The company this week announced ZoneAlarm Security Suite, which combines its ZoneAlarm Pro firewall with its IMSecure instant messaging security software and Computer Associates International Inc’s eTrust antivirus in one application.
The product is now more aligned with those from other security giants. In some respects we are trying to compete more aggressively with Symantec and McAfee, by offering a fully-functioned solution, said Zone’s vice president of marketing Fred Felman.
While the IM piece appears unique, the obvious missing piece is anti-spam. Felman, without giving details, said it is probable that the company will do something in this area in future. Currently, the firm resells Cloudmark Inc’s anti-spam software separately.
The deal to incorporate CA’s eTrust antivirus is an extension of an existing relationship under which CA sells ZoneAlarm branded as eTrust EZ Firewall. CA will also start selling a re-branded version of the ZoneAlarm Security Suite in future.
In the past, ZoneAlarm Pro, the paid-for version of ZoneAlarm, has had executable email attachment blocking functions included, which could stop most email worms, but this is the first time the company has offered signature-based antivirus.
Our customers have been continuously requesting we deliver more breadth in our security offerings, Felman said. The suite leans more heavily on the firewall side of it, because that’s what does more of the protection.
Also new in the latest ZoneAlarm is a feature called Automatic Program Control. Less savvy users can choose to hand the decisions about which programs are safe to access the internet and which are not to a Zone-hosted database.
This database covers about 99% of common applications, Felman said. In beta-tests among power users, it recognized about 89% of applications. The database is created from ZoneAlarm users anonymously sharing their program control settings.
The pricing model for Security Suite is different to Zone’s rivals, Felman said. Renewal fees purchase not only a year of virus definition updates but also updates to the software itself. In addition, the software license is perpetual, even if buyers do not renew.
Zone is now a unit of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, which is best known for its enterprise firewall and virtual private network software. Zone is essentially now Check Point’s consumer/small office brand.
