Little Snitch 3 - Protects Outgoing Traffic - Worth Owning?

Hi All - just received the January issue of Mac|Life in the Zinio app on my iPad - there was an article on Mac security and the app below, i.e. Little Snitch 3 was highly recommended - now the firewalls, whether as part of your router and/or activated in macOS protect 'incoming' internet traffic, but there is no monitoring of 'outgoing' information from your computers, as far as I know - SO, anyone using this app? Any comments? A $35 purchase for a 'single license' allowing use on multiple computers - thanks for your thoughts. Dave
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Hi Dave:

I used the app for a while (older version that was free) and soon removed it because of all the nags. Unless the newer and pay for version is any different, you'll be responding to its notices often enough to want to turn everything off. I would recommend that you download the free trial and use it for several days or so to see if you can live with it. Maybe with the newer version they offer a way to filter out some of the notifications it gives. Let us know.

Like chscag I used it for a little while, about one week, and found Network problems and those constant reminders more than enough to uninstall it. This current version may be better. This is what others said about it, so it gives you something to look out for Dave if you get problems:-


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2741789?start=0&tstart=0

+1 for what chscag said. I tried it about 6 years ago, too many notifications.

Dave,

I too used the app in version 2.

Having all these notifications, like those who posted above, was bad enough; but what was worse, in many instances I had no idea what Little Snitch was referring to. It wasn't a case of "do you mind iTunes/Safari/Photos sending data", more "xyz/12.L" wants to communicate with server - Allow or Disallow".

Time wasting research revealed that "xyz/12.L" was a perfectly legitimate background daemon in OS which was doing its job.

I gave up, in ignorance.

But many swear by it - and two or three years ago, there was a nasty Mac intrusion (forget the name) which used a vulnerability to access the Mac OS; but if it (the intrusion) detected Little Snitch, it abandoned the attempt. Colleagues here may recall the instance and name better than I.

My thinking is that it's a class act, but for those with special knowledge and much patience.

Ian

Thanks Guys for your helpful and seemingly 'unamimous' comments!

On their website, I scanned the numerous pages of 'net traffic' checked and felt that I would be BOMBARDED w/ constant pop-up windows, so not even going to do a trail of the app - believe that when I was on Windows PCs, I had such a program which was a true PITA for the reasons mentioned; plus, I can use the $35 elsewhere. Dave

IWT said:

It wasn't a case of "do you mind iTunes/Safari/Photos sending data", more "xyz/12.L" wants to communicate with server - Allow or Disallow".

Time wasting research revealed that "xyz/12.L" was a perfectly legitimate background daemon in OS which was doing its job.

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This is the biggest problem with LS - it unnecessarily flags everything and doesn't differentiate between built in functionality and "added on" functionality (stuff communicating with the outside world that isn't built in). I get that it's not designed to differentiate but that makes it annoying.

I'm inclined, thus, to say that it's completely unnecessary but I'm sure there are use cases (if there are, I imagine that you'd know what you needed LS for). Dave, I'd probably say then that unless you have a specific need for it, you can steer clear.

vansmith said:

This is the biggest problem with LS - it unnecessarily flags ............

I'm inclined, thus, to say that it's completely unnecessary but I'm sure there are use cases (if there are, I imagine that you'd know what you needed LS for). Dave, I'd probably say then that unless you have a specific need for it, you can steer clear.

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Thanks - will take all's advice and stay away from the app - no clear need from me, just a recent review suggestion - Dave

Well All - I thought this thread had ended, but just received my January 2017 issue of Macworld and read this review of Radio Silence 2 (screen captures below) - yet another 'outgoing firewall' that seems a LOT less intrusive than Little Snitch 3 and also much cheaper @ $9 - SO, anyone w/ experience in using this app? Thanks, as usual - Dave
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janintosh said:

I´m using it since years (v.1) great tool. I really recommend it to everyone on mac.

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Hi Janintosh - hello - not sure if you read the previous comments on Little Snitch but many complained about constant interruptions and many annoying decisions to make - is Radio Silence less intrusive? Thanks - Dave

Dave:

Member Janintosh was banned for spamming.

I have never used "Radio Silence" but did notice one thing that Macworld pointed out in their "Cons": And that is not being able to temporarily turn off blocked applications. That might be an inconvenience in the event that you need to allow a certain app to have calling out permissions. Generally, apps that block outgoing traffic - "Little Snitch", "Radio Silence" - can be intrusive and annoying. And it appears the trial period for "Radio Silence" is rather short and might not be long enough to get a feel for its usefulness.

chscag said:

Dave:

Member Janintosh was banned for spamming.

I have never used "Radio Silence" but did notice one thing that Macworld pointed out in their "Cons": And that is not being able to temporarily turn off blocked applications. That might be an inconvenience in the event that you need to allow a certain app to have calling out permissions. Generally, apps that block outgoing traffic - "Little Snitch", "Radio Silence" - can be intrusive and annoying. And it appears the trial period for "Radio Silence" is rather short and might not be long enough to get a feel for its usefulness.

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Hi Chscag - I seem to have a knack at responding to newbies who get banned immediately for one reason or another -

Concerning Radio Silence, not sure 'how interested' I am but mentioning the review seemed appropriate for this thread - maybe someone else will respond w/ some experience w/ the app? Thanks for the information above - Dave