Instant Internet Security

Phasers on Stun: Your Security Settings

For the most part, ZoneAlarm works automatically, but there are a few settings and features in the program you should know about. The first of them helps you decide just how secure you want to be.

It's tempting to say, "I want this PC locked up so tight, nothing can get into it or out of it." You'll change that attitude the first time you run a browser or e-mail program. Of course you want to make an exception for e-mail. And chat software too. And why would you have an Internet connection if you didn't want to surf the Web? So setting your phasers on kill is, well, overkill.

ZoneAlarm wants to err on the side of caution with regard to what it lets through the gates. So for the first couple of days, you'll get a lot of alerts. Start up Internet Explorer, and ZoneAlarm pops up a message asking, "Do you want to allow Internet Explorer to access the Internet?" Resist the temptation to cuss. ZoneAlarm is learning about what is allowed and what is not. Just add a check mark next to "Remember the answer each time I use this program" and click the Yes button. Each time you do this, you add a new program entry to ZoneAlarm's database, slowly building the list of software allowed to pass through the firewall.

With some programs--ICQ, for instance--you'll be asked a second question: "Do you want to allow ICQ to act as a server?" It's safe to answer Yes and check the "Remember the answer" box. ICQ needs to be able to watch certain "ports" while it's running so that it can see incoming messages. I'm not talking about the ports on the back of your PC; your Internet connection is subdivided into ports--specific parts of the pipeline used to transfer specific types of information. Letting ICQ act like a server lets it keep tabs on those ports.

By default, ZoneAlarm is set to High Security for Internet applications and Medium Security for local network applications. Those settings allow other computers in the house access to yours, but prevent outsiders from hacking into your system. If you find that some aspect of a Net app (or your local network) is not functioning, you can tweak these settings and see if that solves the problem. From the main ZoneAlarm window, click the Security button and experiment with the two sliders. Notes in each area (Local and Internet) will explain what security functions you lose as you choose lower levels of security.

You've got safe mail. By default, ZoneAlarm 2.1 and higher versions quarantine e-mail attachments that are scripts. This means that .vbs files such as the "ILove You" virus can't harm you when ZoneAlarm is running. There are some cases in which someone may send you a legitimate .vbs e-mail attachment (we can't think of any offhand, but it's possible). If that happens, temporarily turn off the MailSafe setting in ZoneAlarm's Security section. Click to remove the check mark, run the script, and don't forget to click the check mark back into the MailSafe box when you're through.