MS Mac Office 2011

[mayuka]

Hi.

For my work I need to use Microsfot Mac Office. I thought, maybe it is a good idea to update to the latest 2011 version? The admins here are very concerned about network traffic, however. Since 2011 Office contains a lot of cloud stuff (I really won't need nor use) does it "phone home" often? If it does, can I somehow block the traffic it generates (without using tools such as Little Snitch)?

 

[Thessman]

Hi.

For my work I need to use Microsfot Mac Office. I thought, maybe it is a good idea to update to the latest 2011 version? The admins here are very concerned about network traffic, however. Since 2011 Office contains a lot of cloud stuff (I really won't need nor use) does it "phone home" often? If it does, can I somehow block the traffic it generates (without using tools such as Little Snitch)?

It certainly is a good idea to use the latest version, as it helps deal with the files that other people might send to you etc., as for blocking web traffic, you can ask your admins to monitor the traffic generated from your machine, and block accordingly. Try "ipfw -h" without the quotes on the terminal... Or you can just block your office apps outright from the System preferences -> Security & Privacy -> firewall

 

[mayuka]

It certainly is a good idea to use the latest version, as it helps deal with the files that other people might send to you etc., as for blocking web traffic, you can ask your admins to monitor the traffic generated from your machine, and block accordingly. Try "ipfw -h" without the quotes on the terminal... Or you can just block your office apps outright from the System preferences -> Security & Privacy -> firewall

At least the Firewall variant does not help in any cases. A friend of mine uses Photoshop and Adobe generates all kind of traffic... He has added some entries to a system file to prevent some traffic.