What is ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware
If you ever heard of ransomware infections, then you might already know the entire danger they are able to seed around your system. This type of malware brute forces a network to encrypt data and cause various other security issues allowing cybercriminals to control the system. Nobody would ever want to become a victim of such infections again. This is why it is worth equipping yourself with a specific anti-ransomware tool to prevent security cracks and losses of valuable data. ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware by Check Point is one of those we are going to review below.
It is a very simple, yet effective standalone program designed to track all ransomware-related processes initiated on your computer and block them immediately. The program can detect potentially dangerous files and suppress their activity before they run your device into a world of trouble. With a constantly increasing number of ransomware attacks happening around the globe, users worried about their protection should by far consider installing a ransomware-protection tool, especially if they are excessively active around the web. ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware is focused solely on protecting your system against file-encrypting infections, so you will not be able to see any comprehensive capabilities like in ultimate anti-malware software. Ransomware protection is the only feature you should expect from this program.
ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware in detail
Price:
One big difference from other ransomware-protection tools lies in the price. Whilst many competitors try to make their software totally free, ZoneAlarm requests about 42.99$/year for 1 PC and there is no option to pay monthly. Note that the product price may be lower or higher depending on where you live. Some countries may even be charged twice less compared to others. There is also a 30-day trial-period option, which can be tried by new users before paying for the entire product. You will only have to provide your payment details to download the trial version. Funds will be drawn from your card only when the trial period ends (they will email you with a reminder 5 days prior to the trial ending), so you are free to cancel it anytime to prevent the payment.
Appearance:
ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware is nothing, but a pure child of minimalism. After installing the program, you will be greeted with a single window to navigate through all of the settings you need. Unless enabled by default, users can switch on Anti-Ransomware Protection by clicking the corresponding icon on the main page. After making sure it is enabled, you will see the “You Are Protected” message on the main screen and be confident that ZoneAlarm protects you from known and unknown ransomware attacks, restores encrypted files, and operates no matter whether you have an internet connection or not. There is also the “Web Secure” option which comes as an addition to the main anti-ransomware features. Specifically, ZoneAlarm offers to install an extension that will guard your browser against phishing sites and e-mails attempting to promote malicious content. A couple of years ago, ZoneAlarm had nothing tweak. Users had to witness only the “You’re protected” title as everything was already set up by the program. Now is almost the same, though, users can bring a bit of interaction themselves. Quick support, profile, and notifications access can now be observed without leaving the program, which serves as a plus compared to older versions. Overall, ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware is more than easy to use. Just let it work in the background mode and have your system always protected. If there is any threat detected, you will be instantly notified about it.
Lab Results:
The best way to test a tool designed to tackle ransomware activity is to feed it with a high-risk encryptor. For this experiment, we decided to use Bad Rabbit, Locky, and Cerber – 3 ransomware attacks considered to be one of the most dangerous in the fraudulent world. They usually infect systems using fake Adobe Flash Player installers or macros hidden inside of Microsoft Office Documents. A variety of distribution channels help such and many other infections pounce the system and execute malicious files responsible for ransomware infections. Right after initiating the installation of ransomware, ZoneAlarm dealt with the attacks almost in a blink of an eye. It alerted that ransomware is spotted and blocked it successfully. Sometimes users may be asked to reboot the PC to complete the full deletion of malware. Right after getting things done with the virus, ZoneAlarm reveals information about a malicious file that caused ransomware infection.
Although ZoneAlarm does allow ransomware attacks to start the encryption process and lock off a couple of files, special algorithms track all of the changes and make the recovery of blocked data easy and troubleless. You simply have to click on “Recover affected files” after ransomware ends up deleted. It will also show you the list of files that were restored. If you had no Anti-Ransomware installed at the time of infection, you would not be able to recover the data that way. In addition to this, there is also a button to tell the program that the blocked process is not ransomware. If you are sure it is not malicious and ZoneAlarm recognized it as such by mistake, the blockade can be declined. Despite this, it is still better to trust the anti-ransomware program and let it block a suspicious process, even if you think it will not harm your system.
Of course, no anti-ransomware tools are ideal. There will always be some number of cases when ransomware managed to sneak into the system and reach its goals despite installed protection. However, the capabilities of ZoneAlarm are still a hell of enough to feel secure against many ransomware threats whilst using your PC. It will undoubtedly save you from an ocean of tears that could potentially drop in case your files got permanently encrypted. In general, we feel confident to put ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware onto the list of good and effective utilities to shield from worldwide attacks. Since its story began more than 4 years ago, ZoneAlarm has proved its products are worth holding the same and better plank up to these days in line with the constantly improving world of online dangers.
System Requirements:
- Microsoft® Windows® (7 SP1, 10)
- 32 or 64-bit, 2 GB RAM
- 2 GHz or faster processor
- 1.2Â GB of available hard-disk space
- Periodic Internet Connection
Compatibility: ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware can be used in combination with any other security software (e.g. antivirus, firewall, etc.). The product is not compatible with ZoneAlarm Extreme as it is already included right there.
Final thoughts
ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware is a good and time-tested program to establish thorough protection against ransomware attacks. Though, it may be hard to pose it ahead of its free-to-use competitors. Most of them are as good as ZoneAlarm and provide similar value whilst dealing with ransomware infections. Anti-Ransomware is not the only product developed by Check Point. There are a couple of more focused on other protection segments like antivirus, firewall, and mobile security. You may also acquire the pack of all protection products with the ultimate ZoneAlarm Extreme Security against all threats on the web. Browse more information about them on the official ZoneAlarm website.
