Thread: Checkpoint ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 8.0

Checkpoint ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 8.0 provides solid firewall protection along with a host of other security functions If anything, ZoneAlarm Extreme may be guilty of having too many pieces: It bundles together the basic security suite with the unique features of ID theft mitigation and recovery service, online data storage, and the optional PC utility. This premium suite gives a lot of bang for the money, including one year of free identity fraud monitoring.

ZoneAlarm licenses its antivirus protection from Kaspersky, and in AV-Test. org's extensive malware-detection tests, ZoneAlarm did a decent job in both the on demand and on access detection of 2,735 malware files and scripts, scoring 100 percent against each, although it only caught 81 percent of the macro viruses. ZoneAlarm did well against the zoo Trojan hors¬es, worms, password-stealers, and other nasties thrown at it, identifying on average 94 percent of the 722,372 collected samples.


ZoneAlarm Extreme scored very strong numbers. when it came to detecting . and removing rootkits stealth malware used to hide infections from PC users and security software alike. It successfully detected and removed nine out of nine active rootkits. In proactively identifying unknown malware for which it doesn't yet have a signature, ZoneAlarm scored above average. In tests with two-week-old signature files, it identified 42 percent of samples. And with four-week-old signature files it identified 38 percent of samples.


Overall, ZoneAlarm Extreme Security offers the most complete set of security features of any suite we tested-from online backup and ID fraud protection to solid antivirus and firewall tools. Where it counts, ZoneAlarm did well in blocking traditional and zoo malware and removing root-kits. If you're looking to spend a little less money for fewer features but slightly better protection, then we recommend G-Data Internet Security instead.