Zone Alarm Antivirus Review 2022 – Is the Free Version Enough?

The Zone Alarm family of antivirus products from Check Point promises to bring cyberattack protection up to the next level. It is trusted by more than 100 million users around the world to do this. However, does the product’s performance match the company’s clever marketing?

To see if they are capable of protecting users from all types of cyberattacks, I tested Extreme Security and Pro Antivirus & Firewall. This is .

Zone Alarm Antivirus Security

Extreme Security is a product that offers users total security and peace of mind.

Extreme Security provides protection from all zero-day threats, which are emerging cybersecurity threats that target vulnerable systems that have not been documented. The technology’s cloud signature database, which the system continuously checks, makes this possible.

You know you are a winner when your antivirus keeps up with the software companies.

Sandboxing Protects Virus Removal

Extreme Security also offers a nice virtual Sandboxing Environment that allows users to send email attachments to a machine inside their computer, where they can safely be quarantined. The files are then scanned against cloud-based viruses to make sure they don’t contain malicious code. The “threat simulation” process is a four-stage process. To protect others, any code discovered to be malicious during sandbox analysis is immediately relayed by the Zone Alarm network. It works! I was able test the sandbox environment against a piece of malware that the program successfully identified, segregated, and scanned. It was easy to click a button and delete the malware from my operating system. I also got to enjoy the fact that I might have helped keep others safe.

Zone Alarm’s highly acclaimed antivirus protection is included in both products. It prides itself on its advanced and real-time protection. Zone Alarm protects against a whole range of cybersecurity threats including viruses, malware Trojans, worms and bots, as well as zero-day attacks.

Deep Protection: Kernel Level Scanning

Zone Alarm’s anti-virus programs operate at the kernel level, which is the most fundamental element of the operating system. Some nice features include highly customizable scan modes, and an updated signature list that is much faster than most market competitors.

I feel very confident about using any of the products from this company against any threats that might be targeting my Windows computers.

The Zone Alarm family of protection is notable for its broad nature of threat coverage. Also, its definitions are constantly updated against a database. Users can rest assured that they are protected against any exploits hackers might use to gain access to their systems. This, along with the diligence of the Zone Alarm staff, is a huge benefit.

The Inventors Have Designed a Top-Notch Firewall!

Extreme Security also includes an advanced firewall, which includes a proprietary technology called OSFirewall that monitors programs for unusual ways to bypass traditional firewall protection methods. These include COM and SCM attacks as well as raw data acces exploit attempts. It also acts as a firewall that monitors outbound traffic between the local network and the public network. Built-in Kill Controls are able to disable programs that attempt to leak information from the network before they can load up.

The Firewall provides protection in the early boost stages, when most security systems and programs have not even started operating. It also has an application control that protects individual programs. Zone Alarm has done everything possible to create a complex system of double-measures and measures that could be a real challenge for hackers.

Zone Alarm’s firewall includes an Automatic Wireless Network Security tool that intelligently analyzes wireless networks and determines the best firewall policy. Security-conscious business users like the author will appreciate this feature. For security-conscious business users (like the author), not having to constantly update firewall settings is worth it. It shouldn’t be surprising that Check Point has the best firewall within the industry. This company is responsible for inventing the first Stateful Firewall system back in 1994.

The Zone Alarm program’s real-time threat detection and bulletproof firewall protect my network from a wide range of threats. I wouldn’t hesitate to trust their security to my network.

Features

The Zone Alarm products that I tested included a large selection of additional features that set them apart from the chasing pack in high-end antivirus protection.

These are some that impressed me the most:

Chrome Extension Anti-Phishing

Zone Alarm provides an anti-phishing extension to Google Chrome that adds additional protection. This extension is available in both the Extreme Security and Pro Antivirus + Firewall packages.

Let’s face it, few people have the choice to stop using desktop-based email programs. Hackers are looking for unprotected user details in email and online banking. An anti-phishing engine that runs inside a web browser would be a great addition to either product’s feature list.

Chrome extensions are built on the company’s enhanced browser protection feature, which scans URLs to block users from accessing sites that may be a security risk. Your internet security system is scanning URLs for potential threats before they load, and then scanning them for phishing.

