[greatbigmouth]

Greetings,

I recently installed the free ZoneAlarm firewall as it was recommended to me by several people. However, after a day or two, it reports that more than 5731 intrusions (and counting) have been blocked since install.

This HAS to be some kind of marketing scam to get you to buy the full product. No other firewall I have had, (BitDefender Internet Security Suite, Comodo, etc) has ever supposedly "blocked" that many intrusions.

Is all this true?

[TOGG]

A lot depends on the definition of 'intrusion'. I once read a critcism of ZA, and maybe some other firewalls, for treating normal internet traffic as if it were dangerous.

My copy of Comodo Pro (with Defense+ enabled) reports a more modest 192 'intrusion' attempts since I last upgraded it on 27th May.

[greatbigmouth]

Would you still recommend it though? What about Kerio Personal Firewall or Sygate?

[tomdkat]

Which firewall, if any, did you have installed before installing ZoneAlarm?

Peace...

[greatbigmouth]

I used BitDefender Internet Security 2008, but my license expired and I'm now looking for free alternatives until all the vendors release their new products.

[tomdkat]

Sorry, I missed that in your first post.

Have you looked at the kinds of things ZA is blocking? Maybe that will account for the high number being reported. It might be counting things as "intrusions" the other firewalls didn't count as intrusions.

Peace...

[hewee]

A lot can be how you got your setting. If you getting all the pings that you have nothing to worry about then your see 1000's of them.
Never give any program server rights either.

http://www.dslwebserver.com/main/fr_...configure.html
and
http://wiki.castlecops.com/ZoneAlarm_FAQ

Then how many ports are open? Check your ports.
Run the Shields UP! test.
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
Your get to one page and below ShieldsUP!! Services your see "file sharing" "common ports" "all ports" etc. click on each of them.
You want all ports to be closed or even better Stealth or "TruStealth" if all the ports are Stealth.
Also if you are not behind a router it can help because it will stop some much from getting to the computer and Zone Alarm.

[greatbigmouth]

I uninstalled ZA and installed Comodo again. All ports are TruStealth, however personal data such as my computer name and workgroup were still sent over the Internet. How can I prevent this from happening? Comodo is fully turned on.

[tomdkat]

Was that personal data sent when you had ZA installed?

Peace...

[greatbigmouth]

Yes, it was.

[hewee]

The computer name and workgroup is something lots of programs and web sites can get and is needed.