In Firewall Options should I Block Incoming Connections

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Level 1

27 points

In Firewall Options should I Block Incoming Connections

In Firewall Options I have myself blocked the following ARDAgent, Google Chrome, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word. I know there was a reason I did this but I can't remember LOL, I use Google Chrome everyday and don't seem to have any problems other than it's listed twice in my Notifications. What I allowed are Printer Sharing, com.apple.Webkit.Networking.xpc (no idea what this is) , IMAgent.app, Installer.app, Itunes.app and Safari.app. Can anyone tell me if I did something wrong or suggest what I should allow or should not allow under. Also there is a tab that I can check which says Block All Incoming Connections, should I use it? I am not very good with the computer workings.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Sep 7, 2019 11:11 AM

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Answer 1

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Tesserax

Level 10

148,251 points

Sep 7, 2019 11:36 AM in response to momluvstv

The firewall that you control under Security & Privacy is a software firewall on your Mac that assists with controlling which applications that can have access through this firewall when enabled. Unless you have a specific reason to do so, it's better to just leave the Firewall disabled all together. However, you may have reasons to do so otherwise. If that's the case, you should understand each app that you enable to understand what impacts doing so will occur. If you're not sure, then don't enable them. It's that simple.

The "Block All Incoming Connections," if enabled, will do exactly that. Any inbound application-related traffic will not be allowed to access your Mac.

The bottom line is if you don't know or aren't sure, then don't enable the firewall. You should have good reasons to do so.

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Answer 2

BobHarris

Level 9

52,907 points

Sep 7, 2019 3:52 PM in response to momluvstv

Are you always at home, protected by your home NAT router?

Or are you often in coffee shops, hotels, etc...?

At home you are only protecting yourself from other devices in your home, as your home router never lets in unsolicited connections.

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In Firewall Options should I Block Incoming Connections

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