# Yikes!(ZoneAlarm users, a question)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes-zonealarm-users-a-question/183100>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 20, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes-zonealarm-users-a-question/183100 "2003-06-20T05:21:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes-zonealarm-users-a-question/183100/1 "2003-06-20T05:21:09Z")

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I’ve recently downloaded a copy of ZoneAlarm Pro, under suspicion that my computer had been hacked again. It’s worked perfectly, however in the 18 or so hours since I downloaded it, I’ve had 176 intrusions blocked, 104 of which have been high rated. Is that a high number? Should I be worried?

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**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes-zonealarm-users-a-question/183100/2 "2003-06-20T05:55:54Z")

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Well, my running totals are 36856 intrusions/11572 high-rated since installation. I’ve got a couple hundred for today. It’s not unusual.

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**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes-zonealarm-users-a-question/183100/3 "2003-06-20T10:19:24Z")

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Is the Pro version that much better than the freebie? I’ve been thinking of upgrading.

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**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes-zonealarm-users-a-question/183100/4 "2003-06-20T10:21:51Z")

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My copy is a free 30 day version of ZoneAlarm Pro.

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**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes-zonealarm-users-a-question/183100/5 "2003-06-20T10:43:32Z")

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I’ve got 110 116 since feb.22 2002. Nothing to worry about.

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**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes-zonealarm-users-a-question/183100/6 "2003-06-20T10:57:11Z")

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ZoneAlarm falls on the “raving paranoid” side of firewalls, as it classifies a wide swath of innocent network traffic as hostile attacks. It does a disservice, in my opinion, as it causes new users to promptly wonder if the entire FBI is trying to break into their computer.

So: Don’t be worried, but keep up with security updates both for your OS and your firewall.

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**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes-zonealarm-users-a-question/183100/7 "2003-06-20T13:30:29Z")

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Oh, ZoneAlarm thinks EVERYTHING is a hostile intrusion.