Any operating system requires a firewall to protect it from potential threats that would harm your computer, such as: viruses, malware, hackers. At the same time, a firewall cannot distinguish between harmless and harmful software programs, thus, it ends up blocking any program that is considered as harmful to your computer, such as: torrent apps, VPNs, etc. In this guide, we will help you explore the different options to customise your firewall settings on Mac. We will also explain to you how to turn off Mac firewall in case you need to run a certain application.
How to Disable Firewall on Mac “Snow Leopard”
1- From the toolbar, click on the “Apple Menu”.
2- Choose “System Preferences”.
3- From System Preferences, select “Security & Privacy”.
4- Next, click on the “Firewall” tab.
5- Click on the “Stop” button to turn the firewall off or click on the radio button next to “Firewall” to turn it off.
6- Click “OK” to save the changes you have made.
You have successfully disabled Mac firewall.
How to Customise Firewall Settings on Mac without Disabling it
If you do not want to turn off your firewall entirely, you can change the settings as you prefer. You can do that by following the steps below:
1- From the “Firewall” tab, click on the “Advanced” button.
2- By checking on the box next to “Block all incoming connections”, you will be able to block any access to all connections with the exception to those that are needed for your computer to work properly. To be more specific, the only connections that will be running are those that are extremely important for your computer to operate in a proper way. In addition, your sharing functions, such as: device and file sharing will be blocked.
3- By checking on the box next to “Automatically allow signed software to receive incoming connections”, you will automatically allow all applications that have valid certificates to get access to your network at any time. As a result, you will not be prompted by such applications or programs to give them permission or authorisation to access your network.
4- If you put a check next to “Enable Stealth Mode”, you will be able to allow your computer to discard any unauthorised requests from any programs that want to discover your computer.
5- If you want to allow or deny certain applications or program through your firewall, you can use the (+) or (-) signs.
