App Review ZoneAlarm Extreme Security Next Gen 2024 - With Malware Tests

It is advised to take all reviews with a grain of salt. In extreme cases some reviews use dramatization for entertainment purposes.
Product name
ZoneAlarm Extreme Security Next Gen 2024
Installation (rating)
5.00 star(s)
User interface (rating)
5.00 star(s)
Accessibility notes
ZoneAlarm emulation detects stuff like phishing pdf documents, simple PowerShell keyloggers and many others. Stuff that nobody else would detect. At the same time, anti-phishing with real time analysis blocks more pages than big brands like Norton ever will.

Components like Anti-Bot and Behavioural Guard block advanced attacks, the behavioural blocking is based around Mitre tactics and techniques and not just around profiles, like SONAR or ATD (Bitdefender). The level of cleanup after a threat is amazing too, if you have a look at the forensic reports.
Performance (rating)
5.00 star(s)
Core Protection (rating)
5.00 star(s)
Proactive protection (rating)
5.00 star(s)
Additional Protection notes
After alot of testing this is one of the toughest, most realiable AV i ever used.
Browser protection (rating)
5.00 star(s)
Positives
    • Many features
    • Minimal setup required
    • Low impact on system resources
    • Lightning fast scans
    • Easy to use
    • Simple and non-intrusive
    • Ransomware protection
    • Strong and reliable protection
    • Detects or blocks in the wild malware
    • Consistently high test scores
    • Accurate results and reliable antivirus engine
    • Effective malicious URL blocking
    • Virus signatures are updated daily
    • Great value for money
    • Effective malware removal
    • Well designed, clear and easy to use interface
    • Multi-layer protection approach
Negatives
    • Can be costly to run
Time spent using product
Reviewed between 1 to 7 days
Computer specs


System Manufacturer Dazen
System Model Dazen Laptop X86
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Celeron(R) N5095 @ 2.00GHz, 1997 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends International, LLC. 5.19, 3/23/2022
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 12.0 GB
Recommended for
  1. All types of users
Overall rating
5.00 star(s)

Trident

Level 34
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
2,349
Are the firewall UI and options improved? Last time I test it, it was very disappointing. Also it was very heavy and extremely slow on a VM.
They’ve added application control back now. More options are available in Harmony Endpoint. I am not sure how’s the performance on a VM.
 

Moonhorse

Level 38
Verified
Top Poster
Content Creator
Well-known
May 29, 2018
2,728
You need to install the extension like most AV to block the phising sites
I did install the extension on every browser i tried out, also installed certificate on android for advanced phishing protection
What @Moonhorse should try is to install it on a clean OS, no traces of any other AV present. I did this with ZANG and it never fails me.
1. pc was my own and it was clean installed just before installing zonealarm 2. pc was my sisters laptop that had traces of antiviruses but did not managed to get it working properly on both these devices

i contacted techinal support but after telling them whatever the problem was i got answer where they kindly said that they are sorry about inconvience and asked if i wanted a refund, so i took that.

maybe it just wasnt for me this time
 

simmerskool

Level 38
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Apr 16, 2017
2,779
I did install the extension on every browser i tried out, also installed certificate on android for advanced phishing protection

1. pc was my own and it was clean installed just before installing zonealarm 2. pc was my sisters laptop that had traces of antiviruses but did not managed to get it working properly on both these devices

i contacted techinal support but after telling them whatever the problem was i got answer where they kindly said that they are sorry about inconvience and asked if i wanted a refund, so i took that.

maybe it just wasnt for me this time
fwiw I have license for 3 devices & I cannot get ZA to activate on a 2d device. So far I have stumped 3 of their chat techs :ROFLMAO:
but first installations on 2 different pc was ok, and I like ZA Anti-Ransomware. Seems very good if you can get it installed :ROFLMAO:
 
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Reactions: Trident

Antimalware18

Level 11
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Jan 17, 2014
503
I tried it briefly, I also could not get the web filter to work quite right as well as it suffers from the same issue WD sometimes has on my machine
it detects the files but fails to move them to quaratine.
 
