zonealarm type firewall for the mac?

[stayathomedad]

I'm setting up a mac for a PC user making the switch...

She is use to zonealarm and wants something similar on her macbook pro...

Any freeware out there you would recommend?

 

[dwind]

No, I've never and nobody else I know has used any firewalls or antivirus other than the one that comes standard in a wireless router.

 

[PDuany]

There is one built in

OS X has one built in. Coming from the PC world it is kind of in a non-intuitive place. You go to System preferences --> Sharing --> Firewall. It does not give the pop up messages anytime it blocks something (thankfully) . It operates on the unix principal of no news is good news. It is very easy to use works well and stays out of your way.

Hope this helps

 

[Rich Gibson]

If Symantec makes one.....don't buy it!

 

[GBRandy]

If Symantec makes one.....don't buy it!

Amen to that.....avoid Norton like the plague. I do not have an anti virus program running on my Mac Pro.

Instead of a software firewall, I would suggest a hardware one like Sonicwall.....my two cents.

 

[ozarkshome]

This Little Snitch software may give you a little more security?

 

[Clix Pix]

Ugh -- my frustration with ZoneAlarm is one of the reasons I jumped from Windows to a Mac. My daily computing experience now is ever so much more pleasant!

No software add-ins here for firewall or virus protection. I do have the OS built-in firewall enabled, though, and my router provides NAT protection as well.

 

[GBRandy]

This Little Snitch software may give you a little more security?

Hummm That's pretty cool Larry. Good find. I'll go play with that one this evening.

As for ZoneAlarm, it's early releases were quite good. Their later versions were awful and I pulled all of them out. At least those uninstalled with our major surgery like Norton.

All my PC's now have the full AVG bundle and operate quite well......

 

[stayathomedad]

I got her to just use the built in firewall...

 

[Rich Gibson]

Hummm That's pretty cool Larry. Good find. I'll go play with that one this evening.

As for ZoneAlarm, it's early releases were quite good. Their later versions were awful and I pulled all of them out. At least those uninstalled with our major surgery like Norton.

All my PC's now have the full AVG bundle and operate quite well......

Exactly my experience. It got more and more complicated. It looks as if some engineers attempted to fix the interface by categorize things into something that was logical to them. However as it got more and more sophisticated a different user interface became necessary. perhaps hierarchical with drill down capabilities based on user experience/interest. In any case when I stopped using it, it was colorful but very confusing and difficult to follow.

 

[ozarkshome]

Amen to that.....avoid Norton like the plague. I do not have an anti virus program running on my Mac Pro.

Instead of a software firewall, I would suggest a hardware one like Sonicwall.....my two cents.

Little Snitch has been around a long time and many users swear by it. I have never used it as I am pretty selective in my surfing. Hope it works well for you GBR.

 

[andy153]

IF you need a firewall for a Mac this is the one to go for - DoorStop X - by Open Door Networks LINK http://www.opendoor.com/

They wrote the book on Mac Security and I would recommend them to anyone.