Zone Labs *might* fix bug

Ouch....I'm not the type that usually has the entitlement mentality that we've all encountered....but it seems like it would be ethical of them to make their product secure. I wasn't thinking of "all the cheap people" but more along the lines of kids who's parent's won't give them any money for the computer but would like to secure it. Or college kids that barely make enough money for school and can't afford anything but like to have some basic stuff like firewall and antivirus. True that they don't *have* to offer the firewall for free but since they do, it only makes sense that it would be secure....

Hey, I just thought of a good product pitch line, you can download and use our free version of ZoneAlarm, but there are several security holes and bugs in it, however if you fork out 100$, we will gladly allow you to use our professional version, for one year of course.

There are always reasons and incentives to upgrade or buy a full or new version, I never thought of leaving bugs and security holes in products before, but I think that this may actually be a good idea, from the business point of view. Instead of having 30 days, or limited features in this firewall, it doesn't block port 6666 or netbios, and it freezes up the computer if issued the following command, "blah". What do think of something like that ?

LOL @ The3ntropy... well it's a novel idea I'll grant you that.

Keezel... I can see you're point but like Tony says

Quote:

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They are in business to make money

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. Also at the end of the day the paid version of ZA is only something like $40 for a year which really isn't that much. Are you really telling me that a college student can't afford just over $3/month??? I spend more than that (the equivalent in £ anyway) on a single pint of beer.

I agree that it would be ethical for Zonelabs to make the free product secure... but... well put it this way how many companies do you know that put ethics over cash??? We gotta be realistic about this.

Z

lol, very good point Zonewalker. I understand that they're in it for money, and I guess I understand how ethics isn't exactly a top priority for business these days. I could probably spare 3 bucks a month, but it would actually cut in on my meal money.... I am seriously "cash deprived" for the moment. I can hear the word "free" from almost a half mile away now ;) . I guess I could deal with a buggy (free) firewall. However, if it was disabled just because someone gave the command "blah" I would be seriously pissed :p .

One factor to remember here is that Zone Labs makes the free version available to advertise their Pro version. This has been successful in my case, since I have bought several copies of ZA Pro after using the free version and satisfying myself that it was a pretty good product. With this in mind, it seems that it would be their best marketing strategy to fix a know bug in the free version. Now, it may be that sometimes the cost of a fix would be prohibitive. In than case, they should notify users that the bug exists and give some time frame for a fix, tomorrow, next week, when hell freezes over, etc.

Since I found that it was free I went on a downloading spree for stuff that I'd like all on one CD. (yes, hacking tools included bc they don't exactly take up much space and can come in handy every once in awhile... :)). I found another free firewall that apparently has higher ratings than ZA: Tiny Personal Firewall (don't let the name fool you). You can download it at http://www.tinysoftware.com/home/tin...=tpf5-download . I also found a free antivirus that I like because they don't require anything for you to download it. It's called Avast! and I have friends that have used it before and really like it. I suggest checking this out also. You can get it at http://www.alwil.com/en/default.asp . Note that the site seems to be moving slowly today....possibly from the hacker (cracker) games that have been going on. If anyone else has had some experience with either of these two tools, please feel free give a review.

I'm using avast right now, I've had it on my box for about a year now. The only problem was that I couldn't figure out how to update the definitions, so although it was free, it was of no use to me until about 2 months ago when I found out how. (I realize that a comatose simian infant could have found the menu option to do it, but I am that stupid at times)

Anyway, I dont know what I'd do without a free virus scanner, and if I had to pay for it, I'd look for another. If I couldn't find a free one, I would definitely pay for one, but so many people out there wouldn't. It's too bad they aren't better informed.

Everyone so far has a pretty good view of things. From my perspective giving a free Firewall is completly "cool". Even it it had bugs in it , I would still consider it cool. Coughing up $100.00 dollars is not alwayz that easy. Especially when u don't have a job.

Im not using ZoneAlarm but I hear it's pretty darn good. If i did have a job I would buy the Pro version because $100.00 compared to the price it might cost to repare my box is no contest.

I think you should USE A DIFFERENT PRODUCT. (Sorry for the shouting) I've always thought ZA is a pile of crap and there are various free products that do a much better job. *cough* Outpost *cough*

Now as far as finding a bug in your free software and you not wanting to fix it..... well I think that sets a precedent that all of your products will follow. The free product doesn't have to be "as good" as the paid for product but it shouldn't be released if it gives you a false sense of security. MIsleading end LUSERS is a bad idea for everyone.

Some further digging seems to suggest that maybe Security News Portal has an axe to grind with Zone Labs or it was just a boring week in the press and they felt they needed to sensationalize this for good headlines.

The flaw is not in ZoneAlarm, it is in Windows. Zone Labs did not say "screw you- go buy the Pro version". What they said was that their customers who use the Pro version did not need to worry because it has additional functionality which protects them from this Microsoft flaw.

That got turned around and spin doctored in the press and on these message boards to Zone Labs essentially telling everyone to go buy the Pro version and that they refused to update or maintain the free version.

In the end it became enough of a public relations nightmare that they agreed to "patch" the freeware ZoneAlarm. The "patch" will actually just be an update adding the functionality from the Pro version to the free version to also protect the freeware users from Microsoft's programming flaw.

Here is a link to a more detailed story on the subject: ZoneAlarm "Flaw" is a Bunch of Hooey