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Zartarra

Level 7
Verified
Well-known
May 9, 2019
349
I installed ZA on a VM. After a couple of days of testing the VM is running extremely slow. Restarting or start back from a snapshot gives the same errors. ZA generates alot of process dumps (processess AR_Service, ZANG_AV an ZANG_MgsSvc). Firewall is still very basic.

It has also a problem with detection of script based malware samples (bat, Powershell, mshta).

The VM is a W11 harden one I use for all anti-virus products. ZA is the only one that reacts strange. So I pass at moment and I wait for the next big release.
 

TuxTalk

Level 13
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Nov 9, 2022
649
I installed ZA on a VM. After a couple of days of testing the VM is running extremely slow. Restarting or start back from a snapshot gives the same errors. ZA generates alot of process dumps (processess AR_Service, ZANG_AV an ZANG_MgsSvc). Firewall is still very basic.

It has also a problem with detection of script based malware samples (bat, Powershell, mshta).

The VM is a W11 harden one I use for all anti-virus products. ZA is the only one that reacts strange. So I pass at moment and I wait for the next big release.
I don't have these issues , I'm not running a VM, some av can not work well on a VM.
 

simmerskool

Level 38
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Apr 16, 2017
2,779
fwiw, I have paid & activated ZA Anti-Ransomware running win10_vmware, and not seeing issues. AR downloads with or is incorporated in zaarsetup which installs ZANG first, features are culled when you activate the license for AR. I run Harmony on VM, no issues. But I did have issues activating license for 2d & 3d devices, while others here did not.
 

TuxTalk

Level 13
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Nov 9, 2022
649
ZoneAlarm has been updated.

1721398613895.jpeg


Anti-Ransomware: 4.3.181.19915
Antivirus version: 3.90
Signature version: 202407181758
Update date: 7/19/2024 4:06:03 PM
Engine version: 86.82.110
Firewall version: 8.68.81.4
Anti-Bot version: 8.68.81.22

Protection name added :

1721398584201.jpeg

So far no issues and running smooth.
 

Trident

Level 34
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
2,349
I installed ZoneAlarm NextGen Beta and will try it over the next few days.

Few observations:
URL Filtering: to enable URL filtering, the following checkmark needs to be activated (not done by default).
The edge browser (if configured to always stay active in memory) will need to be terminated using taskkill /f /im msedge.exe.
1721405000100.png


The system instantly and automatically updates Sophos and Behavioural Guard, but certain signatures and engines update is delayed until next start.
To instantly force update, either restart or run this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\CheckPoint\Endpoint Security\TPCommon\Updater\Updater\SBASignatureUpdater.exe"
This updates the static analysis models as well.

Firewall: settings are still reduced down to the absolute minimum, but the firewall is only intended to protect users from internal threats (devices connected on the home network), as well as unexpected inbound connections (port control). The rest, including blocking of network-spread viruses, exploits and C&C communication is handled by anti-bot.

The inclusion of protection names is nice.
1721405313144.png


Emulation now automatically inspects every file created. As an experiment, copy a malicious URL from somewhere, paste in a document and format URL as a link. DocLink Defender (part of emulation) emulates all files linked within a document and deletes the document shortly after creation.
 

TuxTalk

Level 13
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Nov 9, 2022
649
I installed ZoneAlarm NextGen Beta and will try it over the next few days.

Few observations:
URL Filtering: to enable URL filtering, the following checkmark needs to be activated (not done by default).
The edge browser (if configured to always stay active in memory) will need to be terminated using taskkill /f /im msedge.exe.
View attachment 284404

The system instantly and automatically updates Sophos and Behavioural Guard, but certain signatures and engines update is delayed until next start.
To instantly force update, either restart or run this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\CheckPoint\Endpoint Security\TPCommon\Updater\Updater\SBASignatureUpdater.exe"
This updates the static analysis models as well.

