Best Firewall Solution for OS X

sambamacsambamac
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
What's the best (Software)Firewall solution for OS X. At the moment I work with a mixed environment ( ipfw, Apple Application Firewall and Little Snitch ). It seems to be secure, but this is an absolute overhead. I noticed, that my internet performance slowed down. For the moment I'm not able to spend money on a hardware solution. I'm searching for a complete Firewall software that controls incoming as well as outgoing connections ( Apple seems not to be interested in distributing a complete and easy waterproof solution ). Unfortunately ipfw offers no application control. I'm not a security expert, thus I need an easy configurable firewall.



Thanks for your proposals.



Daniel

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    talksense101talksense101 Posts: 1,738member
    Apple's firewall is ipfw. What more do you want from a firewall? The user interface sucks, but the features are there on the command line.



    How do you connect to the internet? Your router / modem will already have a firewall built in. It will give you control over which ports you want to expose to the internet.



    If you want applications to stop calling home, I think little snitch is best. I doubt if the firewall is causing slowdowns to your system.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    sambamacsambamac Posts: 19member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by talksense101 View Post


    Apple's firewall is ipfw. What more do you want from a firewall? The user interface sucks, but the features are there on the command line.



    Yeah, it's ok. But I want one solution and It must be easy to use. Apple is master in simplify things. So what's the problem? Why Little Snitch and not the Apple Firewall? Apple targets the consumer market and I think they should deliver a complete and easy solution. They began very well, but they must complete their work (in and out).



    BTW the keyword is PORT. You have to know which ports to block before using ipfw. It's true, Little Snitch does a good work, it asks me if I want to block the outgoing connection and it does it on application level.



    I repeat, I'm not a security expert, neither a System Administrator. I'm a user with increased security awareness. That's all. I'm searching for a Little Snitch (in out) solution.



    thanks for replying me.



    Daniel
  • Reply 3 of 4
    omegaomega Posts: 427member
    NetBarrier used to be held in high regard and is easy to use for the beginner as well as having the ability to get a bit more technical when required. Not sure if it is still to this day as I don't seem to be as security conscious as I once was.....
  • Reply 4 of 4
    sambamacsambamac Posts: 19member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Omega View Post


    NetBarrier used to be held in high regard and is easy to use for the beginner as well as having the ability to get a bit more technical when required. Not sure if it is still to this day as I don't seem to be as security conscious as I once was.....



    Thank you Omega!!! Checked it out on the website. I think there is a demo license and the actual product is called NetBarrier X5.. So thank you very much... According to the specs it makes exactly what I'm searching for. Thank you!!!



    Daniel
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