Objective Development Software GmbH has released the public beta of Little Snitch 4.
Welcome to the Public Beta of Little Snitch 4. We are very excited to provide you with a first look at our new major version of Little Snitch.
Enjoy a completely redesigned Network Monitor with map view for visualizing network connections based on their geographic location, a new, improved Silent Mode, an option to minimize the connection alert to defer decisions about pending connections, improved hostname based filtering accuracy using Deep Packet Inspection, and much more.
What’s New:
• Overall modernized design of all UI components
• Completely redesigned Network Monitor with map view for visualizing worldwide network connections based on their geographic location
• Research Assistant accessible from Network Monitor and Little Snitch Configuration
• New, redesigned Silent Mode
• Connection alert can be minimized to defer the decision whether to allow or deny a connection
• Improved DNS name based traffic filtering using Deep Packet Inspection
• Code signature secured filter rules
• Improved working with profiles
• Automatic Silent Mode Switching
• Priority Rules
• Managed Rules
• Touch Bar Support
More info and download link here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s snappy, too!
Just curious. Why would one need Little Snitch?
Go ahead and install the trial version. You will be amazed at who your computer is talking to.
It’s an outbound firewall.
Privacy:
You can prevent apps from phoning home and letting the developers know your usage patterns or harvest data from within the app which could be sold to advertisers or others.
Security:
There could be a keylogger or other malware on your Mac that is sending sensitive data to a server.
Piracy:
I’m not condoning it, but many people use Little Snitch in order to prevent apps they didn’t pay for from phoning home and making sure they’re authorized for the user.
Analysis and Troubleshooting:
You can easily see what apps are sending data outbound, how much data and where they’re sending it. You can also see if an app is having problems if it may be on the server end for an app where you might not even be aware that it needs a server connection.
A lot of this can be done by editing the hosts file on your Mac to restrict server addresses from being accessed, as well as not pirating, not downloading malware, etc… but Little Snitch does make things easier, provides great feedback, can increase privacy and security and has a lot of legitimate uses.
I don’t recommend it for everyone though. For novice users, it can cause more headaches than it’s worth.
Josh, if an app is being sneaky you’ll see it immediately by being notified of the attempted outbound connection. You can then approve or deny it, either permanently or temporarily. Some software makes so many connections that it’s unsettling.
Be aware that the first few days you’ll be frequently hit with permission requests. As you build up your own personal rule set that will greatly diminish. That’s when it really shines, because then the unexpected outbound connection will grab your attention and give you control over the situation.
In short, you’ll know a lot more about what your computer is up to.
I’ve been using this since it first came out, and that was a long time ago. Looking forward. Later today, to downloading the new beta. I wish this was available for iOS.
It’s extremely useful to know exactly what is coming into, and going out of your machine. You can tell if something improper is happening. You can allow information out once, or forever, or not at all. I’m not going to try to explain it all, but go to their site, and see for yourself.
Gotta spend more time securing my computing resources!
Excellent! It gives me peace of mind that I know what processes are getting through my little cocoon surrounding me and my computer. Big SHOUT OUT to Bill Gates for making us ALL PARANOID. Not to mention the NSA. As if I have something that is worth perusing… haha. NOT. That’s NOT the point.
One wonders if Objective Development will move their legacy Little Snitch for use on ancient PPC/early Mac Intel machines (up to OS X 10.7 Lion), into their unsupported free download archive now?
That would be very nice of them!
Now I wanr this on my iPhone.
Tim! If you really care about user’s privacy, bring LS to iOS. No? You have something to hide from us? Then Do it!
It’s a real eye-opener to see how many applications (especially those from Apple!) are phoning home. That is totally unacceptable in my opinion.
I preferred the days when apps kept to themselves.
Apart from Mail and Safari, most of what Apple’s apps are doing is cloud stuff. That’s fine with me, I want the syncing, especially with photos and Messages.
Anyone know of an alternative to Little Flocker?