ZoneAlarm 2010 line released

Hi SoCalReviews!
Long time I have not seen you around, good to see you back

Always refused to install on my laptop running XP SP3, so unfortunately I can't say much. Its a solid product originally developed as an enterprise product by Checkpoint, that is what I can say about the new Hard Drive Encryption . Sorry...

Cheers,
Fax

 

Fax, I've been around but haven't been able to spend much time posting in these forums. I don't think I will ever be able to contribute the way I did at one time but I might post once in a blue moon either to ask a few questions or to add some of my own feedback on a security product.

It's good to see that things seem to be moving forward for the better with these new ZA releases. Maybe all that customer feedback that Checkpoint has been emphasizing for the past year or two is finally paying off in a big way. We will have to see how the new products do in the independent security tests.

There are a few features I would like to see implemented in ForceField....for example....it would be nice if there was an option to schedule an automatic cleaning of the virtualization data every time, daily, weekly, etc. Maybe there is already a way to do that...by simply scheduling it in the browser data itself. I will have spend more time tweaking the settings and see what I can come up with. It would also be nice if you could have the private browser option start automatically every time instead of having to click on it manually....again...maybe it is possible to have ForceField do that. I know that the new Firefox 3.5 allows that option and I am not sure if they operate the same way for security...but it would be nice to be able to control the ForceField component also. It sounds like the encryption feature could be useful to some users worried about data security. I don't have any plans to use it but it's nice to have extra features like that available.

Thanks for your input and for your extensive contributions to these security forums.

 

I am 100% with you!
In principle it is said that the cleaning of virtual data is not needed systematically, that is why the feature was not considered. But, I always found that a cleaning (from time to time) helps faster performances and stability. May be latest version has improved in this respect?

I don' think its possible to always start in "private mode" but if you find a way.... post back ...

Indeed Encryption is nice, ZA has built up a really complete pack of security features.

Cheers,
Fax
P.S. Thank you for the nice words!

 

.
I'm interested in the encryption option for my laptop because I will be switching to Windows 7 Home Premium in October and unfortunately "bitlocker" is only available in Windows 7 Ultimate. If I get ZAES 2010 retail I'm guessing the encryption feature could be added on as a download - any idea if that's how it works?

 

SoCalReviews, thanks, I got it now.
This discussion by you, NNard and Fax is useful - thanks to all. Back to ZA (ZAP) I guess, for me , after a bit of a break

 

So far so good on the ZAIS for me. Pretty big difference in memory usage between this version and the last. I am a bit interested in the ZAES for my GF for her laptop when she heads to college this fall. That disk encryption could be pretty handy for her.




-yonton228

 

I see there is still a beta version as well. Is that correct?

 

Since around a year ZA has an almost continuous beta testing line that goes in parallel with normal releases. I would not be surprised if the beta will go on especially due to its still missing WIN7 64bit compatible version.

Fax

 

well..zap 2010 is absolutely scaled down version esp for opera users the slimmed forcefield is just running taking up ram...no virtualisation in firefox/ie.
two questions regarding extreme security:
In zaes v8 there were two scanning processes always running in v9 i don't see any? the forcefield deems eicar safe and is only caught by on access scanner ?

 

Interesting, so ZAPRO toolbar contains what? Heuristic scanner? Site status?

Yes, just one process will manage the firewall and the anti-malware engine (vsmon.exe)

You mean the new heuristic scanner? Not suprised, there are no commands in EICAR just a line of text, so difficult to find a malware behaviour. I would be courious to know how it works with real malware.

