Owner MBP - audit 'stealth mode '.

Under Firewall of MBP, I checked "automatically allow signed software to receive incoming connections.  In addition, "block all incoming connections", and "Enable stealth mode" is unchecked.  Should I check "Activate the stealth mode" and if so, how will that affect software updates?

It is a comment on why you might, or might not, to use the firewall Applicationintegrated.

The firewall is blocking incoming network traffic, regardless of the origin, on a per-application basis. By default it is off, and when activated, allows digitally signed by Apple and that applications applications, listening on the network. It does not block outbound traffic, it can distinguish different incoming traffic sources, nor it filters content traffic.

No matter how it is configured, the firewall is not, as some imagine, a malware or privacy filter. If that's what you expect it to do, we forget. All it will do is bombard you with unnecessary alerts.

Consider scenarios in which you might expect the firewall to be useful.

1. you turn on file sharing, and you allow the guest access to some records. This means that you want people on your local network, but not foreigners, to be able to access these folders without having to enter a password. In the default configuration, the firewall will allow that to happen. The router prevents foreigners access to actions, if the firewall application is activated or not. But if your laptop and connect to an untrusted network as a public access point, the firewall will still allow access to anyone, that is not what you want. It does not protect you in this scenario.

2 install. you a Trojan horse that steals your data and download on a remote server without knowing it. The firewall, no matter how it is configured, does not block outgoing traffic. It does nothing to protect against this threat.

3. a more likely scenario: the web browser or the router is compromised by an attacker. The attack redirects all web traffic to a fake server. The firewall does not protect against this threat.

4. you use a public web server. Your router passes requests for TCP connection on port 80 on your Mac, and connections are accepted by the built-in web server, which is work together by Apple. The firewall application, always configured as described above, will do this. An attacker hacks into the system and tries to divert port 80 and to replace the web server integrated with that determines itself. The good news is that the firewall will protect you; It blocks incoming connections on the malicious server and notifies you. But the bad news is that you have been rooted. Forward who can do these things can just as easily turn off the firewall, in which case it does not protect you after all.

5. you spin a Minecraft server on the local network. It listens on a high-numbered port. You, as an administrator, have reconfigured the firewall to pass this traffic. A hacker can connect to a standard account on the server. It figures how crash Minecraft, or he's waiting just as leave you it, and it then binds his, malicious, Minecraft server to the same port. The firewall will block its server, and because he is not a Director, he cannot do something. In this scenario, the security is genuine.

6. here's a more realistic scenario in which you might be right to turn on the firewall. Your MacBook has the share of active services. You want to have these services available to others on a home network or desktop. When you are on these networks, the firewall should be turned off. When you move to an untrusted network, you can disable all services, or turn on the firewall with a default configuration to block. Blocking is easier: a simple click instead of several.

Tags: Mac OS & System Software

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