Choosing security settings

You don't have to make any settings choices to be protected by ZoneAlarm Pro! Read below to learn how the default settings protect you from hacker threats.

Tip If you are an expert computer user and you want to take control of the details of your security, see the related topic Customizing your security.

Security and convenience

In choosing Internet security settings, your goal is to ensure the highest possible security with the least loss of Internet convenience.

Our security professionals have chosen ZoneAlarm Pro's default security settings with this double goal in mind. They protect your computer from harm and safeguard your information, while keeping your Internet experience convenient.

Example: Cookie control

Internet cookies make it possible for e-commerce sites (like Amazon, for example) to recognize you as soon as you arrive and customize the pages you visit. However, cookies can also be used to record information about your Web-surfing habits and give that information to marketers and advertisers.

Zone Alarm Pro's default medium cookie control setting balances security with convenience by blocking only third-party cookies—those cookies that are used to track your viewing habits. Session cookies and persistent cookies are allowed.

If you wish, you can instantly block all cookies by choosing the high cookie-control setting, giving you have full protection against all types of cookie abuse—-but at the expense of the convenience that cookies make possible.

ZoneAlarm Pro default settings

For most people, the default settings chosen by the security professionals at Zone Labs provide strong security without sacrificing too much convenience and interactivity.

Control	Default	What the default setting does
Firewall-Internet Zone		Makes your computer invisible to hackers. Traffic to or from the Internet Zone is blocked, unless it is initiated by a program on your computer that you've given permission to communicate with the Internet Zone.
Firewall- Trusted Zone		Enables you to share files and printers with computers on your home or local network.
Program Control-Authentication		Programs must ask for permission and be authenticated before communicating with the Internet. Note Zone Labs recommends you start with this setting at Medium, and then raise it to High after a few days of normal use. This enables ZoneAlarm Pro to secure your program components without interrupting you unnecessarily. For more information, see the related topic, Program authentication.
Alerts & Logs		Only high rated alerts are be shown. This keeps you from being interrupted unnecessarily.
Privacy - Cookies		Session cookies and persistent cookies are allowed, but third-party cookies are blocked. This lets you benefit from the convenience of cookies, while preventing advertisers and other third parties from getting information about your Internet habits.
Privacy - Ad blocking		Blocks pop-up ads and banner and skyscraper ads that take more than a few seconds to load. Ads that don't slow down Internet performance are allowed.
Privacy - Mobile Code		While mobile code can be a vulnerability, it also is a powerful tool for making Web sites interactive. Mobile code control is turned OFF by default to let you take advantage of that interactivity.
E-mail Protection		Quarantines 46 common types of e-mail attachments, like executable files (.exe) and MS-DOS applications(.com), that can contain worms or viruses.
Web Filtering-Parental Control		Blocks undesirable Web sites, such as those containing violence or pornography.
Web Filtering-Smart Filtering		Enables the filtering of new Web sites that have not yet received ratings.

Related Topics

Customizing your security
Program authentication

Glossary

cookie
A small data file used by a Web site to customize content, remember you from one visit to the next, and/or track your Internet activity. While there are many benign uses of cookies, some cookies can be used to divulge information about you without your consent.

session cookie
A cookie stored in your browser\'s memory cache that disappears as soon as you close your browser window. These are the safest cookies because of their short life-span.

persistent cookie
A cookie put on your hard drive by a Web site you visit. These cookies can be retrieved by the Web site the next time you visit. While useful, they create a vulnerability by storing information about you, your computer, or your Internet use in a text file.

third party cookie
A persistent cookie that is placed on your computer, not by the Web site you are visiting, but by an advertiser or other \'third party.\' These cookies are commonly used to deliver information about your Internet activity to that third party.

component
A small program or set of functions that larger programs call on to perform specific tasks. Some components may be used by several different programs simultaneously. Windows operating systems provide many component DLLs (Dynamic Link Libraries) for use by a variety of Windows applications.

quarantine
ZoneAlarm Pro's MailSafe quarantines incoming e-mail attachments whose filename extensions (for example, .EXE or .BAT) indicate the possibility of auto-executing code. By changing the filename extension, quarantining prevents the attachment from opening without inspection. This helps protect you from worms, viruses, and other malware that hackers distribute as e-mail attachments.