Authentication in the real world can be difficult, but the task of authenticating people and programs in cyberspace verges on the impossible. As soon as your computer is connected in any way to the internet, it becomes vulnerable to viruses, Trojans, spyware and even intruders. Enter the Firewall, the cyber of the secret service, with your data as the President. The firewall has come a long way since its inception, adding protection from many different types of threats, but like all things people need, there are now numerous different companies, versions and solutions to deal with what is essentially the same problem, feeling safe while surfing. This article will look at two different versions of the same product; ZoneAlarm, which is free to download from the website and ZoneAlarm Pro, which is commercially licensed and examine the benefits and drawbacks of each of them, to find out if paying for the protection is value for money or just throwing it away.
In order to gain a good insight into the two versions, they were installed and tested on a machine for this article and these tests will be the foundation of this article’s research. The ZoneAlarm Pro installed on the test machine was also downloaded from the ZoneAlarm website, but the process of downloading the two versions was different. When clicking download for the free firewall an extremely small file is downloaded, which is a program that downloads the firewall and then installs it, whereas the Pro version downloads the normal exe file for the firewall itself and then the user will install it. Of course, the Pro version is also available on disc, which can be purchase from the ZoneAlarm website, as well many high street and online retailers. The fact that the free version must be downloaded or obtained via a free disc with a magazine such as PC Advisor, means that many PC users with little or no computer knowledge will not be aware of the free version and will therefore result in one of two outcomes. The first is that the consumer will purchase the commercially licensed product from a retailer, which will be good for Check Point, the owners of Zonelabs. The second outcome is that, if the product is good, word of mouth in the computer community will ensure that the free version also gets free marketing, which will spread across to the inexperienced users through friends and family. The latter is known to be true, as many PC magazines support the application, including PC Advisor who provide the most up-to-date version on their free DVD every month and even named it among the best free software available (Haworth, 2007). However, many home users will not even make it to the download page for the free version, as it is not made clear on the home page of the ZoneAlarm website (Check Point, 2007a) and will be intimidated by the ‘Buy & Download’ links on the page and not go any further. A trial conducted for this article saw an average home user stop at the second page because of the word ‘Buy’ and a student click on the trial of the security suite and then stop at the following page upon seeing the a $49.99 shopping cart. Furthermore, the student did not understand why the trial message comes up or what to do with it. Both participants in the trial use a computer every day. Obviously Check Point want the user to buy or try the Pro version, but many will be put off by the continuous onslaught of prices and trials and so never even get to the installation stage.
Once the programs are downloaded the installation process is identical, up until the final section, which asks about enabling certain features that are unavailable in the free version, which will be looked at later in the article. However, after the installation process is complete and the firewalls are started up, the Pro version immediately detected suspicious behaviour on the computer, whereas the free firewall merely popped up with the program control messages. This is the first and most noticeable extra in the Pro version, the program control includes components, as well as programs and monitors far more different elements than the free version. Although the main interface layout is the same for both versions, ZoneAlarm Pro has extra tabs and tools that extend and expand functionality, which suggests that it is aimed at more computer literate customers who would use the extra features such as expert rules for activities like gaming. This does however contradict the nature of the website and how difficult it is to find the free download. If the Pro version is aimed at the intermediate to expert PC user market and the free download requires some level of knowledge to obtain it, then the free version becomes little more than an advert for ZoneAlarm in general. This does make sense from a business standpoint, as both hardcore and light PC users will be lead to buy the Pro version, leaving a relatively small user base for the free version, a portion of which will inevitably upgrade to the Pro version as they become more experienced and security conscious. Although the Pro version does have more features and tools, these are all in extra tabs and therefore do not make the basic functions of the firewall any more difficult, meaning that an inexperienced user could use the firewall just to protect them, while more hardcore users still have the extra tools and functionality they need.
