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Lulu – Mac open-source firewall that aims to block unknown outgoing connections

objective-see.com

31–40 of 158 posts

Re: Lulu – Mac open-source firewall that aims to block unknown outgoing connections

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can use OpenSnitch on Linux. These days it's quite stable, they even have binaries.

Ok, thank you for a clue, I'll give it a try. The last time I checked it was clearly very far from production-ready. It still shouts "this software is a work in progress, do not expect it to be bug free and do not rely on it for any type of security" in all caps on its homepage which suggests it still is. Given all the abandoned attempts I've seen in the past I also feel very skeptical this one too.

Would you mind sharing your experience afterwards? The alternatives to SELinux in terms of network filtering seem to be so rare.

Re: Lulu – Mac open-source firewall that aims to block unknown outgoing connections

#32

I'm gonna be the thick one. What advantages does it give me when I have something like pi-hole as my DNS server on the internal network? Surely majority of connections need a DNS resolution. Would love to see some stats showing the amount of blocked connections that bypassed DNS.

Pi-hole has its advantages. But this is also an application firewall. It's a little more convenient to block a whole app then try and figure out which ip it is trying to connect and block that.

Re: Lulu – Mac open-source firewall that aims to block unknown outgoing connections

#35
post #7

Has totally replaced Little Snitch for me recently after being increasingly annoyed by it over a decade of using it. This type of software requires lots of trust in the developer and objective-see has earned that trust with the many great projects they provide.

...increasingly annoyed...

What got you annoyed?

I use Little Snitch 4. I very much dislike the GUI change in LS5. And it seems to be less user controllable.

I do not know anything about Lulu, except the developer seems like a decent sort based on the warmth here.

Re: Lulu – Mac open-source firewall that aims to block unknown outgoing connections

#36

Works great. I replaced Little Snitch with it. I like it's simple interface and simple value proposition.

Little Snitch is quite powerful. A more affordable, and simpler alternative to Little Snitch is Radio Silence (https://radiosilenceapp.com/) and TripMode (https://tripmode.ch/).

Re: Lulu – Mac open-source firewall that aims to block unknown outgoing connections

#37

Works great. I replaced Little Snitch with it. I like it's simple interface and simple value proposition.

you know LuLu and Little Snitch are made by the same company (obj-see ... obj-c ???)

"Objective-C" is the name of a programming language used for Mac development, previously the primary programming language before Swift and still popular among Mac developers.

"Objective-See", the name of the maker of LuLu, is a pun on Objective-C.

"Objective Development", the name of the maker of Little Snitch, is likely also based on Objective-C.

Re: Lulu – Mac open-source firewall that aims to block unknown outgoing connections

#38
post #10

I wonder how this works with respect to apple's "special exemptions" for its own applications. (bypass NEFilterDataProvider)

Threre are no indications that Apple is willing to compromise and allow application firewalls to block Apple softwares that Apple believes should be able to access the internet, even if the user doesn't want it too. It's a gross invasion of privacy, and a security risk. (By the way, even in Lulu, some Apple system software - apsd, automount, helpd, mDNSResponder, mount_nfs, mount_url, ocspd, sntp, trustd - are whitel…

Does this mean Mac users are not really root on their own machines?

Re: Lulu – Mac open-source firewall that aims to block unknown outgoing connections

#39

Works great. I replaced Little Snitch with it. I like it's simple interface and simple value proposition.

Little Snitch is quite powerful. A more affordable, and simpler alternative to Little Snitch is Radio Silence ( https://radiosilenceapp.com/ ) and TripMode ( https://tripmode.ch/ ).

[deleted]

Re: Lulu – Mac open-source firewall that aims to block unknown outgoing connections

#40
post #3

Does this mean Little Snitch's days are numbered?

I'm curious about this, as it's one of 3 kexts that I get warned about support being withdrawn in a future version of macOS (UAD being one of the others, I forget the 3rd). I could probably live without LS, but the UAD support being withdrawn is quite concerning given the level of investment I have there.

The latest version of LS doesn't use kernel extensions any more as it's using the new network filter stack provided by the OS.
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