False Sense of Security?

Below is what I think I know. I submit to correction and the opinion of others. However, please be kind as my feelings get hurt very easily. <big laugh>

I have always used Zone Alarm Pro (paid version). My subscription is expiring so I decided to try Zone Alarm Free. I have noticed that many people use the free version. Having now used both versions, I am wondering if Zone Alarm Free (which is meant to attract users to Zone Alarm Pro) is really creating a sense of false security for it's users.

Yes...ZA Free does allow outgoing protection on a program by program basis. You can either allow or deny program access. However, ZA Pro carries that much further with it's "component control". In other words, ZA Pro notifies you if any component of any program changes from the last time it attempted to acess the internet. This seems very important to me as virus and trogan writers attempt do their nasty stuff by changing (or attaching to) various programs. I find it important to be notified if a program I approved for internet access has been changed in some way. A firewall that does not notify one of said changes appears to be lacking. Thus, a false sense of security.

Yes...ZA Free has "Mailsafe" protection. But, for only one type of program. I think it is for the .vbs extension. While it is nice that .vbs files are quarantined by ZA Free that to may lead to a false sense of security. There are many other programs with other extensions that are only quarantined by using ZA Pro. Admittedly, a good anti-virus program can help in this case.

Yes...ZA Free has "Privacy and ID Theft Protection". Once again, it only protects and prevents your Ebay password from passing through the firewall. We all know that there are many other private things we wish not to be released without our permission. Only ZA Pro allows the user to do that.

Do I have my thinking cap on straight? Are we not somewhat less protected than we should be by using the free version of ZA?

Thanks for listening and please note that I don't own stock in Zone Alarm

 

You "pays your money and takes your choice", as they say. Many of use ZA free and are happy (and maybe ignorant), or plain just ignore the benefits of ZA Pro. I'm sure that if any of the differences were significant (to most users) we would have heard of them here in this forum. I'm sticking with ZA free, but then I'm a cheapskate. Bazza

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I use Sygate free firewall. It has a 'component control' also. If you aren't confident with ZA free, perhaps you should renew your subscription.