ZoneAlarm or BlackIceDefender?

[jjsole]

I purchased blackice defender before I knew about zonealmarm, so I have the option to use either. Does anybody have any thoughts as to which is safer of the two? I've got a home network of 3 computers on a hub with cable internet on all of the time.

[flash4master]

some people use both. personally i just use zonealarm... socalgal would prolly know, i think she uses both.

[Mntsnow]

Personally BID is a much more robust firewall. I use both and I know that Socal does too along with a couple of other tools to boot! Just call her the "Security Expert" http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/biggrin.gif

[RobRich]

I've done testing with several different firewall applications, and I would rank ZA and BID close together. The best part of ZA is it's free and extremely easy to configure. It also offer per applciation settings, which allows you to individually control each program's access to the I
Internet.

BID offers more configuration options, but I personally dislike its interface and annoying warnings. For incoming filtering it is extremely efficient, but outgoing packets are basically ungoverned by BID.

I am currently using Conseal PC Firewall, and have definitely been impressed with it's functionality. It offers the abilty to create custom rulesets, thus allowing one to control almost every aspect of its packet filtering scheme. The bad part is that these rulesets can be a pain to configure, especially for anyone without network knowledge.

With my custom ruleset, Conseal has already filtered out 60+ needless incoming and outgoing connections in just the past 30 minutes alone. This not only means better security, but also allows my system to more efficiently use the already narrow bandwidth offered by 56k modem connection.

Later,
Robert Richmond

[tonym]

I think another factor that enters into the mix is the recent unpredictability of BID. In a previous thread, I rejoiced the fact that I finally "discovered" ZA and discontinued the used of BID.

The main reason for this was the fact that on many occasions BID had quit working, quite unexpectedly, while I was connected to the Web. Not very cool!! So, I don't want to get caught in that situation again, hence ZA.

About a week and a half of use on my workstation (plus the 3 months or so of eval on a test machine), and I've had nothing but luck with ZA.


So, you've got some decisions to make, but I'd use ZA along with any other product you might choose (if any)...


Tony

[NDC]

IMO, BID has a more friendly interface than Zone Alarm. It also gives you more detail on the attack. It's very easy to use. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[atari2000x]

I use both... ZA for overall 'stealth' and software controls(very good)--- BID for detail infos on attacks...

[jjsole]

Thanks all for the replies. I am surprised that both can be used that the same time making it more secure. Thats great, so thats what I've done, installed them both. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[pickel]

http://www.mcs-online.co.uk/zonelog/
Here's a little extra for you Zone Alarm users. Check it out!!! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

Socalgal.. Cut and paste LMOL http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/biggrin.gif

[socalgal]

Hi jjsole http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

I also purchased BID before ZA and since have been running both together since my Win98 box, now on W2K. Have had the occasional red-line glitch w/BID, but not since the latest release 2.1.cn.

In fact, ZA seems to capture the hits even before BID gets them. I also like ZA's outgoing alerts, while BID's a good backup and gives more info on the attacker.

The Cleaner (trojan detector/scanner) from http://www.moosoft.com/ also works well with both these concurrently.

Haha, pickel http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[TweakerXP]

Socalgal turned me on to ZoneAlarm! Installed it and have not had single problem out of it! WORKS GREAT !! TWO THUMBS UP !!!

[socalgal]

Well.. thanks, jap03. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

I believe RobRich is the one who *first* posted about ZoneAlarm in these forums - and made many of us here aware of it http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

Thanks, Robert! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[codybear]

I now have ZA pro version as well as BID and ya'll cant find me....our first lady has convinced me of the importance of security and with my new business I am listening