I have ZoneAlarm Extreme Security NextGen 4.0.148.0 installed on a Windows 11 PC. It took three minutes elapsed time to download a 335KB PDF (tax form) from the Government of Canada CRA web site - time from clicking on the download icon to getting the file location pop-up box. Same result with both Chrome and Firefox. Task Manager showed almost no CPU or disk activity.

On Chrome on my smartphone (which does not have ZoneAlarm), it took less than two seconds.

Since installing NextGen, performance of pretty much everything has gotten worse, but this is ridiculous.

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  • Official comment

    Hello Malcolm,

     

    Thank you for reaching out and bringing your concerns about the performance of ZoneAlarm Extreme Security NextGen to our attention

     

    I understand the frustration you're experiencing with the extended download times and the overall decrease in system performance.

     

    Threat Emulation in ZoneAlarm Extreme Security NextGen scans all files you download, including PDFs, to protect you against unknown Zero-day attacks by examining suspicious files in the cloud.

     

    During this process, files are sent to a virtual sandbox where suspicious malware behaviors are detected and prevented from launching an attack. While this feature enhances your security, it may also contribute to longer download times.

     

    To address the performance issue you're facing, you can try turning off the Threat Emulation and Threat Extraction features under the Web Secure settings in ZoneAlarm Extreme Security NextGen.

     

    To do this, navigate to the Web Secure settings, disable these features, and then reboot your PC for the changes to take effect. This adjustment may help improve download times and overall system performance.

     

    Should you need immediate help, please chat with us live at https://support.zonealarm.com

     

    Best regards,

    Jasen T.

    ZoneAlarm Support Representative

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