You all answered my spyware question so well, I thought I would ask about firewalls. I know that some are software based, and some are hardware based, but that is about it. Is it necessary for a home computer (ImacG5) to have something like this?
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Firewalls
- Thread starter pcpacker
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yellow
Moderator emeritus
If your comptuer is connected to broadband all the time, and especially if it's on all the time, you definitely should get some sort of firewall running. If you're using dial-up, I wouldn't worry about it.
IMO, it's never a bad idea to have a firewall running. A "hardware" firewall in the form of a router is an excellent first line of defense against outside intrusion. A "software" firewall (such as ipfw, built into your Mac OS) in addition to that is an excellent second line of defense.
IMO, it's never a bad idea to have a firewall running. A "hardware" firewall in the form of a router is an excellent first line of defense against outside intrusion. A "software" firewall (such as ipfw, built into your Mac OS) in addition to that is an excellent second line of defense.
So when I take my computer out of the box and plug it in, is the firewall already functioning, or do I need to go through some setup process?
yellow
Moderator emeritus
Sorry, got this one confused with another firewall thread.
Technically the firewall (ipfw) is always on, always functioning. But by default it's rule set is "allow any to any", which means it's effectively "off". So, out of the box, it's "off".
I would advise against using the built-in control that Apple has for config and control of ipfw, it's pretty much useless. I would suggest getting SunShield or BrickHouse to control/config it if you need a GUI, or learn to use it from the command line.
2 resources for ipfw from the command line:
man ipfw
Setting up ipfw
You'll have to investigate SunShield or BrickHouse for "set ups"/"wizards". I've not touched them in quite a long time.
Technically the firewall (ipfw) is always on, always functioning. But by default it's rule set is "allow any to any", which means it's effectively "off". So, out of the box, it's "off".
I would advise against using the built-in control that Apple has for config and control of ipfw, it's pretty much useless. I would suggest getting SunShield or BrickHouse to control/config it if you need a GUI, or learn to use it from the command line.
2 resources for ipfw from the command line:
man ipfw
Setting up ipfw
You'll have to investigate SunShield or BrickHouse for "set ups"/"wizards". I've not touched them in quite a long time.
