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The Practical Mac
Configuring Your OS X Firewall
- 2002.03.05 - Tip Jar
Last week, The Practical Mac explained how to set up a basic firewall using the shareware program BrickHouse. BrickHouse provides an easy-to-use graphical interface to activate and configure the firewall which is built into OS X. Unfortunately, the default settings don't necessarily meet the needs of every user. This article will show you how to tweak your firewall settings to meet your needs.
Microsoft Office v.X
Microsoft built into Office v.X an anti-pirating "feature" which can pose a serious security risk in a network environment. When any Office application is launched, it polls other computers on the network in an attempt to discover whether any other Office installations with the same serial number are present on the network. If another installation with an identical serial number is found, the application displays a message to this effect and won't launch.
Using this mechanism, it is possible for a hacker to create packets and direct them at a particular Office v.X installation, causing any open Office applications to shut down immediately, losing any work in progress. To thwart such an attack, Microsoft recommends, among other things, disabling both incoming and outgoing traffic on UDP port 2222.
Most users would scratch their head and say, "How do I do that?" The Microsoft article certainly does not explain how to do this. Have no fear - BrickHouse allows you to easily apply this and other filters to your firewall.
Launch BrickHouse, select Quick Configuration, and click on the tab of the network service you want to add the filter to (AirPort, ethernet, etc.). Select Add Filter from the menu at the bottom of the screen.

The Filter Details screen will appear. In the dropdown box beside Action select Deny. Choose Custom Service and UDP protocol. In the Port box, erase the numbers there and enter 2222. Make sure the Source is My Computer and the Destination is The Internet. Click OK.

This will prevent your Mac from broadcasting on UDP port 2222.
Now repeat the procedure, except this time change Source to The Internet and Destination to My Computer. Click OK.

This will prevent your Mac from receive and responding to any packets directed to UDP port 2222.
Over time, you are bound to encounter other programs which will require you to either open or close certain ports on your firewall. For instance, to receive QuickTime streaming video, you must open several ports. Among them is TCP port 554 for Real Time Streaming Protocol (RSTP). There may be other ports which need to be opened to enable QuickTime streams - refer to Apple Knowledge Base articles 60688, 42604, and 106307 for more information. To get you started, we will walk through opening up TCP port 554.
Go back to the Quick Configuration screen and select Add Filter. Change the dropdown menu boxes to Allow Custom Service TCP and change the port number to 554. Set the Source as The Internet and the Destination as My Computer. Click OK.

Repeat this step for other ports you wish open. To close ports, follow the same steps, but make sure the Action is set to Deny.
Back at the Quick Configuration screen, select Save, Apply, and Install to save your configuration and enable it to reload each time your Mac boots up.

If, after installing your firewall, you have applications which quit
working, check the support Web site for your particular program. Most
network-enabled programs have technical articles on their Web sites
which will tell you what firewall ports need to be enabled in order for
the program to work.
Steve Watkins is the Vice President for Information Technology for a mid-sized bank and also an attorney. He has been a Mac user for about ten years. He has owned some PCs along the way - but always came back to the Mac. If you find Steve's's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.
Recent Practical Mac Articles
- 5 things Apple is doing right in 2008 - and 5 it could do better, 03.24. Apple has made great strides in the past five years, but there are still a few areas that need to be addressed.
- MacBook Air a compelling option for the true road warrior, 02.22. Although it's not intended as a desktop replacement and has a few shortcomings, the lightweight MacBook Air with its 13" display could be the perfect field computer.
- Mailsmith a simple, powerful, spam fighting alternative to Apple Mail, 04.23. Mailsmith is bundled with SpamSieve, integrates with Address Book, and has very flexible scripting tools combined with elegant simplicity.
- Can your spam with SpamSieve, 02.02. "Right out of the box, SpamSieve exceeded the accuracy of the Apple Mail filter I've been training for over a year."
- More in the Practical Mac index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 17" iMac G4/800 MHz, July 2002 - The iMac 'grows up' with a 17" 1440 x 900 display.
- Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
- November 8 in LEM history: 99: OS 9: I think I like it - 01: The simplified Mac life - Soured on Windows - Flea market Mac - 02: Little room for improvement in new 'Books - Combo drive upgrade for iceBooks - 04: Re-Porter - 05: Fix the old iMac or buy a Mac mini? - Apple's Copland project - 06: MacBook Core 2 - MacBook value equation - Cheap is as cheap does - 07: Problems with Classic mode in Tiger - The G4 Power Mac that won't run Leopard
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.06. Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
- Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More, Mac News Review, 11.06. /newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
- WiFi Paranoia, iMac-O-Lantern, Magic Mouse Does Click, Free Clipboard Managers, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.05. Also strange time stamps, problem with ColorIt on Intel Mac, and the story behind OS X 10.5.4 install discs.
- IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.04. SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
- QuickTime X in Snow Leopard Imports, Trims, and Publishes Video Quickly and Easily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 11.04. The long, slow process of importing video into iMovie to edit it, then render it to another format, is history as QuickTime X does that much more quickly.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
- Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- More deals in our archive.
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