Creating a safety zone for home nets

Lately, every time I'm on the Internet, I feel like a target. E-mail viruses, port scanners, Web pages with evil software are all active menaces. Then there's the endless parade of marketers trying to harvest my e-mail address or lure me to their sites with pop-up ads.

So when Zone Labs recently released Version 3.0 of its Zone Alarm Pro (ZAP) security product, I was eager to see how its protection stacked up against that of the corporate firewalls I'm accustomed to. I'm happy to report ZAP provides strong protection on several fronts while making Web browsing more enjoyable.

Zone Labs has long been known for its free Zone Alarm product. The company also offers a professional line with enhanced features that we tested via a Web site download. Installation on my Windows 98SE-based PC took less than 10 minutes. The program defaulted to a moderate level of security, and carefully explained each option.

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ZAP traps

With Zone Alarm Pro on the prowl, it immediately detected the PC was on my local private network behind a firewall and asked whether this was a trusted network. From then on, every time any of my programs tried to access the network, ZAP requested approval. You may not realize how often programs on your PC try to access the Web without your knowledge - when you register an application, when it tries to update itself, or when spyware tries to send your personal information to its home base.

Like many corporate teleworkers, I connect my laptop to the Web through a variety of connections. In my home office, I use our test lab's Ethernet segment connected directly to the Internet. When traveling, I connect over a dial-up connection. After work, I connect through a home gateway. ZAP immediately detected each new network and asked questions about the connection.

When programs tried to communicate in unusual ways, ZAP clued me in. Every time I started the network troubleshooting tool Network Instruments Link Analyst, ZAP told me the program had tried to access an IP address at Port 60551. This suspicious behavior turned out to be benign - just the way Link Analyst determines its IP address for building network maps. But I felt reassured that ZAP trapped it.

To check out how well ZAP hid my PC from port scanners and other would-be spies, I tried the Leak Test at Gibson Research Center. Leak Test tries to get out through a firewall the same way a Trojan horse program would. ZAP stopped it cold. To do a port scan on the PC, I used IpSwitch's network monitoring/diagnostic program called What's Up Gold. ZAP shut down the first 64,000 port addresses, ensuring my PC was safe from attack.

New to Version 3.0 is the ability to stop malicious e-mail. Zone Alarm does this by quarantining e-mail that includes executable attachments. I tested this feature using Pegasus Mail for Windows, which I consider much more secure than Microsoft Outlook. When I sent myself executable attachments, they were quarantined, and I had to answer several questions before I could execute the attachments. This feature alone should all but eliminate Microsoft e-mail viruses.

Stress-free surfing

ZAP also made good on its promise to improve my Web surfing - controlling pop-up ads, cookies and banner advertising. While ZAP removed all pop-up ads and kept my identity hidden, the cookie manager doesn't let you permit cookies on one site but not another. The feature for controlling banner advertising was better. It let me turn off banner ads altogether, drop the ads that take a long time to load, or replace such ads with a clickable box you can open if you want to see the ad.

Last, I uninstalled ZAP to ensure that it left nothing unpleasant behind. The uninstall was clean, and my PC worked well afterwards. But as soon as testing was done, I quickly reinstalled it. ZAP is staying on my computer until I find something better to take its place.

Zone Alarm Pro 3.0 4.7 Rating Company: Zone Labs, (415) 341-8200 Cost: from $49.95. Pros: Easy installation, good security, enhanced surfing. Cons: Limited control of cookies.

Zone Alarm 3.0 Security 40% 5   Ease of use 30% 4   Installation 30% 5   TOTAL SCORE 4.7

Individual category scores are based on a scale of 1 to 5. Percentages are the weight given each category in determining the total score. Scoring Key: 5: Exceptional showing in this category. Defines the standard of excellence; 4: Very good showing. Although there may be room for improvement, this product was much better than the average; 3: Average showing in this category. Product was neither especially good nor exceptionally bad; 2: Below average. Lacked some features or lower performance than other products or than expected; 1: Consistently subpar, or lacking features being reviewed.