ZoneAlarm Pro ZoneAlarm vs. BlackICE Defender Forrest Stroud
ZoneAlarm vs. BlackICE Defender
BlackICE Defender and ZoneAlarm have quickly emerged as two of the most popular solutions for protecting your computer from unauthorized Internet access. So which of these two tools is the right one for you?
If money is a major issue -- or if you're a big believer in the try before you buy concept -- ZoneAlarm gets the nod for its freeware price tag when used in personal and non-profit environments and for its freely available evaluation download for commercial users. BlackICE Defender requires both commercial and personal users to pay a $39.95 registration fee in advance and only includes one year of free signature updates with the standard license.
If ease of use is the most important factor, BlackICE gets a slight nod in that it runs straight out of the box without the need to establish any parameters or configure any security protocols. ZoneAlarm is also straightforward, but users will need to spend more time with it as a result of needing to authorize each and every Internet application that needs to send data across the 'net. BlackICE also makes it easier to tell when a person or application is trying to infiltrate your computer.
If frequent product updates is of critical concern, you're in luck -- both ZoneAlarm and BlackICE Defender are updated quite frequently with new detection capabilities, bug fixes, and feature enhancements. The two clients differ on how they handle updates, though. BlackICE allows you to download an update file that you can run as a patch for the main executable, whereas ZoneAlarm requires you to download the complete application and reinstall over the existing setup. However, the downloads are roughly the same size (the ZoneAlarm download is actually a bit smaller than the one for BlackICE), and the BlackICE updates install only a little faster than the ZoneAlarm packages.
If complete protection is of paramount importance, ZoneAlarm is the way to go. With a Firewall protecting you against potentially dangerous inbound traffic and the Application Control settings preventing unauthorized outbound data from entering the Internet, ZoneAlarm goes one step further than BlackICE Defender. Still, the majority of the attacks you will see as a member of the exclusive "always on" connection club will be coming from the outside in, and ZoneAlarm and BlackICE Defender are equally adept at preventing these types of attacks from being successful.
