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Little Snitch: Network Monitor and Application Firewall for macOS

obdev.at

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Re: Little Snitch: Network Monitor and Application Firewall for macOS

#51

Post by cute_boi »

ianmf wrote: post #20
danpalmer wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s essential for every macOS user Is it? I'm interested in hearing why. I've been using macOS for ~15 years, so very familiar with Little Snitch. I think I owned a version many years ago but haven't for a long time. I don't really see what I'd use it for. I don't run dodgy software, I don't want to partially break the software I do run by nit picking what connections it can make as that wouldn't improve my experi…

I owned several versions of Little Snitch too. It started to be annoying when you had to approve each request, especially when running command-line scripts. Then I moved to run in silent-approval mode. At that point, there was no reason to have LS any longer, so I uninstalled it. Haven't used it in years now. But not to discredit LS, it is an amazing software when you need it.

Which command line script are u using that much other than curl/npm etc..

Thanks.

Re: Little Snitch: Network Monitor and Application Firewall for macOS

#52

Post by simondanerd »

triyambakam wrote: post #4
desro wrote: post #3

first application to get installed on every nuke and pave

Never heard of "nuke and pave" before, nice idiom! https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nuke_and_pave

I've heard it said in relation to getting a new laptop with manufacturer cruft and using Dave's Boot And Nuke to do some cleanup: https://dban.org/

Re: Little Snitch: Network Monitor and Application Firewall for macOS

#53

Post by danpalmer »

ianmf wrote: post #20
danpalmer wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s essential for every macOS user Is it? I'm interested in hearing why. I've been using macOS for ~15 years, so very familiar with Little Snitch. I think I owned a version many years ago but haven't for a long time. I don't really see what I'd use it for. I don't run dodgy software, I don't want to partially break the software I do run by nit picking what connections it can make as that wouldn't improve my experi…

I owned several versions of Little Snitch too. It started to be annoying when you had to approve each request, especially when running command-line scripts. Then I moved to run in silent-approval mode. At that point, there was no reason to have LS any longer, so I uninstalled it. Haven't used it in years now. But not to discredit LS, it is an amazing software when you need it.

> But not to discredit LS, it is an amazing software when you need it.

Yes! I perhaps didn't make this as clear as I should have. Little Snitch is fantastic software, no question. I'm just not sure that most people need it, I think a custom local firewall was always a bit of a power user tool, and nowadays with security being so much better than 20+ years ago, firewalls on personal machines just feel like an outdated concept to me.

Re: Little Snitch: Network Monitor and Application Firewall for macOS

#54

Post by 1123581321 »

blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #47
0x2a wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other (paid) alternatives: Vallum, Radio Silence - https://vallumfirewall.com - https://radiosilenceapp.com

I feel like macOS has been going the direction of iOS, increasingly locking things down and pushing to a walled garden world. What’s the chance that the next major update or two make changes that prevent utilities from having the access they need to provide these power user capabilities?

Minimal, but there were some changes a few years ago that made it harder to monitor and block system traffic. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24838816

Re: Little Snitch: Network Monitor and Application Firewall for macOS

#55

Post by Dylan16807 »

thustherust wrote: post #40
triyambakam wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never heard of "nuke and pave" before, nice idiom! https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nuke_and_pave

Probably because it is a leftover from the 1990s/2000s when you had to completely reinstall your os. That’s no longer necessary, as long as you’re not using windows.

Windows hasn't needed it either for a long time.

Re: Little Snitch: Network Monitor and Application Firewall for macOS

#57

Post by danpalmer »

SanjayMehta wrote: post #19
danpalmer wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s essential for every macOS user Is it? I'm interested in hearing why. I've been using macOS for ~15 years, so very familiar with Little Snitch. I think I owned a version many years ago but haven't for a long time. I don't really see what I'd use it for. I don't run dodgy software, I don't want to partially break the software I do run by nit picking what connections it can make as that wouldn't improve my experi…

The best feature is the map which shows the locations of all the connection attempts. You can quickly spot anomalous connections to countries/servers, and locate the specific process doing this. I found a daemon left over from an uninstalled app which was attempting to connect to its mother ship in China. Very strange.

What exactly does one learn from this normally? A leftover daemon is a bit of an edge case, and you could have learnt the same from looking at Activity Monitor, seeing a permissions pop-up, noticing higher energy use, etc, but learning that software connects to China seems... fine? Unless one wants to classify all connections to China as by-definition bad, which is discrimination that I don't want to engage in personally.

A bad actor can conceal whatever they want by renting a server anywhere they like. Meanwhile, there are many legit reasons why software might connect to China – maybe the company hosts services on Alibaba Cloud, maybe the software is from a Chinese producer and they chose local hosting.

To me, the map is mostly fear-mongering.

Re: Little Snitch: Network Monitor and Application Firewall for macOS

#58

Post by noman-land »

danpalmer wrote: post #17
para_parolu wrote: post #6

Little Snitch is one of the best pieces of software out there. It’s essential for every macOS user, works very well, and is a one-time payment. I truly hope it stays that way and doesn’t go down the same path as 1Password. I’m very grateful to the developers for creating such an excellent product. I wish more software were like this.

> It’s essential for every macOS user Is it? I'm interested in hearing why. I've been using macOS for ~15 years, so very familiar with Little Snitch. I think I owned a version many years ago but haven't for a long time. I don't really see what I'd use it for. I don't run dodgy software, I don't want to partially break the software I do run by nit picking what connections it can make as that wouldn't improve my experi…

Analytics is malware and Little Snitch allows me to put the ban hammer on desktop apps that send data to places I don't want them to.
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