR Registered Member

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    Really its not a good move from Checkpoint .. Its really pity. Such a level of moronity may damage all the great technical background and reputation of their lab people and their company.. They should immediately re-think about this marketing strategy..:(
     
  21. IBK

    IBK AV Expert

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    marketing in general: :thumbd:
     
  22. TonyW

    TonyW Registered Member

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    The only people likely to be misled by this are novice users, and that's probably their target audience.
     
  23. mhl6493

    mhl6493 Registered Member

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    Well, I was using ZoneAlarm free on one of my computers, but it's coming off now. This kind of marketing just isn't my style.
     
  24. AvinashR

    AvinashR Registered Member

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    They even mentioned about Avira ... :p
     
  25. Securon

    Securon Registered Member

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    Good Morning ! Desperate times...instill...desperate measures...extremely unfortunate Mktg ploy...from a Vendor...that should know better. The only effective response this is going to impact is a negative response...and that's on Checkpoint's Margin line...that will be heading southbound...rapidly. Used to deal with them in the past...never again in the future ! Sincerely...Securon
     
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