Many people (Including myself and Fred Langa) think a router is not
sufficient protection by itself.
http://www.informationweek.com/840/langa.htm
I use Zone Alarm in addition to my router.
From the above page:
"I'm an MIS/network-support engineer at a major distribution company. I have
a Linksys router, and I run ZoneAlarm on all of my PCs as well. The reason
for this is that even though Linksys acts as a firewall, it doesn't block
any information from being sent out of your computers. If you happen to
download a program that contains spyware, the Linksys router won't do
anything to stop those packets from being sent out. ZoneAlarm does. It will
allow virtually nothing to enter or leave your computer without your
permission and works perfectly well with Linksys systems. Of course, you
should still run antivirus software as well".
Keep Zone Alarm. If you don't have it, get it. Over half of my support calls
are for Spyware and Viruses, and I've seen several zombie machines.



If you are using a router, you do not need Zone Alarm. Routers have a built
in firewall which works as well if not better than a software firewall. I
would suggest the free Zone Alarm for the Laptop when not at home.

Hope this helps
Jack Brooks



> I have been using Zone Alarm for a couple of years on my Desktop and 
> Laptop. Daily i am learning how much I do not know about this program.
>

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