[gemigene]

Hi,

I have an iMac17 and was wondering what were the optimum settings for the firewall. Right now, it's on but no items are ticked off. Does that mean that the firewall isn't doing much?

Thanks,
Gemigene

[Tsilou B.]

No, that means it's doing a lot: it blocks everything. If you check one of the listed services, that service is excluded from being blocked.

[Sherman Homan]

Tsilou B. is right. The Mac firewall is off by default. Determine was IP services you want to run, if any, and then turn the firewall on. If you do not need to share files or printers for others then all ports are blocked. If you turn on AFP file sharing then the firewall opens that port. For added fun, click the Advanced button and make sure that Stealth Mode is checked. That way if some miscreate is scanning for unprotected services your computer will not respond.

[Curiosity]

It is useful to leave Network Time checked to allow the clock to be updated, however.

[gemigene]

Thank you all for responding.

Gene