ZA Turn Off Malware

[blueblood]

I was reading a just published security writeup by an individual who stated he did not recommend ZA because it could be turned off by malware. He recommended others like Kerio, etc, I had never seen this issue anywhere and did a Google search and turned up nothing. Has any one any information on this ??

 

[Ned]

ZA is no more suceptible to being disabled by malware than any other firewall.  The biggest threat is a rootkit (thanks, Sony) as once a system is "rooted" the malware can do anything it wants, undetected, including disabling firewalls and antivirus programs.  A good software firewall, like ZA, starts very early in the boot process, to avoid any attempts to disable it but if you get rooted, there is nothing the firewall can do to prevent being shut down by the root kit, if that's what it's designed to do.

 

[John From Detroit]

Though it is possible to iill ZA by use of malware... And ZA is one that many mal-ware authors target cause well.... It's the Mount Everest of firewalls (The best in this case)

Putting ZA behind a router helps

And all the others are EASIER to get around.

The biggest advantage of ZA over all the others is it's ability to notify you when a virus or other mal-ware attempts to CALL HOME with yoru private data.. And to block that outgoing call  Far as I knwo (last I heard) ZA was unique in this ability

 

[Ron]

The biggest advantage of ZA over all the others is it's ability to notify you when a virus or other mal-ware attempts to CALL HOME with yoru private data.. And to block that outgoing call  Far as I knwo (last I heard) ZA was unique in this ability

Although a very good program, anyway until  version 6 which has been known to cause problems, ZA is  not unique in this ability.  I know that Norton has had this feature for several years now.  I know that Norton has alerted me of a few occasions of attempts to send private info.  I use ZA on one computer and Norton on the other.

 

[Ned]

All current, good, firewalls will protect against both internal and external attacks.  Unfortunately, some of the protection software has become overloaded with extra functions that I no longer recommend them.  Norton is one of those since Symantec has turned it into a bloated, resource hog.  ZoneAlarm in the basic firewall version is good, but the latest Security Suite is also not recommended for the same reason.  I don't believe in the single suite solution, better to get the best-of-breed for each specific function.  The suites generally do one thing pretty well, and are mediocre in the other functions.

As I've stated before, with a router with a SPI firewall and safe computing practices, you don't need any software on your computer other than periodic scans with some good non-resident antimalware programs.  These include, among others, AdAware, SpyBot S&D, and Spyware Blaster.  Unfortunately, many people don't, or won't, learn the discipline and procedures needed to protect themselves.

 

[Ron]

Unfortunately, many people don't, or won't, learn the discipline and procedures needed to protect themselves.

Ned would you post some recommendations here to improve our disciplines and procedures?

 

[Ned]

Since this an RV forum, I don't feel it's appropriate to post lengthy articles on computer security. Besides, this topic has been covered at length in numerous venues on the internet.

I will post a few simple things that you can do to make yourself safer than 90% of the internet users:

1. Use Firefox or any Mozilla based browser instead of IE.

2. If you must use IE, set the internet zone to High security in Internet Explorer.

3. NEVER open any attachments to an email if it's not from someone you know and you're not expecting it.

4. Don't use Outlook or Outlook Express for email.? Get Thunderbird or just about any other email program.

5. If you MUST use OE, then turn on every security related feature you can find.? This includes turning off all HTML related settings for both reading and composing.

6. Even better for email, get a program like MailWasher that lets you preview your email from the server before it ever gets to your computer.? You can filter out the spam and possible viruses and delete them from the server so they never hit your computer.

7. If an email looks suspicious, it probably is, delete it.? No reputable web site will ask you to click on a link in an email to enter your password or other secure information.

8. Sad to say, using the internet is NOT as simple as reading a book or driving a car.? It DOES require some study of the pitfalls and how to avoid them or you WILL get caught.

9. Before someone else jumps in and says it, if you only need basic functions like email, web browsing, word processing, photo processing, and playing multimedia, consider running Linux.? Most of the important applications are available for Linux and most are FREE (as in beer ).

That's a start and will make you better protected than most of the rest of the world.

 

[Ron]

Thanks Ned.  Those tips may just help somebody avoid a problem.