privacy questions

I've been using LW basic for several years on my MacPro and have never employed a firewall.

As far as I know, I've not experienced any sinister effects.

1. How necessary is firewall protection for me, especially if I switch to LW Pro and increase connections? If yes, is the osx firewall sufficient?

2. When I choose to "browse files" of a host, there is a name for the host that appears. What name do I broadcast when someone browses my shared files and is it under my control?

Thanks

Info:
Reasonably experienced user
LW 5.5.10
MacPro 6g ram
Snow Leopard 10.6.4.
FIOS 25/20
Westel 9100Em, Ultraline series 3

Chaitanya

The only thing I can say about MACs is that they are not subject to the deluge of Internet attacks PC users constantly get.

For example, a PC without a firewall will be attacked within 10 – 15 minutes of logging on to the Internet, those attacks will contain viruses, spyware, pornware (for distribution to other PCs), various bots (to convert the PC into a zombie), ransomware (to blackmail the PC owner) and anything else criminal hackers can think of.

Because MAC users form a small proportion of Internet usage/traffic so most tech savvy criminals do not see the point in crafting malware specially for MACs. But that is not to say that they will not do so in the future.


UK Bob

I think it's Console, firewall log or 'All Messages' will give reports of any attempted access from outside sources. Likewise I did not use the OSX firewall for years. Though I do presently with exceptions & blocks for various programs. I suspect if you have not had problems then nothing stopping continuing as you are. This does not mean you are 100% safe though! I have in past noticed some odd 'attempted' connections to my computer.

The following article is now old & refers to Leopard Server OSX so not sure it is applicable for Snow Leopard; Fixing Leopard

Many thanks.
Although true Mac users are a small percentage and therefore less *likely* to be infected, osx and apple continue to grow.

Not too worried, but wasn't sure how it applied to p2p usage. Good news to hear!

Any response to question 2?

The names that you see in LW are just words that correspond to numbers in IP addresses.

There's a bit in the FAQ to explain it: LW 5 FAQ - LimeWire

And also this other forum thread has more info:LimeWire Forums

If you have a dynamic IP address then the name that shows for you will change as your IP addy changes.

Thanks to all