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False malware reports
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HERMAN D'HONDT
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Since I installed NextGen, ZoneAlarm is constantly finding malware in old files. This includes files that were scanned many times with previous versions of ZA. Old software installers seem to be a preferred target. Examples include installers for an NVidia graphic card, and CuteWriter PDF writer. Both of these are many years old. I cannot tell the original date because, when ZA restores, they get today's date.

Other examples include email backups, from an email program I have not used for 18 months. That should prove that these files have been scanned and passed as safe, many times in the past.

Does anyone else have the same problems? Is there any fix, or do I have to dump ZA?

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    Fax

    I had a couple of false positives the first time I have installed it.

    Just add those to the ZA exclusion ("Exception"). After adding them ZA has been pretty silent since... 

    Fax

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    HERMAN D'HONDT

    That might work, except that ZA only allows .exe files as exceptions. The email backup is a .mbs file, so no luck there.

    I would prefer to be able to set my entire backup disk as an exception. Remember that all the files on that disk were supposed to be scanned by ZA before they were backed up.

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    Fax

    Indeed, I don't think it is possible yet to exclude entire drives in ZA as compared to its enterprise version. Hopefully it will come. Meanwhile the only workaround I could think of is to add all those non-executable files which generate a false positive into a password protected ZIP. So, ZA will not be able to scan inside.

    I hope this helps. Cheers, Fax (just a user)

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    HERMAN D'HONDT

    But that does not alter the fact that all these EXE files have been used without a problem to install software, AND they have been checked repeatedly by earlier versions of ZA. Nothing was ever found wrong with them until I installed NextGen.

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    Fax

    Yes, the former ZA does not share any malware engine with the new ZA which was build ground up and with proprietary antimalware engines working in the background (60+). So, detection and false positives may differ. You may want to contact ZA official support (e.g. chat) to check how to report exe false positives so that they can be fixed.

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    Fernando Leon

    Hola, buenos días, alguien podría ayudarme tanto sobre el botón "AÑADIR" EXCLUSIONES en ZA Next Gen?

    Me aparece desactivado por defecto y no encuentro la forma de activarlo. En mi anterior ZA Extreme Security funcionaba perfecto.
    La asistencia, con la cual por cierto no consigo contactar a través de Chat, me ha enviado un correo-e con tres propuestas, que una vez realizadas no han conseguido, ninguna de ellas, resolver el problema.

    versión ZA NextGen: 4.3.283.19962
    W11 23H2

    Gracias

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    Homer Simpson

    Hola Fernando Leon , una hora buena es contactar a las 9:00 o 10:00 de la tarde noche desde España.

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    Leon Blackman

    I am going to ditch ZA after 20 years. The newest version quarantined a heap of commercial files and it will not restore them. I left it running overnight - still has not restored. Support very unhelpful. Best of all I find that nextGen is such a good firewall it completely blocks ANY traffic to any browser. Only by turning it off can I access the internet. So a firewall hat prevents work and a virus checker that removes and refuses to restore valid files.

    I also loath that the configuration that you could do if you knew what you were doing with Extreme Security has been completely removed in Next Gen. It is like it has been 'dumbed down' and is no longer fit for purpose for an IT Professional with specific firewall needs.

    Support has given me nothing so I am about to find all the review sites I can and provide my feedback on the latest version.

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    HERMAN D'HONDT

    It seems to have stopped finding false positives, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

    But I am trying to figure out whether I really need it for simple home use. Renewal is due in a couple of months.

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    Paul Owen

    Likewise, I have been a user of the paid versions of Zone Alarm software for at least 20 years and am going to switch even before my subscription expires.

    ZANG is nothing but a piece of cr#p.

    You can't exclude folders so files from valid applications get quarantined as malware.

    You can't restore said files because the relevant 'engine' is constantly initialising

    Files are treated as malware because of a check that isn't even enabled ie 'Threat Emulation'.

    Zone alarm is treating its users as guinea pigs and not even in a timely manner. It is almost 4 years old and still major elements are missing or not functioning.

    I reckon you probably get a more polished application with AVG Free :-)

     

     

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    HERMAN D'HONDT

    ZANG still occasionally flags files that I know are harmless (having been used before) and that have been checked by earlier versions of ZA.

    I've had enough of this. My subscription expires in a month, so I've just unsubscribed and I'm about to thrash it.

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    Paul Owen

    Herman,

    Have you decided which application you are going to move to,

    I have installed the free version of BitDefender and at least that has a reasonable 'exclusions' offering when scanning.

    I just wonder if there is a better solutions that doesn't 'break the bank'

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    Leon Blackman

    I have gone with Nortons 360. I am immediately happy with it! No false positives and it allows the configurations that used to be possible when ZA was a reliable and usable firewall. As a new customer you can get very good discounts (60% off etc)

    I filled in their survey when I uninstalled it and added quite a lot of detail - there was no reply or indication that any of those concerns would be addressed in a later release. Looks like the relationship is totally at an end now.

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    HERMAN D'HONDT

    I think I will just stick with Windows Defender for now. I'll probably need a new PC soon, as mine is now 9 years old. But then, I don't really want to be stuck with Win11 either :-(

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    Björn Mittag-Leffler

    I have the same problem with the new ZA. It blocks me from using 3rd party programs that I have used for years. Itdoesn't help if I add them to exeptions.
    I chatted with support and they have be helpful but needed to pass this on to "experts". No reactions from the "experts" after some months!! 
    I have also used ZA for more than 20 years but am now about to ditch it and look for another program.


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    Leon Blackman

    Ah yes - 'the experts are looking at it'. Yes, I created the log extract for the experts too. Crickets.

    I was reminded of the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" when Indi asks what people will be looking at the Ark and is told "Top people" - while the crate is being wheeled through a vast warehouse to never be looked at ever again.

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