I just dowloaded ZoneAlarm, and I went through the security test at http://grc.com (the ShieldsUp! test and the port scan). It seems that my machine is now as visible as a polar bear in a snowstorm. ZoneAlarm even told me when the site was checking me out, and gave me a little dialog box to click. Made me feel important, that did. ZoneAlarm even asked me if my browser should be accessing the internet. I like paranoid software! ZoneAlarm doesn’t seem to deal with cookies, but that’s not a problem. I already have Guidescope up and running. Guidescope mainly blocks banner ads, but it also does well against cookies. I have set it up to only accept cookies from the SDMB and a few other select places, so I can laugh in the face of DoubleClick. A good feeling, let me tell you. So, any comments about my paranoia? Any other Dopers have the same systems, or can recommend any?
Yeah I’ve got Zone Alarm too, works like a charm! tells me when programs are trying to update themselves when i like the old version better! and i can stop it with the click of a button. although there are times when it gets annoying if u forget to tell it to, for example, always let Napster access the internet.
all in all a great program.
LIONsob turned me on to Zone Alarm a few months back. It’s great. I’ll admit it was a surprise to find out how often somebody tries to snoop me when I’m online (a lot of media companies, probably doing market research, plus a few others of more mysterious origins). You can check’em out at Sam Spade.