Messages

[Clarification on Version Support]

Dear Zenarmor Community,

To ensure the highest level of network security, performance, and system stability, legacy CTI cloud endpoints serving Zenarmor versions prior to 2.1 will be permanently turned off on October 31, 2026. Systems running pre-2.1 builds will no longer fetch live web categorizations, malware feeds, or real-time domain lookups.

Clarification on Version Support

Please note that versions prior to 2.1 are already out of official support. For instance, on platforms like OPNsense, Zenarmor officially supports only the last two major releases. While CTI cloud lookup services have continued to work on these older builds up until now, those legacy CTI endpoints will be permanently decommissioned at the end of October.

Why You Should Always Run the Latest Version
Running the latest version of Zenarmor isn't just about maintaining connectivity—it is a very important way to protect your network properly. Upgrading to the latest release ensures you benefit from:

• Enhanced Security: Access to our newest machine-learning classification models and immediate protection against emerging zero-day exploits.
• Superior Performance: Ongoing engine optimizations that reduce CPU and memory footprints.
• New Features & Bug Fixes: Immediate access to new dashboard tools, advanced policy controls, and system stability updates.

Impact on Legacy Versions (< 2.1) After October 31, 2026

If your firewall or gateway is still running a pre-2.1 engine after October 31, 2026:

• CTI Cloud Disconnection: Your engine will no longer be able to query Zenarmor cloud threat servers.
• Incomplete Threat Protection: Real-time domain lookups, dynamic malware blocklists, and advanced web categorizations will stop functioning.

Required Action: Upgrade to the latest Zenarmor version

We strongly encourage all users running older builds to update to the latest Zenarmor release well ahead of the deadline.

If you have questions, run into dependency issues during the upgrade, or need technical assistance,  open a ticket through the application or reach out directly to our support team at support@zenarmor.com.

Thank you for your cooperation as we work to keep your networks secure!

Zenarmor Team

[Heads-up:]

Heads-up: Zenarmor 2.1 is around the corner with significant features. To be eligible for the upgrade on day one, all gateways/endpoints must be running OPNsense 24.7 or higher.

If you're on an earlier version, please upgrade your OPNsense firewall to 24.7+ now.

Be Launch-Ready: Here's What's Coming
2.1 is a significant update with the following planned capabilities:

• Android support
• New subscription tier for SD-WAN + ZTNA  (ZTPA)
• Integrated Zenconsole UI
• Inline File Scanning
• MDM deployments via Microsoft Intune, JAMF, and Chocolatey

Zenarmor Team

Hi Beloved Zenarmor Community,

Websites and marketers monitor our activities to gather data for targeted advertising and several other objectives. To address this issue, there are techniques to inhibit online monitoring and advertisements in your web browser to protect your privacy and enhance your surfing experience.

In this tutorial, we explain why you might want to block ads on your browser and how easy it is to block ads with Zenarmor for all devices on your network.

Best Regards,
Zenarmor Team

Hi Beloved OPNsense Community,

A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is a security mechanism positioned before a web application to inspect, filter, and stop harmful traffic. It serves as a mediator between the internet and your website or web application, scrutinizing HTTP requests and answers for any risks.

OPNsense provides NAXSI web application firewall (WAF) to protect web servers against cyber attacks. NAXSI WAF can be easily enabled by installing the NGINX web server plugin os-nginx on your OPNsense firewall.

This tutorial explores the Naxsi WAF, its operational mechanisms, and its capabilities, and provides guidance on configuring the WAF on the OPNsense firewall with the NGINX Naxsi module. Furthermore, we illustrate the process of establishing a whitelist or blacklist using the IP-based ACL functionality of the Nginx server.

Best Regards,

Zenarmor Team

Hi Beloved OPNsense Community,

DNS is an essential protocol for Internet communication. However, the security of this critical protocol might be significantly enhanced. Encryption is absent, and although authentication systems are available, they face criticism and have not gained significant use. The DNSCrypt protocol was explicitly developed to enhance DNS security. DNSCrypt is a protocol that encrypts, authenticates, and optionally anonymizes communications between a DNS client and a DNS resolver.

