Battle Comodo Firewall v7 vs. ZoneAlarm Pro Firewall 2015 v13

[Rebsat]

Hi every MalwareTips member, today I want to open a new discussion, I don't know if you are aware that lately Neil J. Rubenking - Lead Analyst for Security at PC Magazine reviewed the latest version of both Firewall, I just want to hear your voices and opinions regarding both Firewall, and I really appreciate your participation...


Comodo Firewall v7
Editor Rating: 4.5/5
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2456941,00.asp


ZoneAlarm Pro Firewall 2015 v13
Editor Rating: 4.5/5
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2456292,00.asp

 

[Rebsat]

i will go with Windows Firewall, why?

- works at kernel level, others don't
- no bloat
- no crappy drivers installed
- no resources eating

but if I have only two choice, ZoneAlarm Firewall and Comodo Firewall? then Which one you highly recommend to me to use?! , btw our good friend Littlebits told me this:

ZoneAlarm is more user friendly, uses Behavior protection instead of HIPS which will not flag as many false positives.
ZoneAlarm is more compatible with programs.

 

[King Alpha]

COMODO!

 

[Deleted member 178]

i agree with LB; 3 years ago i will say Comodo but no anymore.

 

[Rebsat]

@Umbra Polarishttp://malwaretips.com/members/king-mellow.9262/
@King Mellow

What do you think of this?!

Comodo Firewall has HIPS which is more likely to flag more false positives which most inexperienced users would not know how to deal with. Of coarse if the user utilizes UAC, then HIPS would not be needed.
but ZoneAlarm Firewall is more user friendly, uses Behavior protection instead of HIPS which will not flag as many false positives. ZoneAlarm is more compatible with programs.

 

[Rebsat]

The new ZoneAlarm Firewall is Blocking all leak tests but the new Comodo Firewall is Detecting all leak tests...
by Neil J. Rubenking - Lead Analyst for Security at PC Magazine


ZoneAlarm Firewall
The free firewall blocked all the leak test programs I threw at it using a combination of basic program control and the OSFirewall behavior-based detection component. However, when I tried launching a collection of antique PCMag utilities, the OSFirewall considered almost all of them suspicious. Note that the free ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall 2015 mini-suite behaves differently. Using its default settings, it didn't flag any valid programs, but also didn't catch any leak tests. Cranking its protection level from Auto to Max made it behave like the standalone firewall.


Comodo Firewall
Comodo's handling of leak tests proved quite different from what I remembered. For almost every test program, it popped up a message saying that it had detected a threat, and offered Comodo's GeekBuddy service to fix the problem. For users of Comodo's free products, GeekBuddy support costs extra, so in each case I declined the offer.
Next I got a popup from Comodo's Cloud Scanner with a little more detail about the threat, and an offer to quarantine it. Naturally, none of the detected leak tests made a connection; they were all in quarantine. The remaining leak tests were caught by the behavior blocker as they attempted to access Internet Explorer in memory.
My Comodo contact verified that the GeekBuddy and Cloud Scanner warnings were triggered by the behavior of these leak test programs, not by any kind of signature. That's a step in the right direction.

 

[Littlebits]

but if I have only two choice, ZoneAlarm Firewall and Comodo Firewall? then Which one you highly recommend to me to use?! , btw our good friend Littlebits told me this:

If I had to choose between only Comodo and ZoneAlarm, then it would have to be ZoneAlarm for many reasons.

1. Has less bugs
2. Easy to configure without having to read guides
3. More compatible with other software (ZoneAlarm is one of the oldest firewalls and the most downloaded firewall in history)
4. Doesn't block or sandbox safe processes, Windows Services or drivers.
5. Never has to be tweak to allow safe processes.

Comodo requires too much manual maintenance and tweaking in order allow safe processes, of coarse if you have all the time in the world to mess with Comodo and know how to manually fix BSOD, bugs and other issues then you will get a good learning lesson out of Comodo.

Comodo is more fanboy based not really popular otherwise, if you are not part of the Comodo forums then you basically will get no help with Comodo products. ZoneAlarm includes a full help guide which you can use without having to visit support forums.

