[MW Forums]

Little Snitch strikes a good balance between automatically blocking potential problems and letting users decide what connections to allow. This is a great tool for anyone who uses a wide variety of software. more

[uchuugaka]

used it in previous versions.
why?
can't trust MS and Adobe!
it was surprising what apps DO try to dial home without telling you!

[MacGeek1955]

I use Little Snitch. It's amazing how often Stuffit or Acrobat call home and other software as well. I block a lot of those just because if you let it connect then you get another pop-up screen and more questions to answer before you can do the work you opened it to do. I don't use anti-virus software since currently no viruses exist for the Mac but if malware does get on my Mac at least I can stop it from sending any of my personal info out to sleezeballs if something does slip into my system.

[pkeene]

I find that one of the forums I subscribe to using Safari tries to connect me to a Linux site through another port. Wouldn't know that without Little Snitch.
Peter

[saikung]

But, as the author said, I certainly wish that there was someway to know more about the connections that I'm asked to approve or deny. I can't always tell what the proper decision is.

[uchuugaka]

true, but that would mean that the authors of little snitch would have to know about every piece of software you can possibly have on the mac that can send data out to the internet.
That's not possible to know all of that. even with no apps running,
osx is unix, so it is a system designed to be networked, AND it always has some obscure unix processes (running software) going in the background. most of that is stuff that only hardcore administrators were/are ever expected to know about.
Luckily most modern applications don't have so many obscure processes (they have to run in their own space) so you can find out if dishonest company X is trying to harvest information on you or your behavior or buying habits or anything else.
Sad thing is, web sites do this all day every day all the time with Javascript and cookies.
(><)"

[Nobody]

This software sounds like a good idea for those online a lot, and are knowledgeable about internet traffic. That Adobe reader has been a pain! I've had to Force quit many times, I've even tweaked the preferences so it doesn't install new stuff when I don't want it too! Yet, a lot of software on my Mac can be set according to the preferences you want, so it doesn't interfere with your work! So thats a good thing.
Also, I've read you can configure your Mac firewall to be a reverse firewall to do basically what little snitch does. Haven't tried it yet though, haven't felt the need quite yet. I don't know if I would even want
to attempt it /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif!

[davebarnes]

Little Snitch should not even exist. Apple should have included outbound protection in the built-in firewall.
But, Apple did not. So, I use Little Snitch. In the beginning, that is the first 2 weeks, it is very annoying. After that it seldom bothers me.
I use Little Snitch. I recommend Little Snitch.
,dave

[sereluna]

In reply to:

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Apple should have included outbound protection in the built-in firewall

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Doesn't Windows Vista have this?

[mha]

In reply to:

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Apple should have included outbound protection in the built-in firewall.

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The provided IPFW firewall software is actually capable of protecting against outbound connections, but Apple's default settings and user interface don't give you access to those features.
Check out Flying Buttress (formerly BrickHouse) to access those features of the built-in firewall.
MHA

[mha]

In reply to:

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I can't always tell what the proper decision is.

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You can always deny an unexpected or unfamiliar connection to be on the safe side; there's not much harm you can do by clicking "Deny" that wouldn't also occur if your Mac didn't happen to be online.
I raised this question with the developers, and got the reasonable response that Little Snitch usually has no way of telling the difference between a connection that you initiated or one that's resulting from an intrusion attempt. It relies on the user to make an educated decision as to whether to allow a connection attempt. If you didn't just ask your Mac to do something that would bring up the connection, just deny the connection!
MHA