I was preparing my new Apple MacBook Pro for travel to the notorious hacker conference, DEFCON, when I came across Little Snitch, a host-based firewall application from Objective Development Software. Little Snitch was designed to monitor a Mac's outbound network communication. By default, the Mac OS X firewall focuses only on inbound connections. Outbound firewalls generally serve two main purposes: They can detect Trojan malware programs, which surreptitiously initiate outbound connections to evil parent servers, and, more commonly, they help you keep tabs on the communications of your legitimate applications. If you have a Mac, it's worth installing an outbound-focused host-based firewall such as Little Snitch. After using it for just a few days you'll be surprised how much data it reveals that leaks from your Mac.
In the Windows world, similar programs include Check Point Software’s ZoneAlarm and Symantec's Norton Internet Security. But the Mac didn’t have a wide selection of choices, ostensibly because host firewall vendors were more attracted to the overwhelming market share and attack target Windows offered. However as the Mac continues to rise in popularity, I expect to see new products for the Mac as well as improvements in existing products, and Little Snitch is no exception. . . .
Register
