This site appears to be PC-related but am wondering if anyone can help for a friend please or direct me to a better site. I know Mac OSX has its own firewall but would a third party one be a good idea? Would the "best" PC one be the "best" on the Mac?
For a Mac OSX you need to look at software firewalls that are made for that OS. Most PC software firewall vendors do not have versions for the Mac, although Norton apparently is one that does. For a variety of reasons, I'd do some research before just going with a brand because it's known in the PC world. First what I'd do is to determine if the OSX native firewall is sufficient for the user's needs and if a third party firewall is preferable. Is the user behind a router, for example? From a quick search through Google I've found some sites with some related info. There are third party utilities like Frewalk and Brickhouse that make it easier to configure the the OSX firewall. Perhaps that is all that is needed. Then there are third party Mac firewalls like Netbarrier, for example. http://www.novajo.ca/firewall.html http://http://www.firewallguide.com/macintosh.htm www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,24330,692,00.html http://www.securemac.com/ Eric Howes site also has a page for some Mac security related links. http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/soft26a.htm There's also a Mac forum at Broadband Reports: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/macdsl . If you don't get more info from other people here, preferably someone familiar with OSX which I am not, that might be another forum to try. I know there are other Mac related forums around, but I'm not familiar with them to point you to. Hope this helps.
Thanks alot. One question though is the Steve Gibson www.grc.com probe ports tests for Windows machines only? Trying the tests on OSX seems to give very positive results but I'm not sure if they are 'accurate'. Would any site to test your security (like www.testmysecurity.com) be better for a Windows machine or it doesn't matter what OS?
Hi polo While the grc.com site may be geared towards the Windows OS, the port scans can be used to test any system/firewall. Regards, CrazyM
