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<blockquote data-quote="Randy B. Singer" data-source="post: 1710163" data-attributes="member: 190607">As I said previously, it's not a bad idea to turn on your firewall.&nbsp; It's easy, it's free, and there is little to no downside.&nbsp; However, it's also not something that anyone here reading this should be particularly concerned about.&nbsp; In the real world hacking attempts just aren't something that a Macintosh user is going to be subject to.&nbsp; In a discussion of security measures that a Macintosh user should be taking, on a discussion list such as this one, it is irresponsible to tell Macintosh users that having a firewall up is critical.&nbsp; It's not a step that they can take that is likely to be of any value. (But, once again, users can turn their firewall on if it makes them feel better.&nbsp; It won't hurt anything.)&nbsp; You should instead be talking about threat vectors that *are* routinely exploited and how to ameliorate the threat to them.Off the top of my head, these are the things that Macintosh users have to do with regard to security (note that, for now, I don't list a need for anti-virus software):- Set passwords and make them strong ones.- Make sure to use the latest version of OS X and make sure to install all security updates.- Know the latest social engineering threats (i.e. phishing attempts and scams).- Don't update software anywhere but from the Web site of the developer (e.g. Adobe Flash and other media players).- Have Java (*not* Javascript, which is something else) turned off in your browser. (No need to uninstall it completely.&nbsp; There has never been a Macintosh threat via a Java application.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Randy B. Singer, post: 1710163, member: 190607"] As I said previously, it's not a bad idea to turn on your firewall. It's easy, it's free, and there is little to no downside. However, it's also not something that anyone here reading this should be particularly concerned about. In the real world hacking attempts just aren't something that a Macintosh user is going to be subject to. In a discussion of security measures that a Macintosh user should be taking, on a discussion list such as this one, it is irresponsible to tell Macintosh users that having a firewall up is critical. It's not a step that they can take that is likely to be of any value. (But, once again, users can turn their firewall on if it makes them feel better. It won't hurt anything.) You should instead be talking about threat vectors that *are* routinely exploited and how to ameliorate the threat to them. Off the top of my head, these are the things that Macintosh users have to do with regard to security (note that, for now, I don't list a need for anti-virus software): - Set passwords and make them strong ones. - Make sure to use the latest version of OS X and make sure to install all security updates. - Know the latest social engineering threats (i.e. phishing attempts and scams). - Don't update software anywhere but from the Web site of the developer (e.g. Adobe Flash and other media players). - Have Java (*not* Javascript, which is something else) turned off in your browser. (No need to uninstall it completely. There has never been a Macintosh threat via a Java application.) [/QUOTE]

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