Not everyone knows that Mac OS X has a built-in firewall inside to protect the device from unauthorized Internet access to programs, services and attackers. Just like on Windows, the firewall is an effective protection system when we often use the Mac outside the home, with the difference that on the Mac the firewall is not enabled by default .
In this guide we will see together how to activate the firewall on Mac, how to configure it to obtain maximum security and above all if the firewall could interfere with the normal use of the other programs.
Even if the viruses and threats designed for the Mac are much lower than those available for Windows, it is absolutely advisable to protect your investment (given the average cost of a Mac).
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1) What is a firewall for?
A firewall like the one integrated into the operating system allows you to block incoming connections and monitor the behavior of already installed programs, albeit in a very simplified way.
Some firewall programs allow you to block outgoing connections in an advanced way and authorize programs that connect to the Internet one by one.
This is superfluous for most people so integrated firewalls on Mac and Windows don't work this way and only block incoming connections.
An incoming connection is a problem only if there are listening applications ready to accommodate these connections.
On Windows XP there were so many services listening on the network that viruses were spoiled for choice and the firewall was very necessary; the situation has improved considerably with Windows 10, but the risk of infection remains very high therefore the firewall must always be kept updated and correctly configured on machines with Windows.
A Mac OS X system, as a rule, does not have potentially vulnerable listening services and this is why Apple keeps the firewall disabled by default, because there are no vulnerable services and the robustness of the kernel allows it to resist the simplest attacks; this is the same reason that a firewall is not enabled (or rather it is not configured) even on Linux systems, which is a distant "cousin" of Mac OS.
On the Windows PC, the firewall is automatically enabled and in fact, every time a program is opened in full screen, the firewall displays a window in which the user must authorize the application.
The one on Windows is however a very light firewall, which works without having to make manual configurations, which however is not able to automatically block calls managed by viruses and malware that can make protection useless if they infect the computer.
2) On Mac you need the firewall ">
In the window that will open, let's go to the Firewall tab to access the configuration and activation window of the firewall.
Basically the changes on this page are blocked, so we won't be able to activate the firewall until we allow the changes; to do this, simply click on the padlock symbol at the bottom left with the wording Changes disabled . The system will ask us for the Mac password, we will provide it to unlock all the changes.
Now to activate the firewall simply click on the Activate firewall item which will now be available at the top of the window.
The default configuration is to automatically allow trusted software to receive incoming connections, thus leaving free the certified programs from the Mac App Store or Gatekeeper protection (See the guide to install programs and applications on Mac).
If you do not download programs from external sources from the Mac App Store, the firewall is good for increasing the security already very high on Apple devices.
In the advanced firewall options you can add applications to the list of those to be protected whose incoming connections you want to block, as well as the activation of the Stealth mode which makes the Mac practically invisible to any other PC that tries to connect with tools tracking or pinging.
We enable these items only if we are able to manage them, since the basic firewall is already suitable for all the most common scenarios without the need to configure it further.
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