Lulu firewall app. Please advise!

Hello,

I always try to keep my system as clean as possible on my machines (I'm a music producer/photographer), but got very much interested in Lulu (https://objective-see.com/products/lulu.html) by P. Wardle, for its security features.


Any thoughts on that app? Can it create potential problems/slowdowns, etc?


Also, Radio Silence (https://radiosilenceapp.com/) was another app that caught my attention for its simplicity.

I've used Little Snitch in the past, but found that app too complicated/noisy.

Thanks for your precious advises!!

All the best.

Posted on Jun 1, 2020 4:19 AM

Reply
13 replies

Jun 3, 2020 5:45 AM in response to Azurircred

Azurircred wrote:

True! but what about outcoming connections? The built-in firewall only takes care of incoming ones.

How are you going to distinguish between legitimate outgoing connections and nefarious outgoing connections? All connections are going to be secure and encrypted. All you have to go by is the app itself and it’s reputation. So, use that and don’t install scamware.

Jun 4, 2020 8:09 AM in response to Azurircred

Yes. I am aware of the app. I'm just expressing frustration as a developer. I sometimes get complaints about something not working on my app and in many cases, the problem is some over-zealous network security. I don't collect any marketing or metrics of any kind. But in hindsight, that was a bad idea. I have significant, one-of-a-kind features and I don't know if anyone is using them. I get zero feedback from users about them. The only contact me when there is a problem.


But I have zero doubt that if I had some free app for a major social media platform, I could collect all kinds of data and share it all over the world. If anyone blocked my data, the app just wouldn't work. Are you saying that you don't use any free social media apps? None? Because that's how they work. You have to pay for software and services. Either you pay with cash or you pay with data so that other people can potentially convert it into cash. But when you try to pick an choose network connections to block, the only people you are hurting are small, honest developers. The people you are trying to protect yourself against are quite unaffected.

Jun 4, 2020 1:26 AM in response to etresoft

Well, many legitimate apps with solid reputation establish outgoing connections for their own interest/marketing research/statistics, etc. These connections are (sometimes) using a lot of resources/energy from your mac (activity monitor can tell). So, I don't see the reason why I should allow them to transmit data to the outside, for their own interest.

Jun 4, 2020 3:47 AM in response to Azurircred

And you are able to inspect these data streams to confirm this? If you know, or think you know, which apps are doing this then don’t use those apps. Otherwise, you are interfering with the app and causing it not to work properly. Furthermore, you’ve given me a great idea for my own apps. I should setup an “analytics” server for my app. If that connection is blocked, but not other connections, then I know I’m behind one of these firewalls and can act accordingly by shutting down, not showing a review prompt, not allowing some features, etc. Thanks!

Jun 4, 2020 5:24 AM in response to etresoft

I got to know Lulu very recently, after reading some articles about Patrick Wardle, who created it. (https://objective-see.com/about.html). His works on security seem to be interesting. What do you think?

I don't have the skills to investigate streams too closely. That's not my field. But I like the idea that my mac is not sending out more infos that it should. I might be wrong. So, I'm researching a bit about it and just like the idea of keeping a certain kind of privacy, (nothing too paranoid) if that word still means anything in today's connected world.

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Lulu firewall app. Please advise!

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