The internet security suite is in fact a collection of goodies to keep your PC safe from the dangers of the web, now its fair to ask why you even need a home firewall as surely you are not likely to be attacked? In the days of 56k dial up you were unlikely to leave your computer switched on long enough to even be found but the advent of broadband means many PC's sit online all day! This makes for worthwhile pickings for those who want to either get inside and see what your machine is or take it over to use it to send Spam mail.

It's not quite like the movie "computer games" where someone is looking for a military computer to hack, they really want PC's just like yours and mine. The basic free ZoneAlarm does a great job of keeping nasties out from your machine and also goes a step further in making sure nothing already on your PC accesses the internet without you knowing. Version 6 takes this a step further by protecting the very heart of your machines operating system with kernel level code that stops malicious code from being executed or programmes being installed or modified.

Now this might sound like a complicated programme but one of the beauties of ZoneAlarm is its simple interface, using tabs you can take as much or as little control as you like. For the basic user you can just select a level of protection, perhaps medium which will block most cookies and stop unauthorised access. For the more advanced user you can specify which programmes have access and even look after port level communications ideal for getting a specific application available to the outside world. Many programmes come pre configured as ZA's SmartDefense Advisor has a list of some 18,000 programmes on a white list and 52,000 ones that it will instantly block.

We managed to get our system protected inside 10 minutes from opening the box including the initial install and mandatory reboot before ZoneAlarm starts to look after your PC, it took a further 10 minutes of working our way down through the advanced menus to let our wireless web cam get through to be viewed via a secure web page. After a 24 hour period the alerts log was rammed with various attempts to gain access, unlike the free version with the internet security suite you can start to trace where they come from which can be an interesting is ultimately pointless pastime.

ZoneAlarm also bundle their Antivirus software with the internet security package, this is provide by computer associates the same provider that many large companies rely on, there are also some clever touches that protect your personal details like email , credit card numbers and even your Ebay login name. If you try and put these details into a site ZoneAlarm will warn you that you are sending confidential information and expect a response before it allows it.

Then there is a fairly comprehensive spy ware scan, it's not perfect but managed to spot a number of malware applications installed by free downloads on our test machine, it even spotted that there was a keystroke logger in use and managed to block it.

Compared to the two main contenders in the home security Norton and MacAfee ZoneAlarm really starts to look good, not only is it cheaper both to buy and to own (£14 per year after the first year) but it's less demanding on your PC. We know from our tests of Norton's products that they take a large slice of a PC's and both they and MacAfee are not the easiest to use and neither has the kernel level protection of ZoneAlarm V6.

Overall ZoneAlarm 6 Internet Security Suite really impresses, it is powerful yet easy to use and the combination of a rock solid personal firewall, up to date anti virus protection and spy ware scanning all for £40 is going to be a tough act to beat.

Published - 09/10/2005

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