Firewall?

I am by no means computer tech savvy, which is why I am grateful for this website and those like these.

Any who I was wandering around System Preferences and found that I do not have Firewall on.
So my question is should I turn it on?
I've looked it up and it's to protect my Mac, but since they are supposedly so secure I'm not sure if I need it.

Any help is appreciated.

Many member ask the question about viruses and malware on the Mac and in addition to using the search function at the top of the forum, you'll find almost all your answers here:

Official Antivirus, Malware, and Firewall FAQ

if i set the firewall to on for all connections, wouldnt that make it impossible to connect to the free wifi hotspots like in starbucks or dunkin doughnuts or where ever?

schweb said:

Many member ask the question about viruses and malware on the Mac and in addition to using the search function at the top of the forum, you'll find almost all your answers here:

Official Antivirus, Malware, and Firewall FAQ

Click to expand...

Thank you for that

I'm still a bit confused though, what does it mean by allow only specified applications and services to connect and allow only essential applications and services to connect?

Here's a shorter answer: no, it doesn't need to be on. It is set to off by default for a reason.

If you were running a Windows machine, this would be an insane answer. But you're not, you're running a Mac. Congratulations and welcome to freedom.

If you're still not sure, by all means feel free to turn it on when on an unsecured public wifi hotspot, if for no other reason than it might make you feel better. When using it in this manner, the de facto settings (essential services et al) are fine. Just remember to turn it off again when you're done.