[joel604]

Recently, the University of Wisconsin-Madison started offering its students and facilty free liscenced copies of Norton Personal Firewall for both Mac & PC. I can see the necessity of a piece of software like this for an WinXP machine, but as a proud owner of a new G4 Powerbook, is the Norton Firewall software really needed?

I have a copy of Norton Antivirus installed on my Powerbook as part of the same program. My concern is that the Norton firewall will just add a level of frusteration to my internet connecting. Is there anyone out there who has had experience with Norton Personal Firewall or feels there is a reason to install this software? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Brad]

Absolutely not. Mac OS X already comes omes with a very capable firewall if you really think you need it (though, you probably don't).

And you might want to remove NAV as well.

Please see these discussions for details:
http://forums.applenova.com/showthre...ghlight=norton
http://forums.applenova.com/showthre...ghlight=norton
http://forums.applenova.com/showthre...ghlight=norton

[Bryson]

I'm sure someone else will explain in more detail, but if you search this very forum for "Norton" you'll find that almost everyone thinks it is terrible, terrible trash.

Plus, name me a Mac OSX virus... Hence a virus checker is just pure deadweight.

[torifile]

I'd love for us to have a "software you should avoid" sticky. Norton would be tops on that list.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

Originally Posted by Bryson I'm sure someone else will explain in more detail, but if you search this very forum for "Norton" you'll find that almost everyone thinks it is terrible, terrible trash. Plus, name me a Mac OSX virus... Hence a virus checker is just pure deadweight.

Well, there are always macro viruses that get passed around in Excel & Word documents. While your Mac may not become infected, it could become a carrier of the disease.

[Bryson]

So you're saying my Mac could cause people with PCs to have a bad day, while my Mac remains unaffected?

Explain to me the bad part of this....

[HowardG]

I personally see no reason for Norton Firewall as was already said there is already a very capable firewall running by default on your machine......

But I have to agree with bassplayinMacFiend, having NAV or some kind of anti-virus software on your machine to double-check documents you recieve is a must. NAV's auto-protect is turned off on my machine though.

[Franz Josef]

Originally Posted by HowardG I personally see no reason for Norton Firewall as was already said there is already a very capable firewall running by default on your machine...... But I have to agree with bassplayinMacFiend, having NAV or some kind of anti-virus software on your machine to double-check documents you recieve is a must. NAV's auto-protect is turned off on my machine though.

Bear in mind that that the resident firewall by default stops inbound but not outbound (ie it needs to be configured).

As for viruses, on the assumption that Mac OS X is excellent but not perfect, increasing profile and market share for Apple must increase the risk of specifically tailored viruses and malware.

[seashellz2]

>>firewall by default stops inbound but not outbound-
---

I believe the app called "little Snitch" takes care of the outbound

but how do you configure stopping outbound in X?

[Chinney]

On a similar theme, I always have used the ‘Close Internet Connection When Sleep’. Is there any good reason to do this on a Mac? If not, then I would just as soon maintain my Internet connection. I have a high-speed connection and there is no reason I can’t always be connected, if it is safe.

[Franz Josef]

Originally Posted by seashellz2 >>firewall by default stops inbound but not outbound- --- I believe the app called "little Snitch" takes care of the outbound but how do you configure stopping outbound in X?

Yes Little Snitch is a popular app for monitoring outbound - it is compatible with 10.4.2. You can also consider Brickhouse - http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/5742.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by seashellz2 but how do you configure stopping outbound in X?

Brickhouse and sunShield can both configure the built-in firewall to stop outbound traffic.

Originally Posted by Chinney On a similar theme, I always have used the ‘Close Internet Connection When Sleep’. Is there any good reason to do this on a Mac?

Where is that feature? I've never seen it before and Google isn't being helpful. When you put your Mac to sleep, everything stops including all processes; so, of course that means the network communication ceases as well.

[Chinney]

Originally Posted by Brad [...] Where is that feature? I've never seen it before and Google isn't being helpful. When you put your Mac to sleep, everything stops including all processes; so, of course that means the network communication ceases as well.

My ignorance. I always thought that this feature existed, but I guess that I did not fully understand the sleep command. But what does exist, of course, is not that, but the option to "Disconnect when user logs out" and "Disconnect if idle for x minutes". I guess you have to allow the machine to idle, and not put it to sleep, if you want to stay connected, even with high-speed.

[julesstoop]

On a similar theme, I always have used the ‘Close Internet Connection When Sleep’. Is there any good reason to do this on a Mac? If not, then I would just as soon maintain my Internet connection. I have a high-speed connection and there is no reason I can’t always be connected, if it is safe.

A sleeping Mac is something different than a sleeping PC. A far as I know a Mac closes it's connection by default while sleeping.