ZoneAlarm Free Firewall: Configure This Firewall for Windows

Hackers are always on the lookout to take advantage of our equipment. For that reason, they invent novel techniques, carry out phishing attacks, ransomware, and more. Users, to defend ourselves against these cybercriminals we need to protect ourselves in an adequate way. Thus, for example, the first thing we must do is keep our operating system updated so that cybercriminals cannot exploit its vulnerabilities. In addition, another interesting thing would be to add other protection systems such as a firewall, and if possible, also an antimalware. For this reason, today we are going to learn how to configure and install ZoneAlarm Free Firewall , a free firewall with which we will be more protected.

The developer of this software is Check Point, a company founded in 1993 and with a long tradition known for its firewall and VPN products. Therefore, we can rest assured that it is a trustworthy product, since they have maintained the prestige for a long period.

ZoneAlarm Free Firewall

What ZoneAlarm Free Firewall gives us

ZoneAlarm Free firewall is a free firewall that will allow us to protect ourselves against incoming and outgoing cyberattacks, block unwanted traffic and control which programs access the Internet. In addition, it will make us invisible to hackers, and it will also not help protect our private data.

This firewall will perform the following functions:

  • Monitor programs looking for suspicious behavior, to offer us protection against cybercriminals and other online threats.
  • Traffic monitoring thanks to a bidirectional firewall, which controls and observes the incoming and outgoing traffic of our network. Its objective is to make our PC invisible, and prevent spyware from exposing our data on the Internet.
  • Early Startup Protection can alert us if we are running a trusted operating system or a dangerous rootkit.
  • Anti-phishing protection to protect ourselves online while browsing the Internet.
  • Safe Document Downloading offers to remove potentially malicious features from our file downloads, such as macros, embedded objects, and other harmful content.

On the other hand, we have ZoneAlarm Pro which is the paid version, which in addition to the above, offers us additional options. Among them we can highlight: advanced access protection, advanced settings control, component control, expert rules, 24/7 customer service and is ad-free. In addition, other free Checkpoint options that you may be interested in trying are Zone Alarm Free Antivirus and ZoneAlarm Web Secure Free, which is an extension for Google Chrome to keep us safe from various threats.

Minimum requirements, download and installation of this free firewall

To install ZoneAlarm Free firewall we will need a PC that meets the following minimum requirements:

  • Microsoft Windows 7, 8, 10 operating system in 32-bit or 64-bit version.
  • A processor of 2 GHz or more.
  • 2 GB of RAM.
  • 1.5 GB of available hard disk space.
  • V ersion Microsoft .NET framework 3.5 or higher that if we do not install the program.

If we want to install the firewall, we will start by going to its website by clicking here . Then we will get a screen like this:

Now, what we have to do is click on « Download free «. The first thing we are going to do is run the installer, and then a screen like this will appear:

Here, we have to accept the privacy policy in order to use the program. Then it allows us to choose between two types of installation:

  • Quick : it will make an installation with the default configuration.
  • Personalized : in which it gives you the possibility to choose between several options.

In my case, I have opted for the custom installation, in order to make decisions about how I want the ZoneAlarm Free firewall to be installed. Next, we have the license agreement and to give our consent to install the program, click on Accept .

This is the most important screen within the firewall installation:

Here we recommend choosing to set app control in machine learning mode . As for the control, in the maximum security mode the way to control would be manual. This means that it will ask us more times for permission to perform actions, while, in the automatic, some are already accepted. As for the destination directory, it can be changed, but in our case we have chosen to leave it at the preset value. Once we have chosen the parameters we want, click on the Next button.

Then in ZoneAlarm Free firewall the following will appear:

Now it’s your turn to decide if we want to install the ZoneAlarm Web Secure Free Google Chrome extension that we talked about earlier. Its installation is optional, and is at the discretion of each one. If you are not clear at the beginning of the tutorial, you have a link to install it later. Next, start downloading and installing the program, depending on your hardware and connection, it will take more or less.

The installation process will finish with this screen.

All we have to do here is put our e-mail and click on the Finish button.

Get started with ZoneAlarm Free firewall

This is the main screen of the firewall. The boxes marked in red are the ones that we are going to deal with in depth.

At the top we have a tab with essential options of the firewall:

  • Update : will check for a more recent program update and proceed to install it.
  • Tools : here we can enter the license if we go to a higher paid product. We also have the game mode, to configure how you want the firewall to behave when we are playing. In addition, we have scheduled tasks, in which by default the program updates automatically. In preferences we have the option to set a password to the program, and also to make a backup of our configuration or return to the default values. Lastly, you have logging and diagnostic tools.
  • Help : we can see a series of manuals in English and receive technical assistance.

One of the first things we did as soon as we started the firewall, was to update the program to verify that it had the latest version on.

With the latest version already on, we began to use the PC normally. One of the main functions of ZoneAlarm Free firewall is to notify us when a program wants to send incoming or outgoing traffic to my computer. So, for example, when I was using the file explorer to upload a file to the cloud, I got this screen.

In this part you have to be very attentive and choose well. These are the configuration options it gives us:

  • Remember this setting : if you leave the box checked, every time the same thing happens, it will automatically act like this. If you do not have it, the best thing is to deactivate the box and give to deny. If something doesn’t work, you know why, but at least by restarting next time you can change it.
  • Show More Information – Sometimes it contains information about what that program is for and can help us make our decision.
  • Allow : will let the program use the Internet.
  • Deny : will not allow the program to use the Internet.

As we are going to occasionally upload files to the cloud, email or Google Drive, we are going to configure it as in the screenshot above.

Configuration of «Firewall» and «Mobility»

If in the main screen of ZoneAlarm Free firewall we press See details, this screen will appear.

In Basic Firewall , if we click on configuration, we can configure the security level of the public area and our local network. If we click on Application Control , we can establish the security that we deem appropriate. It is best to leave things by default, unless we know what we are doing.

Here we must highlight Advanced configuration , that if we press the ” See programs ” tab we will be able to see the application rules.

Thus, for example, if we have given permission to a program that we should not, we can edit it so that it asks us again or delete it. Finally, if in Mobility we click on View details , Configure we will find this.

It is a section for the protection of identity. Here we find ” See trusted sites ” where we can add our own to PayPal and eBay. Then in “My Vault Settings ” you can protect your identity by putting a bank account, credit card and more. As you can see, ZoneAlarm Free firewall is a good free firewall option that you can try.