Keylogger

Extreme Security includes an anti keylogger feature that detects and blocks keyloggers operating on user’s computers. Keyloggers record keystrokes of users in order to generate usernames and passwords that can be used to identify potential identity thieves. A keylogger can be added to an antivirus engine that is highly effective. This will limit the potential ways hackers could compromise your system or steal your identity.

Online Backup Space

Zone Alarm offers 5GB storage space for users, which can be used to store their most important data. If you want to have a reliable and secure computer, backups are essential. Unfortunately, not enough providers offer this feature. Zone Alarm offers 5GB of storage space, which users can use to store their most important data. Online Backup Utility features file revision, continuous backup support, as well as the ability to map drives. It’s an excellent addition to the product and an all-around highly capable solution.

Find My Laptop

Extreme Security also includes Zone Alarm’s aptly-named “Find My Laptop” utility which offers laptop owners the best chance to recover and lock down their stolen laptop . The story of the company that lost its laptop was worth more than $2 million. Laptop theft can cause huge financial loss for both businesses and individuals. Zone Alarm’s laptop recovery tool can notify you after three unsuccessful login attempts, remotely lock access, recover files and display the device’s position on a map. This feature worked flawlessly on my Windows 10 laptop.

DefenseNet(tm)

Although Zone Alarm isn’t the only one that maintains a real-time network virus definitions, it does so in a way that allows users to share identified viruses with others. DefenseNet (tm),works perfectly with the programs’ ability pull definitions from cloud in near real time to ensure that users have the most recent protection from boot-up to shut down.

Use it quickly

For internet security tools and antivirus, usability is a must. Zone Alarm clearly went to great lengths to ensure their products are as feature-rich and user-friendly as possible. I would not be surprised to find a complicated and confusing interface. This is not the case.

The company did a great job separating features in the PRO Antivirus + firewall product into three areas.

• Antivirus and firewall
• web and privacy – Includes the privacy control settings pages and anti-keylogger pages
• Mobility and data – Includes “Find My Laptop”, online backup and identity protection

You can also access the main dashboard to see a quick overview about your account, virus definitions, and scan state. The Anti-Phishing Tool doesn’t display the usual flood of popups or threat alerts on the browser. Instead, users will be redirected to a warning page if a suspicious site is detected. If they do, they will also receive a reference code so that they can dig deeper into the reason for the blocked page.

I believe Zone Alarm has done an fantastic job organizing the powerful features of their products in a way that is not overwhelming for average users.

Support

Zone Alarm is a top-notch company when it comes to features and user interfaces. But what about support?

Check Point, the parent company of these products, has invested a lot of resources in creating a support center that is reasonably complete.

I first tried the live chat support. “Laptop finding” requires that my laptop has “location services” enabled.

Cid replied quickly, despite intentionally mixing up terminology from both the Android and desktop computing realms and misnaming the feature (“Find My Laptop”) and explaining that it works so long as there are three active WiFi spots. He also offered additional assistance if needed. So far, so good!

Live chat may not be your preferred method of communication. However, the company has a ticketing system. My ticket received a reply in under 30 minutes! There is also an active user group. There are useful online tutorials. The company also has a toll-free number for billing support . However, “Cid C” recommended that technical issues should be resolved via the live chat interface instead of over the phone. This makes sense since a phone number is absent from their support website. This is an area that I believe the company needs to improve. If I can help with difficult installations, I prefer to communicate by telephone.

Pricing

Extreme Security is more expensive than the other products but it has some impressive features that more than justifies the price difference. These include the anti-keylogger tool and the virtualized thread emulator system, which are the best ways to avoid zero-day attacks. The threat sandboxing zone provides a highly secure way to ensure that email attachments are free from unwanted viruses and malware, regardless of where they arrive. I recommend spending the extra.

Pro Antivirus and Firewall are available for 1 and 2 years, with options to cover 1 and 5 PCs. Extreme Security is available for 3 months. The company offers free 30-day trial of both products and accepts major credit cards.

Most importantly, do these products offer value for money? My answer is a clear yes. You can save a lot of money if you take into account the extra features offered by both packages (such as the online back-up utility).