OS X/Leopard Networking Question

[chesterville]

Hello,

I am going to be buying my first mac and first laptop in January (following people's advice and waiting to see what MacWorld brings). I have a quick question about network security with macs.

How good is the network security with Leopard, ie. firewall type defences? I don't even know how likely it is that someone will even attempt to "hack" in to my computer, or if it's possible for someone to give my computer a virus over a wireless network, so is this something I should be concerned with - and if so, what can I do to prevent it?

By the way, I will be using it on my encrypted/secured network at home, but I am mostly concerned about public "hotspots" and my school's network - which if it works as well as the rest of the garbage at my school, does not make me overly confident in their ability to protect my computer.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers.

 

[EricNau]

First of all, at this point in time there's no reason to worry about viruses - they're aren't any. ...At all.

Leopard's firewall is good, and improving.

The firewall preferences can be controlled through System Preferences > Security > Firewall. The most secure method is to "Set access for specific services and applications" and under the advanced menu check "Enable stealth mode."

 

[SC68Cal]

First of all, at this point in time there's no reason to worry about viruses - they're aren't any. ...At all.

Inaccurate. Plenty of exploits. Quicktime, MOAB, etc....

Leopard's firewall is good, and improving.

That's what you think. Other people aren't so confident.

The firewall preferences can be controlled through System Preferences > Security > Firewall. The most secure method is to "Set access for specific services and applications" and under the advanced menu check "Enable stealth mode."

Stealth mode is a joke. Google "Jay Beale: Mac OS X weaknesses" for some great fun. Watch him tear through Apple's rulesets.

 

[EricNau]

Inaccurate. Plenty of exploits. Quicktime, MOAB, etc....

That's what you think. Other people aren't so confident.

Stealth mode is a joke. Google "Jay Beale: Mac OS X weaknesses" for some great fun. Watch him tear through Apple's rulesets.

I stand by my original statement.

Sure, OS X has it's security exploits, but they're not worth worrying about. It's simply not even worth mentioning.

For normal everyday activity, OS X is secure.

 

[NAG]

The only nastiest out for OS X currently is one trojan or another. This can be avoided by not installing things/giving your admin password to something you downloaded from a non-trustworthy site (such as a porn site). OS X is not invincible. No one claims that. However, if you factor in the speed hit regular virus scanning puts on your system combined with how there are no virus for OS X it reduces the need to use such things. If you want you can get clamav and have it around for the time that someone actually writes a virus for OS X (who knows when that will happen).

Firewall settings: I'd set it to block all incoming unless you're using your system for anything networking (such as itunes sharing, file sharing, printer sharing, etc...). Also use WPA on your wireless network. Always use a strong password and if you're really anal like me don't run as an admin user 24/7.

 

[chesterville]

Thanks for the feedback. There goes pretty much my only concern.

Cheers.

 

[kolax]

Inaccurate. Plenty of exploits. Quicktime, MOAB, etc....

There is things that asks for your password or ask you to download it. It is user stupidity that causes their Mac to get exploited for some of the viruses out there.

 

[NAG]

There is things that asks for your password or ask you to download it. It is user stupidity that causes their Mac to get exploited for some of the viruses out there.

Those are trojans not viruses. Yes I'm being anal about terminology but in this case you really need to be. If the trojans that are out there were considered viruses so would the rm command in the terminal.