My New Mac, Lion Edition

Additional Ideas for Using the Firewall

If you use the Internet, make sure you’ve turned on your firewall. For greater security, enable stealth mode, which essentially makes your Macintosh invisible over the Internet. The idea behind stealth mode is that hackers can’t attack your computer if they can’t find it.

The other configuration features of the firewall can provide greater security by blocking every program from accessing the Internet except for the handful that you approve. By blocking access to the Internet, the firewall can keep spyware programs from stealing your password or credit card data and sending it across the Internet to a malicious hacker.

A firewall by itself can’t guarantee your computer’s protection, but it can keep your Macintosh ...