![]() ![]() Your next step is to look at the OS X firewall log, and there are two different ways to do that. ![]() ![]() The second check box allows software that is signed by a valid certificate authority to provide services to your computer (this should be checked), and the last check box makes it impossible for malicious users to even know that your computer exists by turning off responses to test applications that make use of ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol).Īt this point, let’s assume that your OS X firewall has been enabled since you first turned on the computer and you’re still seeing some odd things happening. You can add specific applications to the “open” connection list by clicking the plus ” + ” sign below the list of allowed connections, then selecting the apps from your Applications folder. ![]() You can choose to block all incoming connections, which provides the highest level of security from intruders, just by checking the top checkbox. Clicking it displays something similar to the following: You shouldn’t need to change options for the firewall, but if you do, there’s a Firewall Options button for just that purpose. If it isn’t enabled and you’d like to turn it on, simply click the Turn On Firewall button that is in the same location as the Turn Off Firewall button in the image. You’ll know immediately if the firewall is turned on or not if it’s on, there’s a green light and a text notification that the firewall is on (see image below). To enable the OS X firewall, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy and then click on the Firewall tab. For example, things like email, information coming into a web browser via the http protocol, and video streaming connections all have specific ports assigned to them, and your Mac - even with the firewall turned on - lets those services work normally. To start with, what’s a firewall? Simply stated, it’s an application that closes all or specific internet protocol (IP) ports on your internet connection, allowing only incoming connections that are necessary to the regular operation of your Mac. Here’s how to do the same if you’re feeling as paranoid as I was… To do this, I watched the OS X firewall log to see what was happening each time the symptoms occurred. But after a few days of perplexing symptoms I decided I’d better see whether someone or something was actually attempting an attack. Now, I’m one of those people who always enables the OS X firewall, so the chances of a hacker attack actually occurring were probably pretty slim. Before the holidays, I was running into an odd problem with my new iMac, and when I mean “odd”, I mean that it was acting as if someone was trying to access my Mac from somewhere else. ![]()
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January 2023
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