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| ZoneAlarm ForceField | 
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| From: Avanquest Software
Category: Software
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £11.45
You Save: £8.54 (43%)
New (3) from £11.45
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 226
Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows Xp, Windows 2000
Media: CD-ROM
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
EAN: 5016488116749
Release Date: June 16, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Not compatible with 64 bit Vista, no anonymous surfing August 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Considering that Zonealarm are not even willing to try to convert any of their current software to a 64 bit operating system, you'd think that they would be upfront about it. No warning about this basic requirement on the box, on their website or on this Amazon page. Any prior knowledge of this problem requires a good search around some tucked-away forums.
Apart from concerns about how competently Zonealarm's code is written you ought to be aware that their software may not play nicely with other things already on your computer - Kaspersky antivirus for instance.
With so many other security programs - firewall, antivirus, antispyware (and Vista itself!) - offering browser security and anti-phishing the only real selling point of this product seems to be privacy, however Forcefield does not offer identity theft protection - it claims a 'private browser' although it does not appear to hide your IP address.
All FF seems to offer which is not already covered elsewhere is to stop any other other users on your PC from finding out where you've been - which I'm sure you know is easily accomplished on your Menu Bar with:
'Tools, Delete Browsing History'.
(XP users look under Internet Options)
And if this wasn't enough Microsoft have recently added InPrivate to the soon-available Internet Explorer 8, which is another way of hiding your browsing habits for free.
Complementary Protection August 27, 2008
ZoneAlarm ForceField is a product that is aimed at the missing link in most Windows computer security products. It has a very simple aim, protect computers from Browser Hijack/spyware attacks. It privides protection from the following types of attacks
Phishing Web Sites - web sites that look legitimate but are looking for you to type in your private/credit card details.
Key log/screen grab attacks - although this may not work if you have a security suite that provides encryption of keystrokes anyway.
Spyware Flushing - stops spyware being downloaded and installed, but will not remove any that you already have!
Spy Site Blocking - flags sites that download spyware for you so you don't get it downloaded in the first place.
Dangerous download detector - checks downloads for potential nasty spyware, but not for viruses
Web site safety check - uses a traffic light system to show the relative safety of a web site.
The killer feature for most people will be the Virtual Browser. When this function is invoked all the usual Web Site history and cookie items are stored in a virtual area of the registry and file system. When you close the browser all the items are deleted so there is no trail for your friends/siblings/parents/spouse etc to follow.
The product is small and once I attempted to install from the DVD it told me that there was more upto date version on the Internet - that was a 5.5 MB download and it took a couple of minutes to install. Once installed there is basically no configuration. You get a toolbar at the top of your browser from where you can change the settings, which I haven't, as the default behaviour is that everything is on. I did notice that my browser takes longer to start up now and some sites take longer to load, but the delay isn't much of an issue.
All these sound quite good, BUT you must still use good practice on your machine as this is not an AntiVirus product it is simply a Browser Hijack Security product. To keep yourself safe on the web you there are a few simple rules that should be followed - this product is an attempt to povide these rules to systems where people are either not technically literate enough to follow them, or who wish to not follow them. And remember to remove any spyware that is already installed on your machine!
very good product August 27, 2008
This is a very good addition to ZoneAlarm's security products. Having tried their Firewall before, I gave this new product a try, and it did not fail to impress. The concept is good, Forcefield creates a virtual image of your pc, and integrates into your browser, so whenever you visit a website, whatever happens, happens first in the image. I ran it on WinXP SP2, with Firefox 3.1, it seemed to be good. However, my browser seemed to be slowing down, especially at start up, it did take a while for the browser to load and open the homepage. After that, I did not notice a big difference in speed. The need for this product varies of course from one person to another, It definitely does the job well, and adds to your antivirus, and firewall applications an extra layer of security. I found it useful because I am using Firefox with a script blocking add-on, but sometimes this add-on has to be disabled in order to view some sites, like youtube for instance or any other sites with multimedia, and this is where Forcefield comes in handy. You will be sure that if that site is trying to run a damaging script, your computer will be safe. This is a very good product, will definitely give some peace of mind and together with an antivirus and a firewall will be perfect. There are two very nice features that I found great, one which the forcefied button, which shows you whether a site is safe or not, which is not a new feature and McAfee's siteadvisor already does this job, but still it is very useful when doing online banking for instance, extra assurance is never bad. Second one, the private browser, which does not leave any trace of your activity behind, very good, also found in other products, but nice to have everything in one bundle. I have not tried it with Internet explorer, so cannot comment on its performance. In a nutshell, nice product, good value, certainly very useful, and worth getting for everyone who does not want their system to be harmed through the internet.
 Excellent piece of protection software, but you need a firewall too! August 27, 2008
Installation is simple and painless. It is important to realise though this software is not a firewall in itself. You also need a piece of firewall software in addition to this item.
From the icon on the start bar, you can open an Internet Explorer windows with extra privacy built in, which prevents web pages being added to your history, remove items from the downloads, erase auto-fill and auto-completion details, and block all cookies.
The information it records is very useful, it lets you know whether or not the site is safe to browser, and the application displays a banner at the top of the page to let you know that you are using a private browser. I checked my website (which obviously cam back fine) and it even reported that the site had a valid security certificate.
I tried to find some dodgy websites to try it out, but I couldn't find any! I still believe though, given the amount of detail it provides you, that the software is fully capable of what it says it does on the tin. I've used the ZoneAlarm Firewall (from the same stable) for years and it's always been a top notch piece of software, and this item feels no different.
It's good that you can choose an unprotected browser too though, because being a web designer/developer I need to be able to test legitimate processes. Even when I am shopping online at trusted sites, I won't always want to stay anonymous.
At the very least, the application is useful for the indicator in the browser that lets you know whether or not the site is safe to use.
Security protection August 25, 2008
Zone Alarm does exactly what it says on the cover. It is easy to install and private browser stops the next person seeing what you have looked previously which is good when buying presents online for your family and not giving the game away.
The Key log/ Screen grab jamming again adds further protection with the addition of anti phishing.
Forcefield shows you if a sight is safe to go on to.
This is compatible with most security suites and Micro soft, It also can be used on Windows Vista or XP.
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