Zone Alarm Firewall Tab

Saturday, December 03 2005 @ 08:20 PM PST

Contributed by: admin

Firewall Tab within Zone Alarm



While the Zone Alarm Security Suite is open the second (2nd) tab from the top is the "Firewall" tab. The first page that is displayed is the "MAIN" page.

The main page highlights the following:



Internet Zone Security:

  • High - High security places your computer in stealth mode, making it invisible to hackers. High security is the default configuration Internet Zone. In High security, file and printer sharing is disabled; but outgoing DNS, outgoing DHCP, and broadcast/multi cast are allowed, so that you are able to browse the Internet. All other ports on your computer are closed except when used by a program that has access permission and/or server permission.
  • Medium - Medium security places your computer in component learning mode, where Zone Labs security software quickly learn the MD5 signatures of many frequently used program components without interrupting your work with multiple alerts. Medium security is the default setting for the Trusted Zone. In Medium security, file and printer sharing is enabled, and all ports and protocols are allowed. (If Medium security is applied to the Internet Zone, however, incoming NetBIOS traffic is blocked. This protects your computer from possible attacks aimed at your Windows networking services.) At Medium security, you are no longer in stealth mode.

We recommend that you use the Medium security setting for the first few days of normal Internet use after installing Zone Labs security software. After a few days of normal use, Zone Labs security software will have learned the signatures of the majority of the components needed by your Internet-accessing programs, and will remind you to raise the Program Authentication level to High.

  • Trusted Zone Security - Normally your local network should be the only computers in your network if you want them to see and share each others information. The High, Medium, and Low ratings hold the same descriptions as in the Internet Zone Security highlighted above.
  • Blocked Zone Security - Computers and networks that you do not trust or want to share resources with go into this section.



    • The second page named "Zones" allows you to configure your "Trusted Zones" and your "Blocked Zones" for your network. Within this page you can add and remove Trusted and Blocked hosts/sites, IP addresses, IP ranges, and IP sub nets.


    • Add Host/Site - Select Trusted or Blocked from the Zones drop-down list, type the fully qualified host name in the Host name field, and type a description of the host/site, then click OK.
    • Add IP Address - The Add IP Address dialog appears, select Trusted or Blocked from the Zone drop-down list, and type the IP address and a description in the boxes provided, then click OK.
    • Add IP Range - The Add IP Range dialog appears, select Trusted or Blocked from the Zone drop-down list, type the beginning IP address in the first field, and the ending IP address in the second field - Finally type a description in the field provided, then click OK.
    • Add IP Subnet - Select Trusted or Blocked from the Zone drop-down list, type the IP address in the first field, and the Subnet mask in the second field, and type a description in the field provided, then click OK.




    The final page located within the Firewall tab is "Expert". Expert firewall rules are intended for users experienced with firewall security and networking protocols. Expert rules do not take the place of other rules. They are an integral part of the multiple layer security approach and work in addition to other firewall rules. Expert rules use four attributes to filter packets:


    • Source and/or destination IP address
    • Source and/or destination port number
    • Network protocol/message type
    • Day and Time

    We will highlight this page later and add it as we continue to bring you the most up to date information

    Source and destination addresses can be specified in a number of formats, including a single IP network address, a range of IP addresses, a recommend description, a gateway address, or a domain name. Source and destination ports are used only for network protocols that use ports, such as UDP and TCP/IP. ICMP and IGMP messages, for example, do not use the port information. Network protocols can be selected from a list of common IP or VPN protocols, or specified as an IP protocol number. For ICMP, the message type can also be specified. Day and Time ranges can be applied to a rule to restrict access based on the day of the week and the time of day.

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