ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware combines several applications that provide a basic level of protection against unauthorized access to your computer.

The Overview screen keeps a running tally of any intrusions that the software has blocked since installation. It also provides access to the all program features (Firewall, Program Control, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Virus Monitoring, Email Protection, Alerts & Logs), so you can review or update your settings at any time.

The SmartDefense Advisor maintains the latest security settings to protect you against new threats. You can choose to have SmartDefense Advisor automatically update your settings, or have it make recommendations and leave the decision up to you.

The Firewall feature provides basic firewall protection to prevent unauthorized access to your computer. It has three zones. The Internet Zone and Trusted Zone have three levels of security each. At the High setting, your computer is invisible and protected, and file or resource sharing is not allowed. At the Medium setting, others can see your computer and (depending on other settings) share its resources. At the Low setting, the firewall is completely off. The third Zone, Blocked Zone Security, does not allow any communication.

A feature that monitors viruses lets you know if your anti-virus software needs updating, but does not protect you against viruses.

The Email Protection feature can quarantine any suspicious or questionable email attachments until you can check hem with an anti-virus program. It can also check and stop any questionable outgoing mail, which can prevent you from unknowingly spreading a virus or other malware.

One interesting feature for eBay users is the option to warn you if you submit your eBay password to a site that isn't actually eBay.

The Anti-Spyware feature, which is the main reason for buying the program, is only moderately successful. A fair number of spyware programs manage to sneak by onto your computer, although ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware does a pretty good job of preventing the spyware from actually doing anything once it's there.

A 15-day trial version of ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware is available for downloading from the Zone Labs web site.


Pros: Easy to setup and use, although it's not perfect it provides a basic level of protection
Cons: Success rate at detecting and preventing spyware is spotty at best, not a good choice as your only protection, but would work well in combination with other programs