Software update: ZoneAlarm 4.5.530

After several betas of ZoneAlarm, version 4.5.530 of this free firewall has now been released. This program is able to make a computer completely invisible on a network or on the internet. To achieve this, no program is allowed to make contact with the outside world. In order to get a connection, you must indicate for each program separately whether contact can be made with the network or the Internet. Nothing can be found on the Zone Labs site about the exact changes in this version. However, that information is available for the new version of ZoneAlarm Pro:

• myVAULT — Provides a secure, convenient place to store sensitive personal and financial information, giving users peace of mind that their information is safe from online stalkers and data thieves. myVAULT can store any identifiable information from passwords to PIN or credit card numbers and street addresses.
• One-way encryption — Ensures that the data stored in myVAULT remains private, even if the computer is lost, stolen or otherwise compromised. One-way encryption, the industry-recognized toughest data protection standard, scrambles personal information, making it impossible for data thieves to access.
• ID Lock — Lessens the chance that a user can inadvertently send personally-identifiable information such as a social security number or credit card information to an insecure site. ID Lock has two modes: auto-block mode silently blocks all personal data while manual mode works on a case-by-case basis, alerting users before personal information is released via the Internet or email. ID Lock also includes a safe site list of user-defined trusted web sites which may receive information without user approval before each transmission of data.
• Host file lock — Eliminates a significant percentage of today’s Internet fraud cases by preventing host file tampering that sends users to spoofed web sites.
• Program pre-configuration — Provides smoother and safer set-up with automatic program configuration. ZoneAlarm Pro 4.5 pre-approves common programs such as Microsoft Windows programs and components after first verifying the authenticity of the programs through program fingerprint matching.

[break]Different versions of ZoneAlarm are available:
ZoneAlarm 4.5.530 (free)
ZoneAlarm Pro 4.5.530
ZoneAlarm Plus 4.5.530