Bar outside access to your system
with ZoneAlarm

Anyone who can use a search engine can find "warez" sites online. Armed with the ingenious software available from those sites, he can then hack into your system. The average high-school kid could do it — and some do.

There's even a name for them. Seasoned hackers call them "script kiddies," a disparaging reference to their lack of extensive programming knowledge. So, when a virtual know-nothing can hack into your computer just for the thrill of it, you don't have to be the Department of Defense or Microsoft Corporation to be at risk.

A good digital "firewall" minimizes that risk.

Firewalls place a safety barrier between you and the Internet. But hardware firewalls, recommended for business networks, can cost thousands — too much for the home or small-business user.

We've found a free firewall that does a great job of securing your personal computer: ZoneAlarm from Zone Labs is software that installs quickly and filters all traffic into and out of your computer. It even passes the rigorous LeakTest.

[ CAVEAT — The Saltmeadow Privacy Package is a collection of free applications, so we're suggesting the free version of ZoneAlarm here, not the “Pro” or “Plus” pay-for-license versions. The paid versions have, in our experience, grown into resource hogs. And we have no real use for their bells and whistles — all current major browser builds block offsite images and popups, and we have Ad-Aware to get rid of spyware and The Proxomitron to block sneaky scripts.