Attacks on my Mac

T-K-O

Hi Guys,

I recently made the change! from pc to mac and Im still getting used to the OS. My question is how can I check if someone is attempting to connect to my mac ?

Thanks

Greentree_uk

try peer guardian.

Type 17

You can also view the firewall log (if firewall logging is turned on - ask here if you don't know where that is yet).

Note that a lot of connection attempts that you will see are dumb bots on the internet trying to connect to (what might be) a windows machine, and are not specifically directed at you or your Mac.

T-K-O

Type 17 wrote: »

You can also view the firewall log (if firewall logging is turned on - ask here if you don't know where that is yet).

Note that a lot of connection attempts that you will see are dumb bots on the internet trying to connect to (what might be) a windows machine, and are not specifically directed at you or your Mac.

How do I access the fire wall log ?

Also I have reason to believe someone has accessed my mail. Is it more difficult to do this on a mac ?

Thanks for the replies fellas.

vinylbomb

You may get something out of this, it'll be 10.3 thats its most relevant to I'd say, but check it out anyway

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/mac/2005/03/15/firewall.html

Type 17

T-K-O wrote: »

How do I access the fire wall log ?

Also I have reason to believe someone has accessed my mail. Is it more difficult to do this on a mac ?

Thanks for the replies fellas.

Strange, I only got an email when vinylbomb replied (PS, Admins: why does this happen? - it also happens on other sites that use this forum software).
Anyway, sorry for the delay in replying.

The link above relates to the old format of Mac Firewall - this article gives info about configuring the 10.5 & 10.6 versions.

Why do you think that someone has accessed your mail? - many types of spam can make you think this, but it is rarely true.
The Mac makes email services no less or more secure than other types of PC, but there are many other factors/reasons that make your email service more or less secure - tell us what's on your mind...

nialler

Viruses and malware are quite rare on os x due to the low amount of macs out there compared to windows machines so there's no benefit for hackers, there has been a recent upsurge in interest in the mac os and how it can be compromised but as far as I know there's only one trojan out there in the wild.

When you say someone has accessed your mail, does anybody have your password? If an infected PC has your email address in it's address book the bot may send out thousands of emails in your name as it tries to multiply, people will see and trust an thinking it's from you and the circle begins again.

I've had numerous macs on for the past 6-7 years, on for 24 hours a day only restarting when required by software updates and I haven't once been attacked, I generally know when my network gets attacked as the speed by I just reboot the router and that sorts it.

Naikon

nialler wrote: »

Viruses and malware are quite rare on os x due to the low amount of macs out there compared to windows machines.

This isn't entirely true. There are more concerns than just pure marketshare.

OP, just don't act stupid. Don't run software as root, or install/maintain software
that can elevate privileges ala setuid without good reason.