Security: ZoneAlarm or Symantec(Norton)

You can't have a paperless office for long, if you don't have security. Two popular security products are Norton Internet Security and ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite.

Recently, several computer publications have rated the ZoneAlarm product much higher than the Norton (Symantec) product. I don't have the means to do extensive security testing, but I rate the Symantec product higher.

When ZoneAlarm encounters a possible security breach, it asks the computer user for guidance. I sometimes don't know the correct response. Keep in mind that I probably have more computer know-how than the typical computer user. I have an engineering degree, a MBA, I have read extensively on computers and I have personally developed and sold over a dozen computer programs.

So what happens when a computer novice gets these ZoneAlarm pop up warnings? In many cases, if ZoneAlarm blocks a program, some other program doesn't work. The solution for the computer novice: don't block anything! That is a recipe for disaster.

Symantec frequently automatically configures security when a potential threat appears. In some instances, Norton Internet Security asks the user to choose the level of security. When that happens, Norton recommends what the user's response should be.

The real test of a security system is how well it protects the system. A user - friendly system, like Norton, does not guarantee security, but a confusing system, like ZoneAlarm, that lets inexperienced users guess about security options, in my opinion is a weak system.