Mac Firewall

Hey, Im new to the mac scene and i have been told numerous times that getting a anti virus is not needed. My question is does my firewall come set up properly or should i configure it differently to prevent problems coming in from the internet. I download stuff and don't want any problems

Firewall

Hi

I am new to the forum, but think I can help. In Leopard, if you go to Apple Menu - System Preferences - Security - Firewall, and put a tick in the "Set Access for certain applications", and click on the plus below the box to add in certain applications, like Mail and Safari. If you are logged in as admin, or your admin is around, if you click on advanced, you can enable Stealth Mode, giving greater protection to your computer. If you are using 10.4 you can ignore that because this link http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh1042.html, will take you to an Apple Support page, that explains it for you

We do not use an anti-virus because disguised files that can damage Windows PCs (.exe) are not used in UNIX systems (Mac OS X and Linux). If however you are planning on using Vista / XP (but considering you are new to Macs I would assume not!!) in Boot Camp, then they will need anti-virus installed. I hope this helps you.

Robert

Thank you for the help, any downsides to my daily operations by only enabling mac mail, safari, firefox. and whats stealth mode?

Re: Firewall

Hi again,

Stealth mode blocks attempts to hack into your Mac by hiding it from hackers when they try and ignoring automated attempts from outside. The firewall can allow other apps and services to access the internet, but they are blocked until you add them. So you can still share files and printers, but you have to allow them internet access first.

Sorry im still a little lost. maybe i can tell you what apps i run and what i can do with my computer and you can recommend how i set up my firewall ( i noticed three difference choices, and than stealth and i'm lost)

I pretty much just use...I Life, I Work, Office 2008, Firefox, I Tunes, Safari. And download stuff off the internet.

The three choices are

Allow all incoming connections, as the name suggests all incoming connections are allowed.

Allow only essential services, all connections apart from the necessary OS X ones are blocked.

Set access for specific services and applications, this means you decide which applications can or can not allow incoming connections. So if you were to select this box, you would then click on the + and select Safari and set as allow, then do the same for Mail, Firefox, meaning you can still download from the Internet. These are the applications that will require internet access, so you won't need to add in iLife, iWork, Office etc unless you are doing something that requires internet access i.e. publishing a webisite, uploading to YouTube / .Mac.

thank you very much... would you recomend the third choice

Yes, that's what we use, without any problems

A bit more info is here