Stealth Mode

When Stealth mode is turned on, uninvited traffic to your computer doesn't get any response from it. With the firewall turned on and no services running, you are basically safe from anyone who doesn't already have an account on your computer breaking in remotely.

(11156)

PaperWeight,

I got this definition from Setting advanced firewall options in Mac Help:

Stealth mode When you enable stealth mode, all uninvited data traffic receives no response from your computer. Stealth mode virtually hides your computer behind your firewall, and other computers sending traffic to your computer receive no information about your computer.

Make sure your Firewall is turned on and Stealth Mode is enabled in Advanced..., then use the Scan Now feature on Sygate Online Services to check out the results...Be patient. Then click on Stealth Scan...and follow the directions. Ideally your status should be "Blocked". This indicates that your ports are not only closed, but they are completely hidden (stealthed) to attackers.This should give you some idea of what stealth does.

No need to be concerned.

;~)

Sorry to threadjack OP but this is pertinent to your question. I did the stealth scan on Ferd ll's link and got 'Blocked' on all ports. As an experiment I turned off first 'Stealth Mode' & then the OS firewall completely. Still got 'Blocked' on all ports on each subsequent scan.

Moral of the story? The importance of a good router firewall. 😉

I wonder what Newton said
When that  fell on his head...

Adrian

ibook G4 1GHz, 768mb; iMac 17" G4:768mb (10.3.9) Mac OS X (10.4.5) Belkin Wireless F5D7632