All third-party firewalls are know to cause problems on newer Windows because of loading of crappy drivers not completely compatible.
My recommendation is to use Windows Firewall, you will not have issues with internet connectivity.

Enjoy!!

 

[KaptainBug]

Do you connect to internet through a wireless router in your home ? If yes, then you don't need third party firewall, because your router has built-in firewall.
If you travel a lot connecting your laptop to public wi-fi/hotspots then go ahead and install a firewall. Between ZA and Comodo, my choice is ZA. Private firewall and Online Armor are great too.

 

[Rebsat]

If I had to choose between only Comodo and ZoneAlarm, then it would have to be ZoneAlarm for many reasons.

1. Has less bugs
2. Easy to configure without having to read guides
3. More compatible with other software (ZoneAlarm is one of the oldest firewalls and the most downloaded firewall in history)
4. Doesn't block or sandbox safe processes, Windows Services or drivers.
5. Never has to be tweak to allow safe processes.

Comodo requires too much manual maintenance and tweaking in order allow safe processes, of coarse if you have all the time in the world to mess with Comodo and know how to manually fix BSOD, bugs and other issues then you will get a good learning lesson out of Comodo.

Comodo is more fanboy based not really popular otherwise, if you are not part of the Comodo forums then you basically will get no help with Comodo products. ZoneAlarm includes a full help guide which you can use without having to visit support forums.

All third-party firewalls are know to cause problems on newer Windows because of loading of crappy drivers not completely compatible.
My recommendation is to use Windows Firewall, you will not have issues with internet connectivity.

Enjoy!!

Thank you so much bro, you saved my life I'll definately go with ZoneAlarm

 

[Rebsat]

Do you connect to internet through a wireless router in your home ? If yes, then you don't need third party firewall, because your router has built-in firewall.
If you travel a lot connecting your laptop to public wi-fi/hotspots then go ahead and install a firewall. Between ZA and Comodo, my choice is ZA. Private firewall and Online Armor are great too.

Sometimes I'm at home and I should connect via wireless router but sometimes I'm travelling and I should connect to public wireless, so finally I've chosen ZoneAlarm firewall, your comment helped me alot, I very appreciate this , thank you

 

[King Alpha]

What's with the free version of ZoneAlarm Firewall?

 

[cruelsister]

I have to disagree with LB on a few points:

1). Has less bugs - I've never use ZA so I really can't say.
2). Easy to configure without having to read guides- With prior builds of Comodo that was indeed the case. With the versions from 6.3 on, the only tweaking I do is to Disable HIPS and set Sandbox to Full V. No guide needed.
3). More compatible with other software (ZoneAlarm is one of the oldest firewalls and the most downloaded firewall in history)- As I don't use all software I can't make a blanket statement but can say there never has been any conflict for me.
4). Doesn't block or sandbox safe processes, Windows Services or drivers- I did get a sandbox alert for Intel Smart Connect, a False Positive. Moving the sandboxed file to Trusted took about 3 seconds and never reoccurred. There also are occasional Sandbox alerts for Seamonkey Browser Nightlies (when I install "hot off the Press", as it were). But this can be taken care of in the same way as the previous FP, quickly and easily. This is a small price to pay for excellent protection from malware, which is why I have it installed.

Regarding sandboxing of Safe Services, never have seen that in the years I've been using Comodo.

5). Never has to be tweak to allow safe processes- As noted above, this is entirely true. But I also don't have to worry about system infection.

Just my opinion based on extensive use and testing.