This tutorial examines the installation and configuration of the DNSCrypt-proxy plugin on the OPNsense firewall. Furthermore, we give the list of public DNScrypt servers and explain the features of DNScrypt service.

Bests,

Zenarmor Team

Hey, Zenarmor community! Great news—our testing shows that Zenarmor works seamlessly with OPNsense 25.1. We've fixed any minor issues along the way, so you can update without worries.

Ready to upgrade? Let us know if you have any questions or run into anything unexpected!

Zenarmor Team

Hey, Zenarmor fam!

Big news—Zenarmor is now SOC 2 compliant!  What does this mean? It's all about making sure your data is safe and secure while we continue delivering the network protection you trust.

This is just the beginning as we gear up for some exciting things, including our upcoming SASE product with the Plug and Secure Anywhere approach.

https://www.zenarmor.com/announcements#zenarmor-achieves-soc2-certification

Dear Beloved Zenarmor Community,

As of release 24.7.3, OPNsense offers Snapshots, also known as Boot Environments, feature. Boot Environments are fundamental components of the FreeBSD operating system. Sheridan Computers, integrated this capability into OPNsense web UI. Snapshots provides a user-friendly and efficient method for users to build, maintain, and transition between boot environments, hence improving system administration and recovery capabilities.

In this tutorial, we explain the main advantages of the snapshots feature and how you can manage snapshots on the OPNsense firewall.

Best Regards,

Zenarmor Team

OPNsense 25.1 is slated for release in January 2025, bringing significant changes like FreeBSD 14.2.
To avoid potential issues, please delay updating OPNsense until Zenarmor confirms compatibility.
We'll keep you posted with updates.
Best Regards
Zenarmor Team

Dear Beloved Zenarmor Community,

Unbound DNS is a validating, recursive, and caching DNS resolver designed for high performance and security. Unbound DNS is open-source software, under a BSD license, created by NLnet Labs, extensively used in various platforms to resolve domain names into IP addresses. System administrators, Internet service providers, and users concerned about privacy often use Unbound. It is compatible with OPNsense, pfSense, FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, and other Unix-like operating systems.

In this tutorial, we explain Unbound DNS's main features and how to configure it on your OPNsense firewall.

Best Regards,

Zenarmor Team

Dear Beloved Zenarmor Community,

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a critical network administration protocol that facilitates the automatic assignment of IP addresses and other network configuration parameters to devices within a network. In current networking, the number of connected devices is expanding at a rapid pace, and DHCP is essential for facilitating network administration.

OPNsense firewall offers DHCP service for IPv4 and IPv6 clients, referred to as ISC DHCPv4 and ISC DHCPv6, respectively. By default, OPNsense employs the extensively used ISC DHCP server. However, as of version 24.1, KEA is now available as an alternative due to the ISC DHCP's end-of-life. The long-term ISC will be removed from OPNsense in the future.

In this guide, we explain how you can set up ISC DHCP and KEA DHCP servers on the OPNsense firewall.

Best Regards,

Zenarmor Team

[Details]

Zenarmor's Home Subscription is now 20% OFF for Black Friday!

Details

• Applicable to new Home Subscription purchases
• Annual plans only
• Use promo code ZENARMOR24U when signing up
• Available till December 06, 2024

https://hubs.ly/Q02ZQcpq0

Maintenance is completed successfully.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

[Details]

Hello Beloved Zenarmor users,

We want to inform you about an upcoming scheduled maintenance for Zenconsole, during which the system will be temporarily unavailable.
Details:
Date and Time: Wednesday, October 23, 2024 from 9:00 pm to 10:pm PT (00:00 am - 01:00 am ET, 04:00 am - 05:00 am GMT).
Duration: 1 hour
Affected Service: Zenconsole Cloud Management Portal
Reason for Maintenance: Zenconsole v1.18 major upgrade

We appreciate your understanding and patience during this maintenance window and apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Stay tuned for more updates on the exciting new features coming with Zenconsole v1.18!

Zenarmor Team

Hello Beloved Zenarmor users,

Zenarmor CEO, Murat Balaban, has written a blog post about how input from home users is influencing upcoming developments.

Read the full post here: https://www.zenarmor.com/blog#your-voice-matters-what-you-wanted-and-what-is-in-the-works