Firewall: settings are still reduced down to the absolute minimum, but the firewall is only intended to protect users from internal threats (devices connected on the home network), as well as unexpected inbound connections (port control). The rest, including blocking of network-spread viruses, exploits and C&C communication is handled by anti-bot.

The inclusion of protection names is nice.
View attachment 284406

Emulation now automatically inspects every file created. As an experiment, copy a malicious URL from somewhere, paste in a document and format URL as a link. DocLink Defender (part of emulation) emulates all files linked within a document and deletes the document shortly after creation.
Thanks @Trident , i completely forgot this setting.
 

Trident

Level 34
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
2,349
To test whether the Sophos engine supports cloud lookups, I disabled both emulations and downloaded a malicious file.
The detection Mal/Generic-S refers to a file that has a malicious reputation within Sophos cloud (Live Protection). This complements the local signatures and heuristics.

1721408112313.png


Local Sophos detection:
1721408465912.png
 
Last edited:

lyldz

Level 3
Verified
Well-known
Jun 4, 2016
139
the app works fine, it's lightweight and the interface is very simple but...



When downloading a 10 kb file or a 2 mb file, the download is extremely slow, almost to zero...is there any way to turn this off and on?



in general, downloads through the browser are extremely slow because of the application.every application approaches it as suspicious.is there a simple solution to this?
 

Trident

Level 34
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
2,349
the app works fine, it's lightweight and the interface is very simple but...



When downloading a 10 kb file or a 2 mb file, the download is extremely slow, almost to zero...is there any way to turn this off and on?



in general, downloads through the browser are extremely slow because of the application.every application approaches it as suspicious.is there a simple solution to this?
Yes, this is the emulation that runs the file and waits for the file to finish its execution chain.

To turn this off, go to “Web Secure” on the main interface and turn emulation off.

Files will continue to be emulated in the background whilst you are using them. If anything is malicious, it will be removed.
 

likeastar20

Level 9
Verified
Mar 24, 2016
423
the app works fine, it's lightweight and the interface is very simple but...



When downloading a 10 kb file or a 2 mb file, the download is extremely slow, almost to zero...is there any way to turn this off and on?



in general, downloads through the browser are extremely slow because of the application.every application approaches it as suspicious.is there a simple solution to this?
It's interesting that you call ZoneAlarm lightweight. My PC is on the lower end, and ZoneAlarm is probably the heaviest antivirus I've tried
 

Maschera

Level 1
Verified
Mar 19, 2016
43
Update, I had to give up on ZA, its really a good piece of software, but after a while my system does not like it so much anymore.
@Trident and me tried everything to solve, reinstall and whatever, no luck.

Shame, but its not the end of the world.
@Trident following your comments on this thread has increased my interest in Zone Alarm. We normally use GData and everything is perfect. But I also wanted to try Zone Alarm. I guess I'm looking for adventure. @Shadowra, what is your comment about this software?
 

simmerskool

Level 38
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Apr 16, 2017
2,779
Update, I had to give up on ZA, its really a good piece of software, but after a while my system does not like it so much anymore.
@Trident and me tried everything to solve, reinstall and whatever, no luck.

Shame, but its not the end of the world.
did your system just seem to slowdown, or worse?
(fwiw I have the same "issue" with Avast here)
 
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Aggravatorx

Level 5
Verified
Well-known
Jan 30, 2013
210
The days of little anti-virus programs are gone Norton Avast same company even Gdata which i try to like but memory hungry
all are huge installs 1.6 GB at least they give you everything even if you do not play games all of them are still going to slow you down
i have a beast of a machine and i have tried them all except zone alarm looks way to heavy and i feel slow down even Norton gamer edition
another bloatware of crap really a gaming optimizer. no home user needs any of this extra protection .and please do not say the new cloud mcafee
is light it still has a lot running they just do not show it install Revo and look at all the crap thats running besides their pop-ups annoying as hell.
Wow i feel Better....lol
 

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