ZoneLabs ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 7.0

This comprehensive suite protects you at every level, from the deepest layers of your operating system to the physical word, delivering the most secure protection in the industry. It includes antivirus, anti-spyware, identity theft protection, IM protection, parental control, auto-learn, operating system firewall, network and program firewall and much more.

Key Features:

* Real-time security updates, improved response to breaking spyware threats and new attack protection capabilities;
*The best virus protection with significantly enhanced detection and removal capabilities;
* Enhanced operating system firewall and anti-spyware;
* Includes identity theft protection, IM protection, parental control and much more;
* New auto-learn configures security settings automatically.

The ZoneAlarm suite is easy to use, with clear explanations of each decision you have to make, a big one being the level of security you want to establish. This year, the suite offers an Auto-learn mode. Though this mode initially lowers security to invoke fewer pop-up alerts, once it understands the applications it should trust, it cranks the security level back up for any activity it doesn't recognize. The Auto-learn mode was pleasantly quiet to begin with, but then the suite started popping up repeated alerts for legitimate application activity (such as my Trillian and Lotus Notes programs) that it should have recognized.

ZoneAlarm offers most of the usual suite extras. Its Privacy section selectively blocks Web site cookies, advertisements, and embedded objects and scripts. Its instant messaging security protects users of AOL, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo services from bad links and attachments, though it added so many warnings to my outgoing IM messages that I turned it off. Spam protection, provided through MailFrontier, adds a configurable toolbar to Outlook and Outlook Express. Parental controls block sites included on Check Point blacklists along with unknown sites identified via effective dynamic analysis.

System Requirements:

* Windows 2000 Pro/XP;
* Pentium III 450 Mhz or higher.
* 50 MB of available hard disk space;
* Internet access.