MWNY - New OS X Firewall Product, And Internet Security Book, Available

by , 2:30 PM EDT, July 17th, 2001

Open Door Networks has announced the availability of a new book focused entirely on Internet security for the Macintosh, Internet Security for Your Macintosh: A Guide for the Rest of Us. The book is authored by Open Door's Alan Oppenheimer, and is available immediately.

Open Door has also announced the release of their personal firewall advisor, Who's There?, for Mac OS X. Who's There? Firewall Advisor works with Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall for Mac OS X and provides a more complete set of logging and monitoring services. According to Open Door Networks:

Open Door Networks Inc. today announced availability of the first book dedicated to Macintosh Internet security, "Internet Security for Your Macintosh: A Guide for the Rest of Us". Written by Alan Oppenheimer, Open Door's founder and president, and Charles Whitaker, Open Door's lead technical writer, the book leverages Open Door's five years as a Macintosh Internet security company to provide a comprehensive but easy to understand guide for any Mac user who's connected to the Internet. Published by Peachpit Press, the book is available at the Peachpit booth (#855) at the MacWorld trade show, as well as at book retailers nationwide.

"We've learned a lot about what Mac users do and don't need to worry about as far as security on the Net," said Oppenheimer. "We've also learned a lot about how they want that security to be as simple and easy to understand as the Macintosh itself. And we've learned that the increasing popularity of broadband connections, and the availability of Mac OS X are creating a whole new set of challenges. With 'Internet Security for Your Macintosh' we hope to make what we've learned available to as wide an audience as possible."

The book includes four main sections: "General Security Principles," "Securing Internet Services," "Enhancing Overall Security" and "Advanced Topics." The "Advanced Topics" section includes a chapter on securing Mac OS X, which, being based on the Unix operating system, presents a number of security issues that Mac users have not previously had to address. Chapters are also included on Internet security at work and on AirPort (wireless) networks.

Open Door also announced a Mac OS X specific version of its Who's There? Firewall Advisor. Who's There? Firewall Advisor, shipping since January for Mac OS 8 and 9, provides an important aspect of Internet security by helping users analyze, investigate and respond to access attempts to their Macintosh. Who's There? Firewall Advisor for Mac OS X is an OS X native version of the application that provides analysis and advice specific to the Mac OS X environment.

Who's There? Firewall Advisor for Mac OS X works with Symantec's recently announced Norton Personal Firewall for Mac OS X, which is based on technology licensed from Open Door. Features of Who's There? Firewall Advisor for Mac OS X include:

• Advanced Access History window displaying all logged access attempts and including security risk level and host name of the accessor.
• Windows summarizing access attempts by service type and accessor IP address.
• Built-in information about the most common attacks and their applicability specifically to the Mac OS X environment.
• Automated "Whois" lookup to determine details of the accessor's network, including administrator name, address, phone number and email. Administrator's address plotted on a world map.
• Automated drafting of an email that can be used to notify the administrator of the access attempt and provide the administrator with details that may be useful in tracking the attempt.

Internet Security for Your Macintosh: A Guide for the Rest of Us is available for US$19.95. You can find more information at the book publisher's Web site. Pricing has not yet been set for Who's There? Firewall Advisor, but you can find more information at the Open Door Web site.

Open Door Networks