HOSTS automatically locked by Zone Alarm

The latest version (6.5.700.000) of Zone Alarm Free (I cannot comment about paid versions) will lock your HOSTS file even when your settings (Firewall|Advanced) are not to lock HOSTS.
See post #7 here for a temporary fix
http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=5009

The issue has been posted on ZA's Forums.
http://forum.zonelabs.org/zonelabs/board/message?board.id=security&message.id=15537

Most of the time having HOSTS locked probably is a good idea, but a permanent lock would also prevent YOU from altering or deleting the HOSTS file.

P.S. You can also alter HOSTS in Safe Mode but the fix in the first link above is much easier.

 

This had driven me nuts after hitting an infection site and looking thru the box for some hidden file that was doing it.

Using Hoster I could not change anything in hosts file!! Very annoying, I finally decided, after much disabling and trying of about every app that was on the test box to uninstall the ZA seeing as that was the only thing I had altered in the set up, and viola'! All is good.

My versions of ZA 6.5.7 didn't have any tab for hosts file lock, so I just installed an old version from Oldversion.com.

Lots of unhappy people with the new version. Actually, lots of unhappy people since version 6 came out.

 

TeMerc--

I am surprised at that. I have what I thought was the latest version of ZA Free--6.5.700.000. It has the "Lock Hosts File" option on the Firewall|Advanced tab.
However, I now hear there is a later version of ZA Free--v.6.5.714.000. (It has not been offered to me even though my settings are to be notified of updates automatically.)
In any event, I am told it still does not fix the bug. I do not know if it perhaps does not have the Lock Hosts File option as you report.
If I do not have the option, I cannot apply the relatively quick fix in the forums.spybot thread. So I think I will not update ZA for the time being.
Let's hope ZA fixes the bug shortly.