OS X Firewall - Blocking Applications

[Pontypine]

Hello there

I'm a recent Mac convert, but coming from Windows there's still a couple of things I'm not sure about, and would be grateful for some advice.

One of the things I could do on Windows (XP) with Kerio Firewall was to block internet traffic and allow applications outbound access explicitly. Very useful to have the firewall notify you when some new app is trying to access the internet and get you to confirm or deny this.

Can anyone tell me if the built-in firewall does this, or if there are any third-party apps that can ? I'd really like to keep that granular level of control if possible.

Many thanks for any advice/tips etc.

 

[bousozoku]

The included firewall, ipfw, does not block outbound traffic. The firewall in Leopard may but I'm not sure since I haven't touched it.

I seem to remember NetBarrier doing it when I used it and it also takes care of a lot of things automatically, but it's a commercial product.

 

[MikeDTyke]

Hi bousozoku,

As mentioned, the inbuilt firewall doesn't explicity control outbound traffic, you could hand edit IPFW scripts, but it ain't pretty.

Have to say i swear by 'Little Snitch'. Its a cheap app, around $20 and blocks outbound traffic, popping up a little message that allows you to specify if an app is allowed to the server its asking, any server and whether it's for this session only or a permanent rule. Really nice piece of software which is pretty un-instrusive compared to the windows equivalents.

Cheers. M...

 

[Pontypine]

Thanks for the quick advice - Little Snitch looks like a great option.

Neil

 

[thestaton]

Little Snitch is a must have in my opinion. Works great and I love it!