Zonelabs Zone Alarm - Free version not good enough

MrWhippy

MrWhippy

MrWhippy

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15 Sep 2005
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just got an email from zone labs saying: -
There has been a recent surge in email spam containing the threat known as Storm Trojan Worm (Trojan.Peacomm) which is quickly becoming the largest threat of 2007.

Severity: High Risk

When the Trojan Storm executable file is downloaded, the code installs a rootkit that disguises the malicious program. >From there, the machine is remotely hijacked by a type of botnet, peer-to-peer network, only to be exploited later to steal personal data or to use the computer to post spam.

Your free ZoneAlarm Firewall will not protect you from the Trojan Storm. The only ZoneAlarm products that will protect against this worm are ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite and ZoneAlarm Antivirus.

If you upgrade to ZoneAlarm Security Suite, you will be completely protected from this harmful threat as well as other future infections. Since we are concerned about your security, we are offering our complete ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite for $39.95, a 20% savings.
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looks like zonelabs are finally putting the squeeze on.

so glad i made the switch to all linux on my machines, but some people might need to know.

i used to think zonealarm protected me well...
 
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Thats because zonealarm is only a firewall :confused: and should only be considered part of any normal security setup. However any free anti-virus/rootkit scanning solution should pick this worm up. :cool:
 
I think that using a firewall (hardware and/or software), antivirus, anti-spyware tools but above all COMMON sense are the best tools to keep yer PC safe. Just expecting one program to do it all is silly imho. I have NOD32, Sunbelt Kerio, Ad-aware, Spybot and Spywareblaster.

I believe that this means I have multiple layers of security/protection against net nasties. I also use Firefox/Opera/Thunderbird which help me tremendously in preventing naughty stuff installing itself and spam drowning me.
 
MarcLister said:
Just so I don't get paranoid, are you speaking to me or the OP? :o
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Do you think considering the content of my post, and comparing what you wrote in your previous post, that I was talking to you or the OP? :p
 
Richdog said:
Do you think considering the content of my post, and comparing what you wrote in your previous post, that I was talking to you or the OP? :p
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:p back at ya! Said I might be paranoid.:cool: It was just first post after mine, so "OMGZ WTF LOLZ he must be having a go at me kind of thing!"". :rolleyes:
 
It's bloated from 12-16MB to 30+ when I last looked but it's still a good free product for home users especially when combined with a good free AV program and Spyware detection/removal software. Drop IE & OE in favour of FF/TB and you're laughing.
 
Lol that's one of the most ridiculous emails I've seen in a while! Zonealarm is a firewall, it doesn't offer any particular protection against viruses. They're asking you to upgrade to their anti-virus software in order to protect yourself against accidentally downloading this trojan from somewhere. It's just a slightly dodgy marketing ploy.
 
TC1 said:
I use Windows Firewall. No Antivirus at the mo. All been fine for months.
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This is a mistake and you may have been fine for months but sooner or later you will get hit.

People who rely on the Windows firewall alone are asking for trouble. What you have to remember is Windows is the most popular OS used by home and business users, so if you were a hacker or virus writer, this would be the OS that you would target therefore they would first come up with ways of bypassing the windows firewall.

I have seen demo's of a simple prog that when run disables the firewall without displaying errors about it being disabled.

Also if you dont run a proper firewall and dont run Anti Virus then the chances are you could already have a trojan and wouldnt ever know about it.
 
The_KiD said:
This is a mistake and you may have been fine for months but sooner or later you will get hit.

People who rely on the Windows firewall alone are asking for trouble. What you have to remember is Windows is the most popular OS used by home and business users, so if you were a hacker or virus writer, this would be the OS that you would target therefore they would first come up with ways of bypassing the windows firewall.

I have seen demo's of a simple prog that when run disables the firewall without displaying errors about it being disabled.

Also if you dont run a proper firewall and dont run Anti Virus then the chances are you could already have a trojan and wouldnt ever know about it.
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depends on the kind of user you are. like tc1, i used to get by on the windows firewall alone and now i have a router, i even disable that as well. i don't run any av software and don't bother with spyware checks either. but i don't download crap, only use firefox and only browse boring news and computer forums. my days of downloading dodgy nonsense off p2p are well behind me now aswell.

i'm the only user of my pc, i don't think i'd let anybody else use it unattended. :p

also i have no personal info on the pc and i don't shop online so i have nothing to lose anyway. all data is backed up regularly and if windows goes belly up, it only takes 30 minutes to re-install (not that i've ever had to).

of course i don't recommend anyone else run like this, but it's right for me and nothing will change my mind. :)
 
marc2003 said:
depends on the kind of user you are. like tc1, i used to get by on the windows firewall alone and now i have a router, i even disable that as well. i don't run any av software and don't bother with spyware checks either. but i don't download crap, only use firefox and only browse boring news and computer forums. my days of downloading dodgy nonsense off p2p are well behind me now aswell.

i'm the only user of my pc, i don't think i'd let anybody else use it unattended. :p

also i have no personal info on the pc and i don't shop online so i have nothing to lose anyway. all data is backed up regularly and if windows goes belly up, it only takes 30 minutes to re-install (not that i've ever had to).

of course i don't recommend anyone else run like this, but it's right for me and nothing will change my mind. :)
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ditto :)

speed > security

i have read only access to all my media files, over a network share, i have nod32 on that server pc (doesn't scan media folders) just incase

and the server is a 5x400gb raid3 setup :)
 
bledd. said:
they do from some viruses, like blaster :)
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lol, you have to maintain a certain element of generalism mate... :p

Besides, no-one should be getting affected by that on a patched SP2 system, firewall or no.
 
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