why is Dropbox

Question

Level 1

9 points

why is Dropbox

Why is Dropbox trying to communicate to 255.255.255.255 via port 17500? My eset firewall is " asking" if I'd like ot allow

this outbound traffic?

Thanks

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1), Malware

Posted on Mar 9, 2014 3:47 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Tuttle

Level 7

29,565 points

Mar 9, 2014 4:34 PM in response to Alan 648

255.255.255.255 is your machine's (and all Macs') broadcasthost address. It sends outgoing NetInfo packets, and port 17500 is the port DropBox uses. If you want to sync local files with your DropBox, you'll want to allow this outbound traffic.

Here's a snapshot from LittleSnitch on my machine showing DropBox communicating the same way:

Reply

Answer 2

Alan 648 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 9, 2014 7:07 PM in response to Tuttle

very kind of you to reply. What I don't understand is the "local" part. I'm using Dropbox as cloud storage therefore I dont' really think I'm using it " locally". Therefore, I block that traffic.

Does that make sense?

thanks

Reply

Answer 3

Tuttle

Level 7

29,565 points

Mar 9, 2014 7:24 PM in response to Alan 648

By local, I mean the DropBox folder that's on your Mac.

Reply