The extra features in ZoneAlarm Pro are not limited to the hardcore, with some features making aspects of the firewall automatic. Smart Defence is one such feature, its purpose being to “provide your PC with real-time security updates, improved response to breaking spyware threats, and new attack protection capabilities” (Check Point, 2007b). This feature automatically adjusts the security settings for the user and includes an early warning system called DefenceNet, which gathers and uses information from ZoneAlarm users to ensure maximum protection from the latest threats. This suggests that perhaps the free version is not only advertising the Pro version, but actively improving it and therefore the users of ZoneAlarm Pro are benefiting from the free version being used by as many users as possible. Now the free version and its users are looking like a feature of ZoneAlarm Pro. ZoneAlarm Pro also goes beyond conventional firewalls and adds spyware protection around the firewall itself, attempting to stop spyware and malicious programs before they install themselves onto your system (Landesman, 2005). It does however have scanning and removal facilities for spyware as well and is extremely effective, with a PC Advisor trial of the tool finding an 80% success rate. Another feature of the Pro version is the ability to monitor email attachments and even quarantine suspicious attachments in order to try and stop unknown viruses from infiltrating your PC. Identity fraud is another area in which ZoneAlarm Pro is the only contender and here it protects and stores your personal information from anyone who might steal it. There are numerous other features that distinguish the Pro version from the free one, many of which will benefit inexperienced users just as much as hardcore ones.
Pricing for the two versions is obviously a key difference, but actual price may not be the decider here when it comes to making a choice between them. ZoneAlarm Pro only costs £17.50 from the official website for 1 PC for 1 year (Check Point, 2007b), which is not a lot of money. However, for many PC users the difference between paying for it and getting it free is huge and it doesn’t if its £20 or £200, free is better. This largely stems from the vast number of free firewalls that are out there. A simple search on download.com comes up with 164 results for free firewalls and for many this makes paying for one seem nonsensical. Many people will see only the cost and therefore miss the real differences between the two versions and the merits of the commercially licensed product. The point of note here is that the price of the product like many security programs, is subscription based and the customer will therefore have to pay again in a year’s time, although packages are available for 2 year subscriptions, which many users new to the concept may be apprehensive about.
Support is where many products differentiate the open and commercially licensed versions, however both versions of the ZoneAlarm firewall have exactly the same support on the website and both have the same premium rate telephone support line. Online forums, manuals and troubleshooting are identical in both format and depth for both products (Check Point, 2007c). This is no surprise however, since as earlier stated the free version is beneficial to the commercially licensed one and the basis of the two versions is the same, one would expect Check Point support both versions, but also this allows the same teams to deal with support for both products, so this aspect has little or nothing to do with the price of the product and more to do with the overall business.
The technologies behind the two versions are also identical, as the free version in its entirety is what forms the foundation of the Pro version. However, the ZoneAlarm Pro uses additional technologies on top of these for the extra features that require them, such as SmartDefence and the Anti-Spyware. Smart Defence uses a database of the latest information to ensure that even the most recent threats are neutralised and the Anti-Spyware adds another entire program to the package and integrates it into the firewall program, as well as including the full program as part of the package and main interface for scanning the computer for spyware already installed on the system. Going into the nature of the firewall technologies would be a waste of time, since both versions are exactly the same, but suffice it to say the firewall is one of the best on the market for both versions, winning awards from a variety of different sources (Check Point, 2007d).
There are few weaknesses in ZoneAlarm, many have reviewed the firewall and few have found any real weaknesses (Williams, 2005, P.86). The only noticeable annoyances in tests carried out for this article were the antivirus monitoring, which did not detect Kaspersky antivirus running on the same machine, and number of times it popped up with security alerts is sure to confuse many inexperienced users. However the main concern is not to do with the program itself, but the method of obtaining it. As stated earlier in the article, the method of getting to the free version of the firewall is not as straightforward as it should be. This underlying weakness in the marketing of this product, albeit a free one, may be stopping the product from reaching its potential in terms of numbers and consequently the potential for even better SmartDefence operation. However, when in the aforementioned download.com search, ZoneAlarm was second on the list and has a five-star rating from the site. To see the weaknesses of the free version beyond this, one need only look at the feature set of the Pro version, as many of them are an integral part of the security firewall. Overall, both products are rock solid and both stand out as excellent firewalls.
The potential markets of these two products overlap wildly, but the deciding factor here will be price. The features in ZoneAlarm pro make it the better product by far, especially when considering that the free version offers nothing that the Pro version does not. With support for the two products being identical, this leaves the cost of £17.50 as the cost of the extra features, but it is the nature of the extra features that make the Pro Version well worth getting. It may be argued that some of the smaller features, such as the gaming mode and identity protection are neither needed nor will be used by the majority of users, but the main features like Anti-Spyware and SmartDefence really do add to security, despite the former being available separately. The fact that Anti-Spyware is also built around the firewall as a prevention rather than repair policy is also an extreme good security feature to have and for more advanced users, expert rules and privacy control offer much needed depth and flexibility to ensure their day-to-day activities are not interrupted. Sure you can get the basic security firewall for free, but you can get complete security for a little money. Pay a little, get the lot.