Fax

 

yup but enable virtualization is greyed out:not available....they have removed AS...privacy features etc and given piecemeal forcefield

yup it is the new heuristic scanner but extreme security browser protection is full fledged or so I think so it should block eicar.com file d/l like done by avira/kis webshield/webguard etc....?
P.S hitman pro would flag zaes related several files as suspicious but clearing virtual data from browser protection setting would yield a clean scan

screenshot of browser protection of extreme security v9
and
eicar test

 

IMO the virtualization feature is what really makes Force Field a powerful security component for your browser. This is why after evaluating ZASS v9 I simply decided to upgrade from ZASS to ZAES. Without the Security and Privacy Settings feature available I believe an extra new technology like virtualization is important to have. With virtualization there isn't a need to have the privacy and security settings and you can customize most newer browsers like Firefox v3.5x to allow, block or have exceptions for cookies, pop ups and mobile code (java and java script) settings. Therefore by tweaking your advanced browser settings and by using ForceField with its virtualizion component active you get a much more secure setup. In addition to ZAES v9 (or ZAX v9 as some call it) I am also running SAS Pro (SuperAntispyware Pro) in real time for an extra layer of protection.

If you don't have much time left on your ZASS subscription or if you just recently renewed your subscription you might still be able to upgrade. Either way I would highly recommend upgrading to ZAES if you can. You can call or chat with a Checkpoint cust service rep and see if they can offer you an upgrade price deal on ZAES (1 year, 3 computer allowed with 1 subscription). You can turn off or don't have to use any of the extra features in ZAES if you don't want to use them. I didn't see much if any difference in resource usage between ZASS v9 and ZAES v9. There is a difference in future renewal cost with a ZAES subscription compared to ZASS so you will have to factor that into your decision.

If you are using ZAP and you absolutely want to use your own separate AV software then you are sort of stuck without the virtualization feature unless you want to pay for the full subscription to Force Field also...I'm not sure how that would work or if it could work with two subscriptions of the same ForceField component. If you are running a really good full featured AV the virtualization component may not be as critical for your security setup. For those who really don't want the extra features in ZAES or for ZAP users who want to use their own AV program it would be nice if Checkpoint had a version of ZAP or ZASS with the ForceField virtualization component add on as optional (for only $10 more). Maybe in future versions they will offer it for ZAP and ZASS.

 

Interesting.
Thanks Fax

 

well here is an small example of zaes v9 advanced heuristic scan.........and realtime test......

 

Have not used ZoneAlarm for years but it seems this time they have got it right this time and this product should sure be a hit!

 

Ey guys - What browsers does this suite support?

 

ZoneAlarm Pro is running great on my VISTA SP2 laptop

 

IE and Firefox

 

Oki, thx. Wish that chrome & opera were supported too - or at least one of them But well - marketshare...

 

For IE 8 there are two ways: 1. new IE shortcut with the -private command added to the target line
2. registry fix so the normal shortcut start in inprivate mode by default

http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/how-to-start-internet-explorer-8-in-inprivate-mode-by-default/

 

After using ZAExtreme security I had a problem with my browers. I use IE8 and Firefox 3.5. When I tried to start them they would not start. I could see in taskmanager that they where both running, both I could not get them up and running.

I tried to restart my machine and then it fixed itself. But after some hrs I had the same problem again. So I uninstalled ZAExtreme and installed KIS 2010 and now my browers are up and running again as normal.

I dont now what the problem was. If I doubleclicked FF 2-3 times I could se in taskmanager that there where 2-3 FF running. Same with IE8.

 

Yes, I have seen the same. After cleaning both the browser cache and the ZA 'virtual data' they go back to normal.
Installed the latest beta (build 84) to reproduce and report but I can't reproduce it anymore. LOL

Probably they need some fine tuning on Forcefield

Cheers,
Fax

 

Firefox 3.5 and Forcefield are not compatible. This is an acknowledged issue which is promised to be fixed in the next version of Forcefield which is currently in progress.

 

http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/system-requirements-zonealarm-products.htm

 

I am using Firefox 3.5.2 with ForceField (virtualization enabled, not using ForceField private browsing) in ZAES v9 (ZAX v9) right now and have been using it for the past week with almost no problems. The only thing you might want to watch for problems is when you change the ForceField settings while in a browsing session or if you use the ForceField Private Browser option. All the other security features have worked great even when browsing on secure web sites.