Aforementioned “free as in my time” ZoneAlarm firewall was installed upon almost every Windows computer in the house, up until this evening. This evening, it randomly decided that it would be a really great idea to block all traffic to and from port 80. Since the free version of this product does not let you configure individual ports (a grevious inconvenance at junctures such as this), I was left with no option but to replace it.
Of course, this doesn’t actually affect me in any way except that I’m de-facto home tech support because people in the house become unhappy and suspicious when I’m the only one with functional internet access. It couldn’t be because I’m running Linux and never actually have to deal with all this ZoneAlarm nonsense, could it?
Get your act together, Zone Labs.
Did you read all the news about how the recent Microsoft DNS patch broke ZoneAlarm?
I read a few of them (including one on BBC News) regarding how the recent round of Windows Updates caused ZoneAlarm to block all internet traffic. Is that what caused this round of havoc on the Windows computers in your home?
Quite possibly! The fact remains that ZoneAlarm was the only major firewall which blocked them, however. It should be smart enough to recognize Windows Updates. I mean, being a good citizen in your chosen environment and all that, right?
“…Various reports suggest that ZoneAlarm interpreted the Microsoft patch itself as malicious code, and automatically severed users’ Internet connections in response.”
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208808584
If ZoneAlarm is proven to have taken the high road here where all other firewalls have failed, I’ll gladly admit I was wrong and reinstall it. It’s not looking too promising right now.