1
1
Snow Leopard has in its Security Panel a Firewall option, which is off by default. That means (according to the help message there) that all incoming connections to the computer are allowed.
Can/should I turn it on? What kind of applications would that break?
Conversely, am I at risk at an Internet cafe when I do not turn the firewall on (assuming that all sharing features are disabled either way)?
Also, what about outgoing connections, can they be filtered, too?
Why is it off by default, then? – Thilo – 2009-11-27T09:40:32.333
1Because all network communication ports are blocked by default, and all network services are turned off. But if you turn on a service such as sshd you open yourself up to attacks. – John T – 2009-11-27T09:45:22.323