 

[Littlebits]

I have to disagree with LB on a few points:

1). Has less bugs - I've never use ZA so I really can't say.
2). Easy to configure without having to read guides- With prior builds of Comodo that was indeed the case. With the versions from 6.3 on, the only tweaking I do is to Disable HIPS and set Sandbox to Full V. No guide needed.
3). More compatible with other software (ZoneAlarm is one of the oldest firewalls and the most downloaded firewall in history)- As I don't use all software I can't make a blanket statement but can say there never has been any conflict for me.
4). Doesn't block or sandbox safe processes, Windows Services or drivers- I did get a sandbox alert for Intel Smart Connect, a False Positive. Moving the sandboxed file to Trusted took about 3 seconds and never reoccurred. There also are occasional Sandbox alerts for Seamonkey Browser Nightlies (when I install "hot off the Press", as it were). But this can be taken care of in the same way as the previous FP, quickly and easily. This is a small price to pay for excellent protection from malware, which is why I have it installed.

Regarding sandboxing of Safe Services, never have seen that in the years I've been using Comodo.

5). Never has to be tweak to allow safe processes- As noted above, this is entirely true. But I also don't have to worry about system infection.

Just my opinion based on extensive use and testing.

Since you never have tried ZoneAlarm maybe it is time that you did try it and compare the difference for yourself.
I have used both products and that was my experiences. When using Comodo I always had the feeling that I was using a Beta release because of all of the issues. Twice when upgrading to latest version it deleted all of my settings, so I already backup my settings and went to restore them and it refused to restore my settings that I worked years to get to. Besides of those problems after upgrading a few times I got BSOD and had to boot into Safe Mode to uninstall to get back into Windows. One particular upgrade and reboot it sandboxed my Logitech wireless mouse and keyboard drivers, therefore I could do anything but hard reboot using the power button and back into Safe Mode to uninstall. I'm not the only one who had these experiences with Comodo, just look at the bug reports on their forums. I never had any of these problems with ZoneAlarm.

Thanks.

 

[Rebsat]

ZoneAlarm Free Firewall 2015 v13 doesn't provide these 3 features that are available only in Pro version

Additional Layers
Multiple layers of advanced protection provide unsurpassed security:

• Anti-Spam filters out annoying and potentially dangerous emails.
• Wireless PC Protection shields you from hackers, identity thieves and other online threats when you connect to an unsecured network.
• Automatic Wireless Network Security detects wireless networks and automatically applies the most secure firewall protection setting.

 

[Ink]

Anti-Spam? Use Web-based email. - FREE & PAID, but mostly FREE.
Wireless PC Protection? Use a VPN. -- FREE & PAID
Auto Wireless Network Security? Change it manually. Even Windows Firewall has 3 different configurations; Private, Work and Public.

 

[Rebsat]

There are two major reasons to buy ZoneAlarm Pro Firewall 2015 v13

There are two reasons to buy it rather than rely on the free one:
1. If you truly are a firewall expert, if you understand all of those advanced settings, you may want the fine-grain control the PRO edition gives.
2. If you're using ZoneAlarm in a commercial setting, you're required to pay. Simple!
Neil J. Rubenking
Lead Analyst for Security at PC Magazine

 

[Terry Ganzi]

ZoneAlarm Free Firewall 2015 v13 doesn't provide these 3 features that are available only in Pro version

Additional Layers
Multiple layers of advanced protection provide unsurpassed security:

• Anti-Spam filters out annoying and potentially dangerous emails.
• Wireless PC Protection shields you from hackers, identity thieves and other online threats when you connect to an unsecured network.
• Automatic Wireless Network Security detects wireless networks and automatically applies the most secure firewall protection setting.

 

[Rebsat]

Thanks bro, I've watched that video 3 days ago but actually I don't trust those tests, btw he's suggesting users to uninstall ZoneAlarm firewall and only using Comodo firewall, personally I've found Comodo firewall with alot of big issues

 

[Terry Ganzi]

All third party firewalls have & infection call GIVE & TAKE

 

[Terry Ganzi]

Ma brother don't mind various people telling you O third party firewalls this & that, most of them know how they bread butter,the Internet is a war zone who in there right minds goes to war in they birth suit,because gear is uh added weight,wise u B PREPARED OR PREPARE TO FAIL.

 

[illumination]

If you strip the HIPS and BB's out of the other firewalls mentioned, windows firewall would stand tall with them, if not dominate them. As now you would be truly talking about a "Firewall"..